The votive island of Perast's seafarers
Our Lady of the Rocks (Gospa od Škrpjela) is an island made by people: according to tradition, after Perast fishermen found an icon of the Virgin on a sea rock on 22 July 1452, seafarers spent centuries sinking stones and old ships around it.
Today the island holds a Catholic church with an octagonal dome and a round bell tower, a museum and a small navigation light. Inside are 68 paintings by the Perast Baroque painter Tripo Kokolja and more than two thousand silver votive plaques. Boats from Perast reach it in a few minutes.
The church was built in 1630 and damaged in the 1667 earthquake. It was rebuilt with a chapel under an octagonal dome, which holds the main altar of 1722, and took its present form in 1725. The round bell tower is visible from far out on the water. The main altar keeps the icon of the Virgin and Child attributed to the Kotor painter Lovro Dobričević.
The Perast Baroque painter Tripo Kokolja (1661–1713) made 68 paintings for the church – on the ceiling, the walls and around the altar. The scenes from the life of the Virgin follow a programme devised by Andrija Zmajević, a Perast priest and later Archbishop of Bar. The largest canvas, the Death of the Virgin, is about ten metres long.
The church walls are covered with more than two thousand silver votive plaques. Sailors and their families gave them in thanks – many show ships in a storm. A common inscription reads Votum feci, gratiam accepi (I made a vow, I received grace).
The museum shows an embroidery of the Virgin and Child signed by Hijacinta Kunić, née Mijović, in 1828. It is stitched in silk with gold and silver thread, and for the angels' hair the embroiderer, tradition says, used her own hair. Tradition also holds that she worked on it for many years while waiting for her beloved to return from sea.
Every 22 July at dusk a convoy of decorated boats loaded with stones sets out from Perast. The boats are tied together, and when they reach the island the stones are thrown into the sea around its shore. This is how the island is still maintained, and the custom ends with prayer and song. You can watch from the Perast waterfront or from a boat.
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A few hundred metres away stands Sveti Đorđe (St George), a natural island with a Benedictine monastery from the 12th century and an old cemetery of Perast's nobility. Unlike Our Lady of the Rocks, it is usually not open to visitors – it is best seen from a boat or from the pier of Our Lady of the Rocks.
On the water
A few minutes on the water from the Perast waterfront to the island's pier.
Culture
Kokolja's paintings, the main altar with the icon and the wall of silver votive plaques.
Culture
Votive paintings of ships, objects from Perast houses and Hijacinta Kunić's embroidery.
From the pier you see the neighbouring island with its Benedictine monastery.
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Tours by local hosts with a stop right here – departure, duration and price at a glance, booked directly with the host.
Stop: Our Lady of the RocksFrom Kotor
3 h · 15 min at the stop · Boka Boat Tours
from €300
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Stop: Our Lady of the RocksFrom Kotor
6 h · 15 min at the stop · Boka Boat Tours
from €600
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Stop: Our Lady of the RocksFrom Kotor
1 h 30 min · 15 min at the stop · Boka Boat Tours
from €150
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Stop: Our Lady of the RocksFrom Kotor
1 h 30 min · 15 min at the stop · Boka Boat Tours
from €25 / person
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Stop: Our Lady of the RocksFrom Kotor
3 h · 15 min at the stop · Boka Boat Tours
from €300
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Stop: Our Lady of the RocksFrom Kotor
3 h · 15 min at the stop · Boka Boat Tours
from €40 / person
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Stop: PerastFrom Kotor
4 h · 1 h at the stop · 0.8 km away · Boka Boat Tours
from €60 / person
See datesMonthly averages – Perast.
Visitor tip
The nearest airport is Tivat, followed by Podgorica and Dubrovnik. From the airport, take a taxi or hire car to Perast and continue by boat.
The island lies off Perast, on the coastal road around the bay between Kotor and Risan. Leave the car at the car park at the entrance to Perast, walk to the waterfront and continue by boat.
Local buses between Kotor, Risan and Herceg Novi stop in Perast. From the stop it is a few minutes' walk to the waterfront and the boat landing.
Small boats and water taxis run from the Perast waterfront to the island; the ride takes a few minutes. Excursion boats from Kotor, Tivat and Budva also call at the island, usually combined with Perast.
Free audio guides with narration and a map, plus trails with maps and GPX downloads – set off whenever suits you.
Audio drive · Kotor
Audio walk · Bujović Palace
Day 1 · Perast, Our Lady of the Rocks
By small boat or water taxi from the Perast waterfront; the ride takes a few minutes. Excursion boats from Kotor, Tivat and Budva also call at the island. Agree the fare and the return time before you set off.
Yes. According to tradition, after an icon of the Virgin was found on the rock on 22 July 1452, seafarers spent centuries sinking stones and old ships around it. The custom continues with the Fašinada, when every 22 July stones are thrown from boats into the sea around the island.
The church with 68 paintings by Tripo Kokolja, the icon of the Virgin on the main altar, more than two thousand silver votive plaques, and the museum with votive paintings of ships and Hijacinta Kunić's embroidery from 1828.
Landing on the island is free; the museum has a ticket sold on site. The boat from Perast is paid separately. Check current prices and opening hours in Perast or on the island.
Sveti Đorđe, the neighbouring natural island with a 12th-century Benedictine monastery, is usually not open to visitors. It is easy to see from a boat and from the pier of Our Lady of the Rocks.
Every year on 22 July, at dusk. Decorated boats tied into a convoy set out from Perast, carry stones to the island and throw them into the sea. The procession is best seen from the Perast waterfront.
