CROATIAN MARIAN SHRINES, shrine of Our Lady of the Islet (Solin)
The church of Our Lady of the Isle in Solin is the largest shrine in southern Croatia. This is also the oldest Marian shrine in Croatia. In 1998, it was even visited by the Pope John Paul II.
The church of Our Lady of the Islet is a simple and balanced one-nave Neo-Renaissance structure with a polygonal shrine. It was designed by Emil Vecchietti, an architect and a painter from Split (1830–1901).
Motifs: shrine of Our Lady of the Islet (Solin), Giuliano Zasso: Our Lady with the Child on a Throne, altarpiece; the shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Sveta Gora), the statue of Mother of God of Sveta Gora, a Biedermeier piece from 1847
The stamps were issued in 8-stamp sheetlets with one label, and the Croatian Post has also issued a First Day Cover (FDC).
The church of Our Lady of the Isle in Solin is the largest shrine in southern Croatia. This is also the oldest Marian shrine in Croatia.
The altar holds the painting of Our Lady of the Islet – made by the Italian painter Giuliano Zasso (1833–1889) in 1881.
Although the church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, or of Sveta Gora, is situated in the mountains, it belongs to the sea alike: to woodsmen, seamen and fishermen. Her altar holds the inscription “Hail the Star of the sea, Miraculous Mother”. Gorski Kotar, Primorje, Istria and Slovenia are on a pilgrimage to her; alongside Trsat, this is the most significant Marian shrine in the region. The first record of it dates back to 1504 but is probably older by a century.
The beautiful architecture of the concave altar between the marbled columns holds several wooden statues, of which the central one is of Our Lady of Sveta Gora herself, a lovely and valuable Biedermeier piece from 1847.
The story goes that shepherds, passing with their flock, saw a statue of Our Lady on a fir. And they came to pray before this statue. They even found their sheep once bowing to the statue. They tried to chase them away, but the sheep stood frozen.
