This unique volume, the work of Frano Ercegović and photographer Milan Dobrilović, bears witness to the great number of Catholic churches, monasteries, chapels, crosses, parish houses, captain’s residences, monuments and archaeological sites that are part of the many centuries of Croatian heritage in Montenegro’s Boka Kotorska.
Frano Ercegović’s Croatian Religious Buildings in Boka Kotorska (Hrvatski vjerski objekti u Boki kotorskoj) is a photographic monograph recently promoted at the Dubrovnik branch office of the Croatian Heritage Foundation.
This unique volume bears witness to the great number of Catholic churches, monasteries, chapels, crosses, parish houses, captain’s residences, monuments and archaeological sites that are part of the many centuries of Croatian heritage in Montenegro’s Boka Kotorska.
On hand to present the volume was former Croatian general consul in Montenegro Božo Vodopija. “The Roman Catholic diocese of Kotor stretches along the littoral area from Sutorina to the Željeznica creek in the city of Bar, bordered by the peaks above Herceg Novi, Risan, Perast, Kotor, Grbalj, Budva, Petrovac and Sutomore. It is estimated to be home to some ten thousand adherents of Roman Catholicism, most of which are Croatians. According to the latest census of 2011 only 6,021 people declared themselves Croatian in all of Montenegro. Although a great many of the Catholics are of ethnic Croatian heritage, assimilation, fear, centuries of persecution and pseudo-conformism have all taken their toll and many of the Catholics do not declare themselves as Croatians, although this is clearly their heritage,” Vodopija said.
This valuable photographic monograph is published by the Zaljev hrvatskih svetaca (“Bay of Croatian Saints”) association founded by Frano Ercegović, a resident of Jošice in the Roman Catholic deanery of Herceg-Novi.
“Joining forces with well-known photographer and cameraman Milan Dobrilović of Herceg Novi, Ercegović has created this work while touring the many sites, not waiting on any one particular for their approval. They walked the length of Boka, cutting through thorns to get to some of the abandoned and derelict small churches, and the result of their work is now in your hands. The 170 pages and about five hundred photographs preserve our memory of the exceptional cultural and historical heritage of the Croatians of this region,” Vodopija said.
The author was also on hand and thanked the organisers for this opportunity to present his work in Dubrovnik and photographer Milan Dobrilović for his work.
Addressing the gathered Croatian Heritage Foundation deputy director Ivan Tepeš said he was delighted to be a part of this truly important event. He especially lauded the cooperation between the Dubrovnik branch office of the CHF and the Croatian community of Montenegro, in particular with the indigenous community in Boka Kotorska.
The book promo was hosted by the Dubrovnik branch office of the Croatian Heritage Foundation and excellently moderated by the head of the branch Maja Mozara. (http://dubrovacki.slobodnadalmacija.hr/)