Order Franciscans Founder(s) Augustinian monks | Established 1445 | |
 | ||
Diocese Franciscan Province of
the Most Holy Redeemer Location Krka National Park
Croatia. Similar Krka National Park, Krka, Burnum, Krapanj, Krka monastery | ||
The Visovac Monastery (Croatian: Samostan Visovac), part of the Franciscan Province of the Most Holy Redeemer based in Split, is a Catholic (Roman Rite) monastery on the island of Visovac in the Krka National Park, Croatia. Because of the centuries-long devotion to the Mother of God, Visovac is also called Mother of God Island.
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Map of Visovac Monastery, 22324, Bri%C5%A1tane, Croatia
History
Visovac was settled by Augustinian monks, who established a small monastery and church dedicated to the Apostle Paul in the 14th century. In 1445, it was enlarged and adapted by the Franciscans who settled here having withdrawn from parts of Bosnia with ordinary people, when the Turks had taken over there. A new monastery was built in the 18th century.
The oldest preserved part of the complex is from the 14th century. The monastery has an important archaeological collection of historic church clothes books and a rich library with several historical manuscripts, rare books, including particularly a rare incunabula of Aesop's fables (Brescia 1487) printed by the Lastovo printer Dobrić Dobričević, a collection of documents (the sultan's edicts) and a sabre belonging to Vuk Mandušić, one of the best-loved heroes of Serbian epic poetry.
Geography
The island has 17.376 m of coastline. It has an oval shape about the size of 170 × 120 meters. The southeastern side of the island has an adjacent elongated shallow shelf of triangular shape. It is a 10-minute drive from Drnis, six kilometers from Skradin .