Three-metre statue of Virgin Mary rises beside busy Adriatic Sea channel in Croatia
- by croatiaweek
- in News
(Photo credit: Ines Grbić)
KUKLJICA, Croatia – A striking three-metre statue of the Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus has been erected and blessed beside one of the busiest maritime channels in the Croatian Adriatic.
The statue, dedicated to Our Lady of the Snows (Gospa od Sniga), was blessed on Wednesday, 5 August, by Zadar Archbishop Milan Zgrablić during a Mass marking the feast day in the Ždrelašćica cove near Kukljica on the island of Ugljan.
The maritime channel between the islands of Ugljan and Pašman is particularly busy during the summer, with more than 2,000 vessels passing through it each day, according to the Archdiocese of Zadar.
Made from Brač stone, the statue stands three metres high, or four metres including its base, making it one of the largest statues of the Virgin Mary in Croatia. Both Mary and Jesus are depicted wearing crowns.
The statue was carved over 18 months by stoneworker Vlado Knežević at the Markvinia stone workshop in Biograd na Moru.
The initiative to install the statue was launched more than two years ago by Kukljica parish priest Don Marko Vujasin and parishioners, with support from the parish councils, the Archdiocese of Zadar, Croatia’s Ministry of Culture, Kukljica Municipality and donors.
(Photo credit: Ines Grbić)
The statue echoes the long-standing devotion to Our Lady of the Snows in Kukljica. According to local tradition, a painting of the Virgin Mary was found by sailors at the site of the present chapel in 1514, after which the church was built in her honour.
Following the Mass, a boat procession carried the statue from Ždrelašćica to the parish church of St Paul in Kukljica, continuing a centuries-old local tradition connected with the feast.
(Photo credit: Zadarska nadbiskupija)
Archbishop Zgrablić said the new statue was intended as a sign of faith and hope for sailors and passengers travelling through the channel, while stressing that the procession should represent more than a tourist attraction or outward tradition.
