Parish Church of St. Blaise (sv.
Vlaho)
Construction of the parish church
began 26-4-1876. The cornerstone was blessed by the senior priest of the area,
Rev. Mato Štuk, the parish priest of Orebić. Earlier, on the same location was a
small church of St. John, and even earlier, a small chapel of St. Nicholas.
Dedication of the new church building was celebrated 1-5-1878.
The truly imposing church, constructed in Gothic style, was built by the local
builder Nikola Bjelovučić, (son of Stjepan Bjelovučić), under the administration
of the Mayor of Janjina, Captain Vlaho Jasprica.
The people of Janjina bought the church’s main altar in Split, in
1892, from the workshop of Pavao Bilinić. The church’s pipe organ was purchased
in 1909, from the firm called Rieger. The present bells date from the year 1921,
as the ones from 1878 were taken by the Austrian authorities, during the First
World War. In 1929, the top (pyramid-shaped) part of the bell tower, was rebuilt
with limestone brought from the neighbouring island of Korčula. The original top
of the tower was a timber construction and by 1929 it needed replacement.
Church of St. Stephen (sv. Stjepan)
Many times rebuilt/restored, the church (chapel) of St. Stephen,
at Janjina’s cemetery, is still being used today. Although the earliest
historical records of it are from the year 1222 AD, the church is considerably
older than that. It is believed that it originates from the pagan times, because
a Roman tombstone, from the 1st century AD, had been found in its immediate
vicinity, as well as some Roman coins and other objects from the Roman period.
That the church has been renovated or rebuilt very early can be seen from its
bell, which records the year 1414. A nobleman, Andriko Lukarić had built a
monastery next to the church in 1360. Today the monastery no longer exists. In
1891 the local people rebuilt the church once again. They rebuilt it on the old
foundations, so that original shape was not changed.
Church of St. Stephen (sv. Stjepan)
Ducal Palace
In 1465, the government of the Republic of Dubrovnik built the
so-called “Knežev dvor” [Ducal Palace], with the Republic’s Coat of Arms and the
statue of its patron saint -- St. Blaise, on its facade. Beside the
administrator’s office and his living quarters, the building also contained a
prison cell, an armory and a storage room. The same year the government formed
an administrative area called “Janjinska Kapetanija” [Captainate of Janjina],
through which it exercised its administrative and judicial authority. In recent
times, historians have been saying that Janjina was never the centre of the
administrative area called “Knežija” and therefore never was the seat of a
“Knez” [Duke]. According to the laws of the Republic of Dubrovnik, only the area
around the town of Ston formed a “Knežija”. It seems that the rest of Pelješac,
was administratively divided into two Captainates, one of Janjina and the other
of Trstenica (todays Orebić).
Janjina's
Maritime Heritage
|
