The damaged balustrade and staircase in front of the Church of the Virgin Mary, the largest church in Boka Kotorska, will be restored thanks to a Montenegrin family from Berlin.
A few years ago, when there was an epidemic of aphids, during the removal of one of the palm trees, the marble balustrade was damaged, and the painting of the staircase at the entrance to the temple was greatly damaged.
When the church began to be built in 1789 according to the project of Bernandino Makaruci, Prčanj was a rich Boke town, whose fleet served the postal needs of all of Venice. Later there was also a large candle factory. Due to the Napoleonic wars and the appearance of steam ships, Prčanj gradually became poorer, so the church was completed only after 120 years with large budget subsidies from the court in Vienna.
The staircase was completed in 1913 and with four tall palm trees, it was a frequent motif of postcards from Montenegro.
Today, the temple of the Virgin in its splendor stands in marked disproportion with the small and sparsely populated Prčanja in winter, and bears witness to the glorious past times.
The enterprising parish priest in Prčanje, Don Željko Pasković, also known as a volunteer fireman, takes care of the important and great cultural heritage that was given to him in Prčanj and Stolivo. In the "lower church" and the monastery complex of St. Nicholas, with the help of the local community, he organized the renovation and arrangement of the space. A museum was opened as part of the monastery, and the church and atrium became the center of cultural events, where many book promotions and classical music concerts were held this summer.
The temple of the Virgin is an ornament of Boka and Montenegro, its cultural heritage, as are the Ostrog and Husein Pasha mosques, which, according to the local community, are often overlooked and forgotten.l
In the temple of the Virgin there is a priceless collection of paintings by Venetian masters from the 17th century, but also a collection of art by Yugoslav artists Kokolja, Meštrović, Rosandić and Stojanović, Milunović and Lubarda.
Don Željko's efforts have been recognized by many, including by a Montenegrin family from Berlin, which helps many Montenegrin organizations and institutions, regardless of which confession or ethnic community they belong to. They will thus bear the costs of the restoration of the balustrade and staircase in full, so that the temple of the Virgin will soon shine again in its full glory.
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