OUR LADY OF THE ROCKS

'Our Lady of the Rocks' (Serbian: ''Госпа од шкрпјела''; Croatian:''Gospa od Škrpjela'') is one of the two islets off the coast of Perast in Bay of Kotor, Montenegro (Other being Sveti Đorđe Island). It is an artificial island created by bulwark of rocks and by sinking old and seized ships loaded with rocks.
The custom of throwing rocks into the sea is alive even nowadays. Every year on the sunset of July 22, an event called ''fašinada'', when local Croat Catholic residents take their boats and throw rocks into the sea, widening the surface of the island, takes place.
The 'Church of Our Lady of the Rocks' (Serbian: ''Црква Госпа од шкрпјела''; Croatian & Montenegrin: ''Crkva Gospa od Škrpjela''; Italian: ''Chiesa della Madonna dello Scarpello'') in the Bay of Kotor is the church built upon the island. The first known church was built on it in 1452, while today's church was built in 1632 and upgraded in 1722.