"Our Lady of the Rocks Church was built in 1630 on an artificially made island off the shore of Perast in the Bay of Boka Kotorska. According to the legend, the fishermen of Perast found a wonderworking icon of the Virgin with Child on the rock – the one which now occupies the main alter of the church. They vowed to build a church on that same place dedicated to the icon of the Virgin, protector of sailors and fishermen.
Commissioned by the Town Council of Perast, the main alter was made for the church in marble in 1796 by the Gonoese sculptor Antonio Cappallano. On the alter is the famous icon of Our Lady of the Rocks, painted in the mid-15th century by Lavro Dobricevic.
The walls and ceilings of the church are decorated with 68 canvases by Tripo Kukolja, one of the most famous domestic baroque painters. They were commissioned by Andrija Zmajevic. These painting, some of which are very large, make the Our Lady of the Rocks Church seem as a unique gallery of baroque paintings of the South Adriatic. The most outstanding among them are the paintings with the scenes from the Virgin’s life, which occupy the upper zones of the church walls and the ceilings: such as the Coronation of the Virgin Mary, death of the Virgin Mary and the Assumption of the Virgin.
On the lateral walls, in between the paintings by Kukolj, there are little votive tablets made of silver- relief representations of the ships from the Boko Kotorska Bay. The vessels were believed to be protected and aided by Our Lady of the Rocks if caught in storms.
The presbytery houses a rich collection of archaeological finds, portraits of ships and items of craftsmanship and things for everyday use."
From visit-montenegro.cg.yu