Guide · Perast
Our Lady of the Rocks — A Visitor's Guide to Gospa od Škrpjela, Perast
How to visit Our Lady of the Rocks from Kotor or Perast: the island's story, what is inside the church and museum, boat times and prices, how long to allow, and what to see afterwards on the bay.
From Perast
5 min by shuttle
Allow ashore
30 – 40 min
Season
Daily, May – Oct
Our Lady of the Rocks
An island built by hand, one stone at a time
Our Lady of the Rocks — Gospa od Škrpjela in Montenegrin — is the small islet with the blue-grey dome that sits just off Perast, halfway along the Bay of Kotor. Unlike its neighbour St George, which is a natural outcrop, this island does not occur in nature. Every metre of it was made by the people of Perast.
The story begins in 1452, when two sailors, brothers, are said to have found an icon of the Madonna and Child resting on a rock in the shallows. They took it as a sign. From that day, boats returning safely from sea dropped a stone on the spot, and old wooden hulls were filled with rubble and sunk alongside, until there was enough ground to build a chapel — and later the domed church that stands there now.
The custom never stopped. On 22 July each year, at sunset, a line of local boats rows out to add more stones to the island in a ceremony called the Fašinada. It is one of the oldest continuously observed traditions on the Adriatic, and if your trip falls near that date it is worth planning an evening on the water to see it.
Our Lady of the Rocks
What to see inside the church and museum
The church interior is small and unexpectedly rich. The ceiling and walls carry sixty-eight Baroque paintings by Tripo Kokolja, a Perast artist who spent roughly a decade of the late seventeenth century on them. The original icon that started everything sits above the altar, framed in silver.
Around the walls hang silver votive plaques — more than two thousand of them — left by sailors and their families in thanks for a safe return or in hope of one. Many are simple engravings of ships; read a few and you have a maritime history of the bay in miniature.
The museum beside the church holds the piece most visitors remember: a tapestry embroidered by a local woman, Jacinta Kunić-Mijović, over some twenty-five years while she waited for a sailor who never came home. She worked gold and silver thread into it, and her own hair, which lightens visibly from dark to grey as the work goes on.
There is a small entrance fee for the church and museum, payable in cash at the door. Shoulders and knees covered, as in any working church.
Our Lady of the Rocks
How to get to Our Lady of the Rocks
The island can only be reached by boat, and it is a short hop — barely a hundred and fifty metres off the Perast waterfront.
From Perast, small shuttle boats leave continuously through the day from the quay. They cost a few euros return, take about five minutes, and run from mid-morning until early evening in season. You do not book; you turn up and step aboard.
From Kotor, it is roughly thirty minutes by road to Perast — taxi, bus or the coastal road by car, though parking in Perast is limited and paid — then the shuttle across. By sea it is about twenty-five minutes aboard a fast boat straight from Kotor to the island, with no parking and no transfers in between.
On Momentum, our Saxdor 270 GTO, we run private charters from Kotor, Dobrota, Muo or your own jetty. The island sits on the same route as Perast, the Blue Cave and the submarine tunnels, which is why most guests fold it into a half day rather than making a separate trip of it.
Our Lady of the Rocks
The best time of day to visit
Cruise passengers and coach groups reach Perast in a fairly predictable band, from about 10:30 to 15:00 in July and August. Either side of that, the island is calm.
Early morning is the quietest and the light on the water is at its softest. Late afternoon, from about 16:30, the groups thin out again and the mountains behind Perast turn gold — the best hour for photographs of the island from the water.
Thirty to forty minutes ashore is enough for the church, the museum and a slow circuit of the terrace. An hour if you like to sit.
The church and museum are open daily through the season, roughly May to October. In winter the shuttles run less often and the museum keeps shorter hours, so ask locally before setting out.
Our Lady of the Rocks
What to combine it with
Perast itself deserves an hour. It is a single street of Baroque sea-captains' houses with no through traffic, two churches and a bell tower you can climb for the best view over both islands.
Continue out of the bay and the Blue Cave is about twenty-five minutes further on — a sea cave on the Luštica peninsula where refracted sunlight turns the whole chamber electric blue. It looks its best between 10:00 and 14:00, which pairs neatly with an early visit to the island.
The Cold-War submarine tunnels cut into the cliffs nearby make a good last stop, and there are quiet swim coves along the way that the group boats pass by.
Most guests finish with lunch on the water at Marea by Moments in Porto Montenegro, or come back to Dobrota for dinner at Moments or a tasting menu at Mira by Moments. We can hold a table for you when you book the boat.
Momentum
Go privately, on your own timing
Momentum is our Saxdor 270 GTO, priced per boat for up to six guests. We leave when you want to leave, which is how you reach the island before the group boats do.
One-Hour Charter
€200 per boat
A short private Kotor Bay boat tour — ideal for a sunset cruise or a quick transfer between villages.
Check availabilityHalf-Day Charter
€800 per boat
Our most popular Kotor Bay boat tour: up to four hours for Perast, Our Lady of the Rocks, the Blue Cave and the submarine tunnels.
Check availabilityFull-Day Charter
€1100 per boat
A full day exploring the Bay of Kotor at your own pace, with time for swimming, lunch at Marea or a run to Risan and Orahovac.
Check availabilityQuestions
Our Lady of the Rocks FAQs
Make a day of it on the bay
Perast, the island, the Blue Cave and a swim stop, finishing with lunch or dinner at one of our three restaurants. Tell us your dates and we will suggest a route.