engleski

The Sacralisation of Islands and the Performative Pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the East Adriatic

My object in this essay is to shed light on some examples of the recreation of the sacred topography of Jerusalem during the Early Modern period. This widely spread phenomenon, both chronologically and geographically, will be discussed in two cases of small islands in the Croatian Adriatic, Daksa and Košljun. Both islands were inhabited by Franciscan communities and were located in the proximity of bigger coastal towns of Dubrovnik and Krk. I will argue that Friars cultivated specific sacredness of their islands by using several different approaches in creation of an alternative to pilgrimage to the Holy Land. While Holy Sepulchre copies provided the most important material connection with the sacred topography of Jerusalem, monumental crucifixes played the crucial role in collective devotion on these sites. Equipped with movable arms or venerated as miracle-working objects, these crucifixes were made and perceived as an actual presence of Christ thus providing the main focus of devotion. Finally, the navigation to the Holy Land–whether “real” or “reconstructed”–as I argue, was equally important as the previous two approaches since the pilgrimage was reproduced in all its features. On Daksa and Košljun friars have not only designed a surrogate pilgrimage sites, but have also shaped devotional experience of pilgrims, flocking there in great number as if travelling to real Jerusalem. By combining these approaches, the landscapes of Daksa and Košljun were altered, and through several layers of sacralisation transformed into sites of performative pilgrimage.

performative pilgrimage, Holy Land devotion, Franciscans, islands, Daksa, Košljun

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