Things to Do at Our Lady of the Rocks

A man-made island the size of a tennis court floats in the Bay of Kotor, topped by a baroque church with a red dome and a single cypress tree. Local legend says two fishermen found an icon of the Virgin Mary on a rock here in 1452, and for the next 500 years sailors returning safely threw stones overboard at this spot until an island grew from the bay floor. The tradition continues every July 22 during the fascinada festival, when locals row out and drop stones to maintain the island. The 1630 church inside holds 68 paintings by Tripo Kokolja, a 17th-century Perast artist, and an embroidered icon of the Madonna made by a local woman named Jacinta over 25 years using her own hair as thread (you can see it thinning in the later sections). The maritime ex-voto collection - silver tablets donated by sailors who survived storms - covers one wall. The island is five minutes from Perast by boat and five minutes to walk around. The bay water is clear enough to see the stone-drop pile beneath the surface.

You'll need a boat from Perast, about a 20-minute drive from Kotor along the coastal road. The ride takes five minutes. Part of the experience. Local boatmen run regular trips throughout the day, and you can negotiate a decent price if you aren't rushing. Some visitors combine this with St. George Island nearby-though you can only view that one from the water since it remains an active monastery.