TOURIST BOARD OF DRAŠNICE

The parish belongs to the municipality of Podgora in the Split-Dalmatia County. The town of Drašnice (Dračnice), located in the Uvala Sveti Križ bay, is first mentioned in the Turkish document dating from 1523. But the village existed even before, as evidenced by the medieval stećak tombstones, and the remains of the sarcophagi from the Roman period. From a long time ago, the parish has had two villages; one beneath the mountain and another one by the sea, called Kraj. The seaside village, next to the church of St. George, most likely existed already in the Middle Ages. That is where the Franciscans from Herzegovina and the several families took refuge in 1563. They accepted the religious education of the village, even when they moved to Živogošće.

The parish church of St. George and the Immaculate Conception in the hamlet of Kraj was built on the remains of an old church from 1971 to 1976, according to the design of the architect Ante Rožić. It is a modern concrete building with a central floor plan, and a concave mansard roof.

The church is low-rise, with no bell towers, and the bells are placed on an iron structure on the south side of the church. In the year 1989/90, extensive works were carried out on it: the interior and exterior walls were plastered, a new transparent dome was installed on the roof, the openings were renovated, the electrical installations were replaced and the sacristy space was adapted. In 1995, the statue of St. Roch was added to it, and in 1996, a statue of St. Anthony.

In 2000, the church was equipped with air-conditioning. In 2002, oil on board painting of The Virgin with Child and Saints (St. Catherine, St. Barbara and St. Nicholas), which was done by Filippo Naldi in the 18^th century, size 100 × 120 cm was restored. In 2003, the painting of St. George on canvas (which features Madonna and child at the top, and St. Francis and St. Nicholas on the sides), size 150 x 250 cm was restored, while in 2004, the 19^th century canvas painting called Stoning of St. Stephen (featuring God the Father and his Son Jesus with the Cross and the dove – the sign of the Holy Spirit – in the upper part), size 110 x 170 cm was restored.

The church was built on the remains of the old church of St. George, described in the Turkish document dating from 1523 as a church that long existed. Existing possibly even from the 15^th century, it was consecrated in 1679 by father Petar Soljanin, bishop of Sofia. In 1745, a new church in the Baroque style was built, but in 1749 it was damaged by an earthquake. Although it was restored in 1801, an earthquake in 1962 destroyed it completely.

The church is surrounded by a cemetery. There used to be a cemetery in the medieval period as well, as evidenced by the stećak tombstone. And the roman sarcophagi (under state protection (24/74-66, Reg. No. 17)) testify that the place was inhabited even before Croats arrived.

The old parish church of St. George was built in 1891 in the hamlet of Srida sela. It is a single-nave stone building with a bell cote for two bells. Heavily damaged in the 1962 earthquake, the church was deteriorating for a long time. It was only in 2011 that its roof and the bell cote for two bells were renovated. The old bell of St. George was installed, which had been buried under the ruins for almost 40 years. And in 2003, the new windows were installed, protecting the church from deteriorating further. The interior renovation remains to be done.

The small church of St. Stephen on Kolednik was built by duke Stjepan Vukče in 1466 when he was passing through Drašnice on his way to Dubrovnik, as evidenced by the inscription kept today at the Museum of Croatian Archaeological Monuments in Split. The church is a single-nave building with a rectangular elongated apse and a barrel vault. At the top of its façade, there is a bell cote for one bell. The altar had the wood painting of the Saint on it, done by Petar Pavla from Kunca in 1801. Today, it is a ruin with only the walls remaining.