CITY OF BOL

The town of Bol originated on the site of a Roman settlement (early Christian sarcophagi and the remains of a Roman water reservoir above Zlatni Rat); in 827, it was destroyed by the Saracens.

It was first mentioned as a locality in 1184 in the Povlja Charter, drawn up in the building of the so-called Bishopric (the Dominican monastery).

As a settlement, Bol was first mentioned on October 10, 1475, in a deed of donation by which Prince Zacharia granted the Glavica peninsula to the Dominicans.

The name most likely originated from a combination of the Romance appellative vallum and the Slavic word obala.

From the early Croatian period, fragments of interlace ornamentation have been preserved in the Church of St. John (probably from the 11th century) and in the wall surrounding the Dominican monastery.

In the 15th century, a castle was built by the pier, featuring richly decorated Gothic windows on its southern façade. The Jeličić family house dates from the Renaissance period, from the early 17th century.

Special mention should be given to the complex of the Dominican monastery on Glavica. In the bishop’s palace, the Dominicans established a monastic community and sought a site for the construction of a monastery and a church. In 1475, they built the monastery and a new church dedicated to Our Lady of Mercy.

The inhabitants of Bol financed the construction of a new northern nave at their own expense. The bell tower adjacent to the church was completed in the mid-18th century. On the main altar, a prominent painting of the Virgin and Child surrounded by saints associated with the history of the church and the Dominican Order is displayed. This painting was created in 1563 in the workshop of the Venetian painter Jacopo Tintoretto.