Our Lady of the Island, according to some sources, was the first settlement of Croats. The “island”, adorned with numerous branches of the Jadro river, denoted a place where Croatian dukes raised their homes like people in Carpathian area used to do – by making embankments and walls of wicker and wood poles. During the excavations in front of the altar of the parish church archaeologists have discovered a rather wide Roman wall which indicates this area was once inhabited. Closely to the Our Lady of the Island Church is Our Lady’s Well, a place where water has never become turbid, not even during the heaviest rains and bad weather. The well is situated to the west of the church that people also called Gospa u Bristima (Our Lady among Oak Trees;) since there were many elm-trees on the “island”. When taking a stroll along the Jadro river, along the shrine, take a look at this charming and clear Our Lady’s Well for which the legend claims to be a therapeutic source of water. Italian pilgrimages often visit this place, particularly bearing in mind the recommendation coming from Paolo Brosio, who in his book “The trip to Međugorje” (Put u Međugorje) addressed pilgrimages to stop at Solin and pay a visit to the shrine of Our Lady of the Island and drink some healing water from the Our Lady’s Well.
D. Šabić