Church of Our Lady of the Nativity, Grabovac

The parish church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known as the church of Mala Gospa, stands with its cemetery in Grabovac, in the valley behind Biokovo along the old Napoleonic road from Split to Vrgorac. It belongs to the municipality of Šestanovac in Split-Dalmatia County.

Around 1722 it was built as a smaller single-nave church with a square apse on the site of a medieval cemetery, as confirmed by large, well-preserved stećci built into its oldest part. In 1862 a larger nave was added, and in the 1970s a two-storey bell tower was built in front of the main façade and the church acquired its present appearance. The interior is covered by a painted barrel vault decorated with mosaics. The main and right side altars are marble, and the left one is wooden and probably the work of the Rako family workshop.

The church with its cemetery is a protected cultural good, entered in the Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia under the code Z-6692.

Photo: KO Imotski, CC BY-SA 3.0 hr, Wikimedia Commons.
Data: Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia (Ministry of Culture and Media), Open Licence; coordinates: DGU (centre of the settlement).