700th anniversary of the foundation of St. Margaret Benedictine Monastery
14 November 2018 - Minister of Culture Sc. D. Nina Obuljen Koržinek attended on Tuesday, 13 November 2018 the ceremony marking the 700th anniversary of the foundation of St. Margaret Monastery in the City of Pag. Opening the Permanent exhibition of church art, she underlined that a seven hundred years long tradition was proof of coexistence of spiritual, artistic, educational and humanitarian activities of the Benedictines.
The Minister also emphasized that the Benedictine sisters succeeded despite many adversities in preserving the works of art, which due to their exceptional historical and artistic significance, belong to the most valuable fund of Croatian and world cultural heritage.
„The Permanent exhibition of church art, which we solemnly open today, restores, presents and adequately safeguards valuable movable heritage, and promotes and maintains the monastery in its new function of presentation space“ said the minister adding that precisely the Benedictine sisters take the merit for two registered cultural heritage phenomena: the art of making Pag lace and the over 300 years old tradition of baking Pag baškotin (aromatic zwieback rusk bread made only in Pag).
Sister Ana Benedicta pointed out that due to its centuries-old continuity this institution was a living monument and compared this event to a symbolic sign of walking through time that has its clear future.
The marking of the 700th anniversary of the foundation of the Monastery and the opening of the permanent exhibition was held in the framework of the European Year of Protection of Cultural Heritage, in which the exhibition of the Pag lace collection has already been presented.
