The legends of Čara

THE LEGENDS OF ČARA
PROJECT OF SMOKVICA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

THE LEGENDS OF ČARA
- LADY OF ČARA FIELD
- CRNOMIR FAMILY

Published by:
Smokvica Elementary School
20272 SMOKVICA
e-mail: [email protected] / web: www.os-smokvica.skole.hr
For publisher:
EMIL RADOVANOVIĆ, a headmaster of Smokvica Elementary School
Editor and head of project:
MARINA ŠEGO
A review:
MILOJKA SKOKANDIĆ, certified librarian
Proofreading:
BORJANKA C. KOVAČIĆ, Croatian language teacher
In association with:
ANA ĆURKOVIĆ, certified librarian and Croatian language teacher
MARIJA TASOVAC, graduate class-teacher
Translation:
Josipa Tomašić
Illustrated by:
Pupils of Smokvica Elementary School
GRAPHIC DESIGN:
MARKO KORUNIĆ / www.bananagraf.com
PRINTED BY:
-------------------------
PRINTED COPIES: 300
SMOKVICA, 2020.

PROJECT OF SMOKVICA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL,
BRANCH SCHOOL ČARA

EDITOR AND A HEAD OF PROJECT:
MARINA ŠEGO

For more than one decade Čara, its fields and vineyards, inhabitants and
beauty of the place, have been part of my life.

From everyday communication I have discovered many interesting facts and
peculiarities of life in this place of silence and apparent secrecy. I have been
descovering forgotten worlds of some past times together with richness of
details of the present.

Researching and reading about the history of Čara I came across these legends,
stories told by generations and kept alive in that way.

Unlike unlimited number of books I’ve read and studied during my life, this
one has special place in my heart.

So I dedicate this book to all my pupils, to my friends and to friends of my
friends.

This book has brought so much joy into my life so I want to thank you for giving
me a chance to write it and to return it to you.

Teacher Marina Šego, April 30, 2020



Legend of Our Lady of Čara field illustrated by: MARINELA RADOVANOVIĆ - 8th grade 2018/2019. 

THE LEGEND OF
OUR LADY

OF ČARA FIELD



For centuries, in the centre of beautiful island of Korčula rich
with dark green forests, peacefully lives a small village of Čara.
Old stone houses and stalls are situated close to one another along
southern parts of the Križ hill, keeping an eye on long fertile field
of Čara surrounded by hills covered with old pine trees. The field
of Čara is known for its rich vineyards neatly cultivated by hard-
working people of the village.
And exactly here, in Čara, on the island of Korčula, something really
magical happened in 1686.

Little shepherd girl Marija Tasovac took her sheep to Čavića
port, not far away from the village. While the animals were
jumping around the rocks, poor shepherd Marija was singing
and watching over them. Her eyes were more on the animals
than on the beautiful blue sea.
Everybody in the village loved her for her kindness and good
heart.



On that day a boat appeared on
the sea, without oars or sailors,
and in the boat there was a

beautiful woman with a face
shining like the morning
star. She had a rosary
made of pearls in her
hands.
When the girl saw her,

she hid herself behind one
bush. The woman noticed the
girl’s fear and then she spoke to
her in such a tender voice:
-”Don’t be afraid, my dear child,
Because I’m your happiness today,
I came from the place so high
And to this port I sailed.” *

* Letters about miraculous apparition of the Blessed Lady of Čara field, Josephus episcopus,
Imprimatur Ab Ordinariatu episcopali, Ragusii, 19.8.1912.

Then the lady told the girl to go back to the village and to say to
the priest that the mother of Jesus came to the port and that
She chose the field of Čara as a place of special devotions where
people would be able to receive Her grace.
-”And who will take care of my sheep while I’m gone?”- the girl
was preoccupied.
-”Don’t worry about the sheep. I’ll take care of them.”- the Lady
said peacefully.
The girl happily ran towards the house of the priest. As she came
to the village, she told the priest everything that had happened,
but the priest didn’t believe her thinking that the girl invented
the whole story. The girl was sad and she returned to the Lady.
The Lady sent her back to the priest, but this time she gave her
the pearl rosary to confirm what she had seen. But the priest
didn’t believe her again.

Sad, she started walking back to the port
when the church bells started to ring. That
was strange; the bells suddenly started
ringing and that day there was no reason
for that- it wasn’t a holiday or anything like

that.
Scared people came in front of the
church not knowing what was
going on and then the confused
priest told them about the girl
and the Lady. They all decided
to go to the port together to see
the Lady.
There they found a boat and a
statue of Virgin Mary with her
hands reached out towards them
just as she wants to say:” Take
me with you!”

The people fell on their
knees and many of them
cried. They were
praying together for
a long time thanking
the Lady. Then they
took the statue and
walked to the village
singing.
They left the statue
on the church altar
during the night.At



dawn they all gathered to pray in front of the church. When they
entered the church, the statue was gone!

They had started to look for it and soon they found it in the middle
of the field on ruins of an old church.

They returned the statue into the St Peter’s Church but again the
next day they found it at the same place in the field.

Now they realized that the Lady herself chose the place to stay and
they all agreed to build a church in that place.

They built it only one year later.

From that day, that place became Our Lady’s sanctuary. The mass
and procession are held there every year on 25 July, St Jacob’s
Day.

On that day people from Korčula, Pelješac and even further come
to Čara to celebrate Our Lady’s apparition.

People used to go in procession barefoot and on their knees
praying our Lady for health of their family members or for help
in trouble. These scenes are rarely seen today, but pilgrims still
attend holy mass and procession across the Čara field.

The end













THE LEGEND OF
CRNOMIR FAMILY



Long time ago one man, Andrija Banina, was riding down
the road with his companion.

Čara was then a small, poor village situated in the middle of
Korčula island - above fertile Čara field rich with vineyards
and olive trees.

A tired man, the spokesman of the rector, came in front of the
biggest house in the village, that one of Crnomir family, just like
his master ordered him.
Petar Crnomir, the eldest of nine brothers, opened the door,
and the man gave him a letter in which the rector ordered every
single person in Čara to knuckle under the rule of Venice and, in
the name of St Mark and the doge, give up their land.

He also added that all the people on the island of Korčula, except
the people of Čara, who therefore offended the authority of
Venice, obeyed that order.
Petar gathered all the people from the village to tell them about
that. People didn’t like what they had heard and they said they
didn’t want to give their land to a foreign ruler.

Then Petar suggested giving Sinja-stones, Profund and Šuplji
kam- all infertile and useless fields.
People were smiling with approval but they also started talking
about rebellion. They chose one man to inform the rector
about everything. That was Andrija, although Petar was not
happy with the choice.

At dawn Andrija came to the town of Korčula.
That town was on the coast, surrounded by
strong stone walls and it had two entrances-
one from the west and another one from the
south.
There was the rich house of Venetian
rector.
While waiting, Andrija was thinking
how to defame the Crnomir family and
in that way take over the position of
head of Čara.
The rector was unhappy with the
resistance from Čara and Andrija used
that to suggest a sneaky plan how to
bring Petar to Korčula. He was going to
tell him that the rector would give up
the properties if he personally comes
to take the treaty of liberation.

At the same time Stojan, Petar’s
brother, came to Korčula. He was sent
to follow Andrija because Petar didn’t
trust Andrija. In one inn, Stojan got
into a fight but Andrija, who somehow
came there, helped Stojan believing
that now Petar would recognize his
loyalty to him and to Čara.

The rector sent soldiers to arrest Stojan
for speaking against the rector. Stojan
asked Andrija to testify and Andrija
whispered something into judge’s ear
and the accusation was dropped.

Then they asked Petar to come to
Korčula.

When Petar came, he realized that the rector didn’t give up his
demands. The guards surrounded them in order to put them in
prison but they, somehow, managed to escape.

The guards were chasing them outside
the town. There Petar was hit in a leg by
a guard’s mace. When he fell to the
ground, he was beaten to death.

Stojan, unable to help him,
escaped to Čara to tell the people
what had happened.

The people of Čara went to take Petar’s body
to give him decent funeral.

TThe third day after Petar died, the people went to Korčula for
revenge but the town gate were closed. Nobody could come in
or out of the town. That didn’t stop the people in their plans.
Three years later, when the rector came to Čara, they killed him
in a place today known as Rector’s grave.

After the murder, the village of Čara was attacked by Venetians.
A lot of people died, Venetians won and they arrested many
more.

All of them were asked the same question:
“Who killed the rector?”
The answer from everybody was the same:”
A mallet.”
The next question was:” Who was holding the
mallet?” And the answer was:” Everybody!”

All the prisoners were taken to Venetian galleys as slaves.
Since that event on St Peter’s Day Čara celebrates holy
mass for the soul of Petar Crnomir, the symbol of brave
resistance to enemy’s authority.

The End









After “Priča o tovaru” (“A Story of a Donkey”) we have another successful
project of Smokvica-Čara Elementary School and that is a book “The
Legends of Čara”.

As libraries tend to keep tradition, we are really joyful when a book like this one
appears and specially if it appears inside the walls of a school or classroom.
Through everyday work with children, teachers have opportunity to cherish
tradition and to show the importance of protection and promotion of traditional
heritage.

A book “The Legends of Čara” is valuable contribution to memory revival of
one of the most beautiful legends of Korčula, that one of Crnomir brothers,
together with the legend of Our Lady of Čara field.

Both legends serve as example of the way in which historical reality mixed with
our people’s fantasy can create an interesting story with a strong message. These
legends are written in a simple and inspired way, enriched with mythological
elements and illustrated by hands of children and they will surely be attractive
to contemporary readers, especially to children and young adults.

This project is a result of team work of the mentor, pupils and members of local
community and it shows a fun, creative and educative way in which people can
keep alive all precious memories of traditional literature of this place.

Therefore we expect many more of such projects from Marina Šego and her
pupils and I congratulate them all from the bottom of my heart.

Milojka Skokandić, certified librarian

Special thanks to the pupils of Smokvica
Elementary School, Čara Branch School
who carried out this whole project:

THE LEGEND OF OUR LADY OF ČARA FIELD was illustrated by:
MARINELA RADOVANOVIĆ, 2017.

All the research was done and the texts written by:
ANA MARELIĆ, 2017.
EMILY ANTEA TOMIĆ, 2017.
TEREZA TVRDEIĆ, 2017.
EVA TOMIĆ, 2017.

Arts workshop: From the 4th grade:

From the 3rd grade: MILE BLITVIĆ
DRAGICA LAUS
TEO CETINIĆ JOSIP LAUS
MATEO KOĆINA MARIA LAUS
MARICA KRAJANČIĆ VEDRAN MARELIĆ
IVAN LAUS ALEKSANDAR ŠAIN
ELA MARELIĆ DORIJAN AUGUSTIN TOMIĆ
MIHAELA SMOLČIĆ ALEXANDRA TOMIĆ
DARIO ŠAIN ADRIAN TOMIĆ
IVANO TOMIĆ JAKICA TOMIĆ
KRISTINA TOMIĆ BERNARD VLAŠIĆ
JOSIP VLAŠIĆ
VIKTORIJA VLAŠIĆ

SOURCES:

Oral literature

Anthology of Čara: The parish of Čara, PZ Pošip Čara, 1999.

The legend of Crnomir family- from the Anthology of the island of Korčula I.,
Čara 1970.

Letters about miraculous apparition of the Blessed Lady of Čara field, Josephus
episcopus, Imprimatur Ab Ordinariatu episcopali, Ragusii, 19.8.1912.