The Church and Cloister

• 1483 – The construction of the existing Church of Our Lady of Mercy began in a gothic-renaissance style in the direction of East-West, where a large portal stands out. The portal’s lunette holds a statue of the Madonna and Child (the head of the little Jesus was shot off with a rifle, by a member of the Communist Party). The Madonna and Child are flanked by St. Francis and St. Anthony. At the top of the portal is a large plaque with two angels in relief that are holding the Christogram IHS. A holy water font was built into the wall next to the portal. A large rose window is situated in the upper part of the church front. The triangular gable is lined with a richly carved wreath and has a fanned acroterium at its peak. The church’s interior vault is built in a gothic style and ends in an apse. It is a typical arrangement of a Franciscan church with an elongated nave with three windows on the sides of the church, which was a gothic architectural solution for providing light.

• 1533 – The church was completed and consecrated in honour of the Ascension of the glorious Virgin Mary to heaven. The church was consecrated by the bishop of Korčula and Ston, Bishop Nikola. Within the church, there are five altars and the south wall holds a neoclassical altar of St. Francis.
• 1457 – a late gothic crucifix, the so-called Wooden Cross of Badija was constructed. Many pilgrims came to the island of Badija for centuries to see the cross. Today it is located in Orebić.

• 1529 – The altar of John the Baptist was built.
• 1571 – The Turkish armies, led by Uluj Ali stole the church bells from Badija and set fire to the church and monastery. 
• 1660 – Pirates from the Neretva valley plundered the monastery on Badija and took the gold and silver.
• 1661 – Pirates from Ulcinj captured four friars from Badija and forced them into hard labour. They were bought back by the citizens of Korčula.
• 1724 – The main altar, which has been restored several times, was finished in a baroque style. It is dominated by four evangelists that hold up the globe on which Christ rules. Statues of St. Francis and St. Clare are on the ends of the altar. The north wall of the church had a gilded wooden renaissance altar of Our Lady of the Island. The altar had a stone mensa, and an antependium made of multicoloured marble. It also had a carved, gilded retable with two fluted columns with Corinthian capitals, as well as a relief depiction of God the Father in a triangle of the attic and a recess for the Byzantine icon of the Mother of God. This icon has been famous since 1571, when it was credited with saving Korčula from the Turkish army. Next to the columns, the altar had niches with statues of St. Francis and St. Mark (which remained there until 1950). A baroque entrance made of marble, which leads to the Chapel of the Holy Cross, lies on the north side. The chapel was built in 1769 and holds the largest altar in Dalmatia, made of blue and white marble in the baroque style. The altar was adorned with the impressive Wooden Cross of Badija. 
• 1800 – The Church organ was built.
• 1950 – Father Leon Krivić OMF celebrated the last mass in the Church and did not accept the sale of Badija to the communist state of the time. Important inventory of the church’s ecclesiastical heritage was transferred to Korčula, Orebić, Dubrovnik, Zadar…

The Chapel of the Holy Cross

The art piece that attracted the most attention in the Franciscan monastery was the miraculous sculpture of Christ on the cross with figures of Mary, John, and Magdalen. It was created in 1457, by the sculptor Juraj Petrović from Split.

To exhibit the cross more prominently, the friars came up with the idea of building a new chapel. Fundraising for its construction began in 1691. The bishop of Korčula suggested a charitable collection for the construction of the chapel, and its construction began in 1729 based on the complete project of the great architect Giorgio Massarri of Venice. The chapel’s construction came to an end in 1760, and the cross was transferred in a large procession on July 25 th , 1763.

With the completion of the Chapel of the Holy Cross, the monastery became an important place of pilgrimage for the wider Dalmatian area.

The Chapel of the Holy Cross is dominated by the most monumental marble altar in Dalmatia. A group of sculptures with a cross was placed in the arched niche of the altar, next to which hung hundreds of votive tiles. Today the famous cross from Badija is located in the Church of Our Lady of Angels in Orebić.

Badija, floor plan of the monastery complex (Josip Belamarić)

The Cloister

The cloister, built by Master Builders from Korčula, was completed in 1477, as indicated by the inscription ANNO DOMINI MCCCCLXXVII PRIMAI MENSIS MAII. The inscription frames the Christogram IHS above the door in the south-east corner of the cloister. This was the location of the entrance to the monastery which bears the date May 1st, 1477 and is situated south of the Church.

The cloister is the real centre of the monastery complex – it has the Church on the north side and two wings on the east and south side, with a tall dead wall on the west side. A covered corridor runs under the porch, along an open quadrangle and elevated cistern in the middle. The porch is supported by five trifore on the longer sides and four trifore of thick arcades on the shorter side. The Corinthian capitals have volutes and a flower on a curved abacus. As of the 18^th century, the cloister serves as an entrance to the church.