After last year’s celebration of the 300th anniversary of our tradition and chivalry, the Alka of Sinj, this year the town of Sinj and Cetinska krajina region welcome another anniversary: the 300th years of the Crowning of the Image of the Miraculous Madonna of Sinj.

Drawn by the natural beauty and fertility of the land, the Franciscans who were fleeing from the Turks from Rama settled in Sinj in 1687. Their most prized possession, the Image of Our Lady of Graces, was always worshipped and kept safe from harm. In 1715, the Madonna defended them when they were greatly outnumbered by the enemy. In the night of the holiday of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 15 August, the Madonna appeared dressed in white on the walls of the Old Town, warding off the enemy. The grateful freed worshippers celebrate her ever since as the Miraculous Madonna of Sinj, while the defenders of Sinj fortress decided to crown the Image with a crown of gold. They collected 80 golden coins and had it made in Venice.

On 22 September 1716, a year after the Madonna’s apparition, Split’s archbishop Stjepan Cupilli crowned the Image of the heavenly protector. The inscription on the crown says: ‘’IN PERPETUUM CORONATA TRIUMPHAT ANNO MDCCXV’’ – Forever crowned celebrating the victory of 1715.

Today, 300 years after, guided by the gratitude and immense worship of our most faithful heavenly protector, Sinj’s Franciscans decided to make a golden rosary out of votive offerings, symbolizing the eternal need for pray and the Madonna’s intercession in time of hardship.

The outstanding contribution to the celebration are the Stations of the Cross, placed along the path towards the Old town on the way to another votive place – a church built in 1887 on the 200th anniversary of the arrival from Rama. Each station is represented by a monumental work of different famous Croatian sculptors.

Another praiseworthy project is the Our Lady of Sinj Route spanning 148km from Solin – Sinj – Livno – Tomislavgrad – Rama. It is a pilgrimage path used through centuries to travel from several different directions to the largest Madonna sanctuary in southern Croatia.

The big anniversary will be celebrated in Sinj and in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Sinj accompanied with a number of manifestations, as well as a three-day spiritual preparation shortly before the anniversary itself.

The central celebration will be held in the monastery courtyard on Sunday, 25 September 2016. After the procession with the Image, the formal celebration of the Eucharist will be held by splitsko-makarski archbishop and metropolitan monsignor Marin Barišić, and live broadcasted on the Croatian National Television.