Franciscan monastery of Saint Luke is a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

monastery in

Jajce Jajce (Јајце) is a town and municipality located in the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the 2013 census, the town has a population of 7,172 inhabitants, with ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. The construction began in 1877 and it finished in 1885. In 1934-1935 the monastery was renovated by Karel Pařík. Franciscans in the 1970s tried to return the bones of

St. Luke Luke the Evangelist (Latin: '' Lucas''; grc, Λουκᾶς, '' Loukâs''; he, לוקאס, ''Lūqās''; arc, /ܠܘܩܐ לוקא, ''Lūqā’; Ge'ez: ሉቃስ'') is one of the Four Evangelists—the four traditionally ascribed authors of t ...

in Jajce, and since then the monastery carries the name of this evangelist.

History

Franciscans were present in Jajce from the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, it is known that they had the St. Mary's Church with the St Luke's bell tower in the 15th century. The church was turned into a mosque at the arrival of the

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic o ...

. The bell tower is fully preserved, while the church was burnt down many times and now it is just a ruin. In 1888, the archeologist

Ćiro Truhelka Ćiro Truhelka (2 February 1865 – 18 September 1942) was a Croatian archeologist, historian and art historian who devoted much of his professional life to the study of the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He wrote about prehistoric, Roman and ...

excavated a male skeleton with the skull separated from the body. The excavation was made on a hill that is called ''Kraljev grob'' (King's tomb) in

Zastinje Zastinje is a village in the Municipalities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, city of Livno in Canton 10, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Demographics According to the 2013 census, its population wa ...

near

, under a

stećak Stećak (, ) or Stećci in plural form (, ) is the name for monumental medieval tombstones, that lie scattered across Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the border parts of Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia. An estimated 60,000 are found within the border ...

. Although there is no direct evidence, it is believed that the skeleton belongs to

Stephen Tomašević Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

, the last

king of Bosnia This is a list of rulers of Bosnia, containing Ban (title), bans and kings of Medieval Bosnia. Duke (1082–1136) Bans (1136–1377) Kings and queen (1377–1463) All Bosnian kings added the Stephen (honorific), honorific Stephen to their bap ...

, who was executed in 1463. The skeleton lies in the monastery. The monastery has many artworks, like the ''St. Family with St. John the Baptist'' picture that was made in the 17th century by an unknown Italo-Greek artist. Also, there are many other items that are culturally and artistically significant. In particular there is the old

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

silver chalice from the 16th century. There are also historical items, such as many

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

monuments found in

Šipovo Šipovo ( sr-cyrl, Шипово) is a town and municipality located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the southern part of the Bosanska Krajina region. As of 2013, it has a population of 10,293 inhabitants ...

and many

Early Christian Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish d ...

and

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

monuments. The monastery has a small library with many valuable books, magazines and manuscripts from the 18th and 19th century. The monastery has suffered during the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...

. The monastery church was completely destroyed, it is also missing a lot of valuable monuments, artworks and books. Currently, the old part of the monastery is being renewed.

References

{{Reflist

19th-century Christian monasteries Roman Catholic churches completed in 1885 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Bosnia and Herzegovina Buildings and structures in Jajce