Leopold Mandić Shrine

You are in the sanctuary of Saint Leopold Bogdan Mandić in Zakučac, a small town near Omiš. It was built on the site of the family of Saint Leopold, whose ancestors bore the surname Mandić and lived in this area before moving to Herceg Novi, where the saint was born in 1866. The initiative to build the sanctuary was launched by Archbishop Antun Jurić in the late 1990s, and it was officially opened in 2000, on the eve of the Great Jubilee of the Catholic Church. You are also at the foot of Mount Mosor, in the immediate vicinity of the source of the Cetina River and the Ilinac waterfalls. The central part of the sanctuary consists of a stone chapel carved into the rock, which houses the relics of Saint Leopold. The interior of the chapel is adorned with a bronze statue of the saint and a relief made of silver, the work of academic sculptor Kažimir Hrast. In the immediate vicinity of the sanctuary, a stone cross more than eight meters high, the work of architect Ivo Buljević, has been erected. The place is regularly visited by pilgrims from various parts of Croatia, especially on the feast of Saint Leopold on May 12. The sanctuary is also known for the Stations of the Cross for young people, which is traditionally held on Palm Sunday. Spiritual activities and liturgical celebrations are managed by the Parish of St. Peter the Apostle from Omiš. There is also an educational hiking trail near the sanctuary and a culturally significant point – the statue of Mile Gojsalić, a work of Ivan Meštrović. The sanctuary in Zakučec combines religious and cultural heritage with the natural environment and represents an important point of the spiritual and historical identity of this part of Dalmatia.