Church of St. Andrew (Svetac)

The Church of St. Andrew on the island of Svec is the only surviving remnant of the former Benedictine monastery, mentioned in written sources as early as the 13th century. The monastery was located on the southern tip of the island, and the Benedictines resided on Svec until the end of the 15th or beginning of the 16th century. The church was built on the site of an older, pre-Romanesque building, and its current form dates from the 18th century. The church is single-nave, with a semicircular apse and a bell tower on a preslic, and its main facade is oriented towards the south. It houses a bell from 1524, decorated with a bas-relief in the Renaissance style, as well as the remains of a stone statue of St. Andrew, now broken and damaged by salt. The apse with a crescent-shaped triumphal arch is still visible on the ruins of the older church from the 13th century, while the rest could be discovered by future archaeological research. The island of Svetac (about 4 km²), located 15 nautical miles west of Komiža, has been uninhabited since the mid-20th century. In addition to the church of St. Andrew, the island also contains the ruins of a medieval monastery and a fortress that tradition attributes to the Illyrian queen Teuta, which is why Svetac is often called "Teuta's Island". The church of St. Andrew today has the status of a protected cultural asset (immovable cultural asset - individual) and represents a valuable monument of early Christian and Benedictine heritage in the Vis aquatorium.