Saint Leonard’s Church and Monastery

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Saint Leonard’s church in Kotari with a monastery make a true Baroque’s gem. The church is in the highest category of listed heritage, and together with the monastery of an unfortunate history, forms one of the most valuable sacral monuments in this part of Croatia.

The church is located on the spot where Petar Erdödy built a votive chapel of Saint Leonard around 1528 which was deserted after a few years, so the duke decided to give the chapel to the Franciscans. They built a church with a wooden monastery which until 1683 acquired the form of a square-shaped building with a well, while a new Baroque-style church was completed in 1733. Until the end of the 18t^h century, the monastery organized a school and became the nursery of faith, education, culture, and science. However, following the decision of King Joseph II, the monasteries of The Third Order of Saint Francis were abolished, so the monastery was deserted and depleted leaving only one wing to this day.

Still, the monastery and the Saint Leonard’s church hold magnificent, rarely preserved examples of the Baroque-style art of the first half of the 18th century. The Baroque inventory belongs to the most beautiful examples of the altar architecture in north-western Croatia, a large number of statues are the work of a great master Dionizije Hoffer, and there are Baroque organs, which have been renovated and are one of the oldest in Croatia, a piece of great historical and artistic value. Many Baroque pews have been preserved, and the monastery has a valuable library.

The parish and the remaining monastery wing were returned to the Franciscans in two occasions, from 1941 to 1947 by the decision of the archbishop Alojzije Stepinac, and in 1964 when the Glagolitic Third Order of Saint Francis arrived in Kotari and stayed until 2017.