5 Introduction to the project Introduction to the project The island of Lopud, part of the Elafiti islands, is situated off the Croatian coast, about a 40-minutes boat ride from Dubrovnik. Lopud combines an idyllic mediterranean landscape with a rich cultural heritage. Not far from the trading city of Dubrovnik, formerly Ragusa, once it was a favourite place for wealthy merchants and sailors to settle. The inhabitants brought prosperity and culture, built numerous chapels and adorned their religious buildings with commensurately rich furnishings. In addition to its numerous chapels, the island of Lopud is home to three large churches: the church of the former Dominican monastery of St Nicholas, the church of the former Franciscan monastery Sv. Marija od Špilice (St Mary of Špilica) (Fig. 1), and the parish church Gospa od Šunja (Our Lady of Šunj) (Fig. 2). The churches were all built in close succession during the heyday of the Dubrovnik Republic and during the island’s strongest economic period in the 15th century, a tremendous feat of construction for such a modest, sparsely populated island. Typically, it was the Mendicant orders of Franciscans and Dominicans, which had then spread throughout the eastern Adriatic coast, who built these churches, thereby exercising their influence over the island.1 The Cologne Institute of Conservation Sciences (CICS) at the Technical University of Cologne (formerly Cologne University of Applied Sciences) and the island authorities have been in close contact since 1987. Since then, groups of students and their lecturers have been visiting the island annually over the summer term break to work on projects aimed at restoring endangered works of art. From the beginning, the project has been supported by the Association for the Protection of Lopud’s Cultural Heritage and Nature (Croatian: Društvo za zaštitu spomeničke baštine i prirode Lopuda), Diocese of Dubrovnik (Dubrovačka biskupija), Monuments Care Office in Dubrovnik (Konzervatorski odjel u Dubrovni‐ ku), Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia (now: Ministry of Culture and Media of the RC / Ministarstvo kulture i medija Republike Hrvats‐ ke), Croatian Conservation Institute in Zagreb (Hrvatski restauratorski zavod) and its department in Dubrovnik (Restauratorski odjel Dubrovnik/ Villa Stay).
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