Franciscan monastery and church in Guca Gora were built in 1857, and the village in which is placed monastery and a church, which gathers retied friars, is about 600 years old. Co-existence with Muslims, deep faith, peace and beauty are some of the epithets that describe this place.
The monastery was the largest building in Bosnia, and besides priests, their candidates who were acquiring the basic knowledge were staying in it as well, while the older ones studied theology. The monastery was a seminary of Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena from 1883 until 1900 when it was moved to Visoko. About half a century later, the monastery experienced its most tragic moment.
Nobel Prize winner Ivo Andric, as well as Ivan Franjo Jukic and Sir Arthur Evans, who traveled through this place in 1876 during the Bosnian uprising, wrote about Guca Gora and the Franciscan monastery.
After the battle between partisans and German soldiers, partisans burned the monastery and church, leaving only the skeleton of the largest Franciscan monastery in Bosnia. Moreover, the priests are still regretting after cultural heritage, archives, heritage of bishop Sunjic, church vestments, altar, organs and other things.
In the years after, everything was restored, but in the center of the monastery, which lost one wing, still stands the statue of St. Francis riddled with bullets.
Drago Pranjes, the guardian in Guca Gora, said that elderly friars are staying in monastery, and that their parish includes 860 people who stayed in the village after the war. Monastery is often visited by tourists, because of its specificity and history.
Pranjes also added that the faith of believers around the monastery has always been stronger and deeper.
“The faith is deeper in places with monasteries, because people met more spirituality and dimension that is deeper in man. This has shaped people who are softer and opened to others. Guca Gora is a place where people have good faith and live well and this is particularly evident in relations towards others. Our neighbors are Muslims and that coexistence is nice in this area where people who know how to live and evaluate others live, “concluded Pranjes.
The construction of the residence rooms which should be completed within the next two years is taking place in the monastery of Guca Gora, and the organ are installed that will echo the spacious church that gathers 860 believers for the first time after being destroyed in the war. The voice of the muezzin from the minaret and bell from the church tower will be heard in Guca Gora for many years, and people will visit this place that reminds on scenes from fairy tales.
(Source: E. M./Klix.ba)
