The complex houses a 15. century fortress and a Franciscan monastery, dominating the Lopud bay that has been abandoned and unused for a very long time, slowly turning into a ruin covered by vegetation. The revitalization process has been long and thorough, giving new life to a forgotten gem.
The monastery was a religious center with a medicinal garden and a pharmacy, an elaborate water collection system and a functioning sewage system with original stone carved toilets. The main challenge was to find a new program that could not only be a trigger to rebuild the monastery but also make it sustainable in a contemporary environment.
Today the complex is the multifunctional center of the island, the building itself being a testimony of the past but also housing an art exhibition space on the ground floor, rooms and a conference hall on the upper floor, while the fortress is a state-of-the-art multimedia hub equipped for lectures, concerts and festivals.
The new functions have given the old monastery the necessary attributes to exist in today’s world and be competitive in every aspect of its existence.
The collaboration experts, the open mind of the authorities and the generosity of the client have made it possible to bring this project to life.
A rarity in today’s world of expendable values.