Church of Our Lady of the Snow

The members of Dubranec parish today are proud of the church of Our Lady of Snow, although the central sacred object of this place was the wooden church of St. Catherine, but as it was quite far from the village, next to the forest in the vineyards, and it was not well maintained even by the ravages of time, especially in the winter period when the way to her was difficult, so it was neglected. Back in the middle of the 17th century, the chapel of the Mother of God was built in Dubranec, which was originally used for worship in the winter period of the year. All major holidays, especially Marian ones, were celebrated in that chapel, masses on Sundays became more and more frequent, and over the years the church was extended (1726) and gained in importance.

At the end of the 19th century, the then Minister of Culture Izidor Kršnjavi and the famous Austrian architect and builder Herman Bolle debated about the new arrangement of this church over which elements to keep and which to make new. A special wooden vault was the pride of the parishioners, decorated with flowers according to the former custom of decorating churches in the Turopolje style. The famous architect designed today’s brick church in the neo-style, but he introduced a coffered wooden ceiling into it, and he also made plans for the main altar of the Mother of God and two side ones, the altar of St. Joseph and St. Catherine. The church survived the earthquakes of 1895 and 1909 without major consequences, but in recent history, the 2020 earthquake left a mark on it and threatened the statics, which is why it is undergoing reconstruction.

The main kermesse is the feast of Our Lady of the Snows, and it is celebrated on the first Sunday after August 5, and in addition, the Great and Little Our Lady are celebrated in particular.