In the framework of the joint project on maritime spirituality in Malta and Croatia between the Faculty of theology of the University of Split and the Faculty of theology of the University of Malta, Maltese Church historian Nicholas Doublet, Ph. D. made a return study visit at the Faculty of theology in Split, in the period from September 10th to 15th 2022.
"A Theological-Historical Comparative Analysis of Maritime-Related Spirituality in Malta and Croatia" is an international research project approved within the framework of the European University of the Seas SEA-EU Research Seed Fund, in which the Faculty of theology of the University of Split participates as a partner. The project includes research visits involving professors, doctoral students, and other experts, and also a joint online conference with the presentation of the results of the research on December 14th, 2022.
The first study visit of the project participants of the Faculty of theology in Split was held in Malta from July 12th to 16th, 2022.
A return study visit for partners from Malta, represented by professor Doublet, was designed and led by teachers in the project Assist. Prof. Domagoj Runje, Ph. D., head of project participants from the Faculty of theology in Split, and post-doc Domagoj Volarević, Ph. D. The program included four days of field studies related to historical Croatian centers of spirituality with a Christian maritime tradition. Dean of the Faculty of Theology in Malta Full Prof. Stefan Attard, Ph. D., head of the Department of Sacred Scripture, Hebrew and Greek, and a participant in the project, was prevented from attending the study visit due to previously undertaken obligations.
The visit program with professor Doublet included the discovery of the historical core of the center of Split, a visit to the historical Marian sanctuaries and Franciscan monasteries situated on islet Visovac and town Sinj, with tours of the churches, monasteries, and monastery museum collections.
A full-day field research study on Tuesday, September 13th, 2022, was on a island of Mljet, one of the traditional shipwreck sites of the Apostle Paul. The guides local pastor rev. Stipe Zadra and Igor Trogrlić shown the participants the traditional site of Paul's shipwreck on the southeast side of the island of Mljet, and the remains of an early Christian basilica on the foundations of which a later church was built in the 11th century. According to tradition it was dedicated to St. Paul. The basilica's location is in the area of Korite. In addition, the visit include the new parish church of St. Paul in Babino Polje, the archaeological site of Polače with the remains of two early Christian basilicas, and the former Benedictine monastery with the church on the islet of St. Maria.
Newly opened Pelješac Bridge was shown to professor Doublet as a project of national and economic importance.
On the last day of the visit, on Wednesday, September 14th, professor Doublet visited the Faculty and had a meeting and lunch with the dean Full Prof. Mladen Parlov, Ph. D., and the vice dean for education Assist. Prof. Ante Akrap, Ph. D. There discussed the possibilities for further cooperation in research and teaching mobility exchange.
In the afternoon, there was a visit to Trogir, the Cathedral of St. Lovre and the female Benedictine monastery, and the church of St. Nicholas with the museum collection. The study program ended with a visit to the town Solin under the guidance of Marijo Matijević from the Zvonimir Public Institution for Culture. It included a tour of the early Christian archeological site Salona, the church of Our Lady of the Island - the oldest Croatian Marian shrine, and the new church of St. Family.
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