While doing reconstruction works in a church in Silba, workers found a time capsule from 1922, along with a mysterious message...

The discover was found at the church of Our Lady of the Rocks in Silba, more precisely in the window of the northern side of the chapel of Saint Anthony of Padua. The bottle which contained the message is of the 'Diana' brand, and it was sealed with a cork and a vax. The whole story was made public by the Association for the Protection of Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Island of Silba on their Facebook page. 

The bottle contained three objects - a hand-written note, so-called Spomenica, a paper note from the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, printed in 1921 (worth 25 para), and one cigarette. Eugen Motušić, the archaeologist and art historian, found the bottle, and Sven Moro opened the bottle on the spot, without damaging it or its contents. 

The most exciting item in the bottle is the note, written by Frano Gašpić. It explains the circumstances of the previous reconstruction of the church, including who paid for it (an Argentinian diaspora member, called Juraj Barbić), who performed the work (Viktor Spinelli was the manager, while Ante Gašparov and Marijan Vukasović were the masons).

The note also states that Italy still occupied Silba at that time, but that they expected to be added to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croatians, and Slovenes soon. The note is signed by Špiro Lazarin, Zamarija Marinić, and Frano Gaspić, who were at the time the board members of the Savings Cooperative in Silba, the only civil association on the island at the time. Špiro Lazanin went on to become a local administrator. 

One of the most exciting parts of the note is the post-scriptum, in which the writer, F. Gaspić asks that whoever finds the letter, to let them know, either by "radiograph" or by an airplane. Their descendants now know that the message has been found. Nobody smoked the cigarette found, and it's not clear how much money that would be in today's money, but it was the smallest note then. 

The new time capsule is planned to be put in the same spot after the works on the chapel are finished, which should happen in 2022! 

The rather far flung northern Dalmatian island Silba might not strike you as a particularly sought-after destination for the festive season, but you might be surprised...

As Kora Dilic/Morski writes on the 29th of December, 2018, this year, the already traditional and entirely unique island advent event has kicked off on the beautiful island of Silba. This year it will be held from the 29th of December, 2018 to the 2nd of January 2019.

This is the third year in a row that the picturesque island in the Zadar archipelago has put on a show for locals and visitors alike following preparations for advent oriented entertainment concerts, as well as a multitude of interesting content that relies on Silba's cultural heritage and quirky specifics of this small but dear Dalmatian island.

Silba is not just an island of music and the arts, it is also very much an island with a huge religious and spiritual heritage, with a rich tradition here. Owing to that, this little, usually overlooked island boasts seven churches.

''As of this year, we've organised the event all together, islanders and volunteers have come from the surrounding islands, and also from Zadar County. We have prepared content that only Silba can offer and we expect the arrival of our people from the diaspora and tourists from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and other European countries,'' said Kristian Lopac who, together with the volunteers, had his hands well and truly full of work on the island when preparing for the formal opening ceremony which took place on Saturday, December the 29th.

On Sunday, December the 30th, Silba will play host to Zoran Jelenković's live concert, and on Monday, December the 31st, a spectacular island New Year's Eve will take place, with a helping hand with traditional music performed by klapa Leut.

Make sure to stay up to date with everything going on up and down the country, from continental Croatia to the coast, and from the coast to the furthest flung Croatian islands by following our dedicated lifestyle page.

Click here for the original article by Kora Dilic for Morski.hr

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