Fašinada - Boka Kotorska is an inexhaustible treasure trove of beautiful traditional manifestations and folk customs. Certainly one of the most attractive is the Fashinada, an ancient Bokele custom in honor of Our Lady of Škrpjela and the artificial island on which grateful Bokele sailors built a temple in honor of the Lady. Legend has it that Peraš fishermen found an icon of the Virgin and Christ on the rock on which today's island was built (which is now on the main altar) and decided to build an island and a church on it by sinking stones and shipwrecks. Since then, the unwritten vow of the sailors of Pera has been valid that before each "vijaj" new stones are sunk around the island as a contribution to the strength of the foundation of the temple of their patron saint. It is probably for this reason that Fashinada was born.

This traditional manifestation got its name from the Italian word ''fascia'', which means band or binding, and it is so named because the convoy of boats, decorated with apple branches and filled with stones, is connected to each other. There are only the pastor and men in the boats, heirs of famous sailors and more respectable Peraštans, while the women greet them from the shore. Rowing boats, every year on July 22nd at dusk when the sun sets, with the singing of Bulgarian women, move towards the island to fulfill the legacy of their ancestors and throw stones around the island.

The island was built at the end of the 15th century when the original church was built, which expanded in accordance with the changes in the dimensions of the island. Today's church was built in 1630 and is one of the most important historical and cultural monuments of Boka. The most intensive works on the church were carried out from 1720 to 1725, when an eight-sided presbytery with a dome and a round bell tower with horizontal cornices and loopholes were built according to the design of the then famous Ilija Katičić, and Petar Dubrovčanin and Vuk Kandiot participated in the construction. On the front of the church is a portal with a pediment and a small archaic-looking statue of Our Lady and Christ. In 1796, the Genoese Antonio Capellano made a marble altar on the order of the Peraš municipality, on which is the famous icon of Our Lady of Škrpjela, by the artist from the end of the 15th century, Lovro Dobričević. On the order of Andrija Zmajević from Peraštan, the interior of the church was painted by the representative of the Venetian school, Bokelj, Tripo Kokolja. There are sixty-eight of his paintings on canvas on the ceiling and walls, and on the very top and upper zones of the walls are scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary, while in the lowest parts of the walls scenes from the Old Testament are painted. In the central part of the ceiling is the painting of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, and besides it, there are also large compositions such as the Coronation of Mary and the Death of Mary.

On the ceiling there are about forty other paintings, between which the symbol of seafaring passes - a twisted gilded rope. On the side walls of the church, around Kokolje's paintings, there are many silver tiles with reliefs depicting the ships of Bokelje sailors, who left these tiles when they went to sea, because it was believed that, wherever they were, they would be protected by Our Lady of Škrpjela. In addition, the church has a large collection of archaeological exhibits found throughout the territory of Boka, as well as a large number of objects from everyday life and various handicrafts, which the faithful left as thanks for the fulfillment of prayers addressed to the patron saint of Boka sailors. For the last two years, an international toad sailing regatta has been organized as part of Fashinada, which completes the atmosphere and the story of Perast and its sailors. The regatta is held in the water area in front of Perast, around the island to the Veriga Strait and in the Tivat Bay, and is organized by the Sailing Association of Montenegro. Every July 22, a huge number of tourists and citizens of Boka come to Perast to enjoy the ambience of the City of Museums and to leave their mark on the Boke tradition and one of the rare processions at sea - the Fashinada. Nebojsa Mandic