Parish Church of Saint Joseph

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The chapel of St.Vicenca was once the only one in Vela Luka, and it was too small for the number of citizens at that time. The rich, pious and noble widow Jeroloma Andelina Sevilo
(who lived in Vela Luka) begged in 1820. the state administration in Zadar and the bishop ordinate in Korcula, to let her build a new, bigger and more convenient church on her own expense. The parish churches in the villages were worn out and had become too small for the citizens, so the people started to put them in order and the building of the churches was financed by the proper authorities with a small contribution of the citizens.
There were not enough means and the contributions of the citizens were too small, so the works lasted for years and some of them were even abandoned. None of the churches in the community were satisfactory any more. That is why at the end of this period the church in Blato was reconstructed, and the church in Vela Luka was built and renewed.
After that a new church in Smokvica was built and the reconstruction of the church in Smokvica was solved. This way the problem was partly solved. By the end of the 18th century only about ten families used to live in Vela Luka, but navigators and traders were dropping by. That is why at that time there was the need for an organization of ecclesiastical rite that was held in the far away Blato. After long discussions was finally in 1819 a priest named for Vela Luka. But there was not a convenient church for ecclesiastical rites. The chapel of St. Vicenca that dated from the 16th century was worn out and too small for the growing number of inhabitants. For that reason, was already during the thirties of the 19th century the problem of the construction of a new church initiated, but that problem was being solved too slowly. Some plans were made, but the construction got stuck due to lack of means. A foundation was established. Contributions of the inhabitants were collected, but that was still not enough. Finally, in 1845 granted the state 4000 Forint and the preparations for the construction started immediately. In the same year an auction was announced for the construction. The only competer was the contractor Petkovic Kovac from Blato. In July 1846 the engineer of the Dubrovnik region Giacomo Pozzo submitted the construction ground.
On 2nd of August the foundation-stone was solemnly laid. In 1849 Vela Luka became an independent parish and the need for a church was even greater.The church of St. Joseph in Vela Luka was finished in 1840 and consecrated in August. That is a trinomial building with the shapes of late classicism.
The design was made in 1840 by the engineer Nicolo Niseto, a doctor of mathematics from the Management for public construction and the Dalmatian state administration in Zadar. He was in service in Dubrovnik with Antonio Aparti, an engineer for the region of Dubrovnik and Kotor at that time. In 1843, Niseto took over the position of the provisional engineer in Kotor. In 1846, when the construction began, the engineer Giacomo Pozzo was posted in the Dubrovnik region. He contributed to the solving of the problems with the construction of the church since then, and especially with the changing of the design. In 1871, an independent tower was built at the south-west side of the church. The basis is squared, and the decoration is done in the tradition of domestic baroque with gothic retardations. There is a loggia for the bells on top and an ending in the shape of an arc.