Friar Martin Nedic`s 200th Birth Anniversary

Friar Martin Nedić, the most honorable Croat form Bosnian Posavina, was born in 1810th in Tolisa, near Orašje, where he died in 1895th.

By construction of monastery and church in Tolisa, the biggest Catholic Church in B&H, Friar Martin had left his permanent monument. He already built a modest church building in Sutjeska (where he discovered the tomb of King StjepanTomaš), by which he gained a lot of architectural experiences. After the new parish apartment has been built in Tolisa in 1856, the start of building the church prolonged for couple of years because the permission had to be obtained, the “ferman (decree)” from the Sultan of Constantinople. The very construction of the church in baroque style lasted fifteen years because the construction of such church in the 19th century in Bosnia was an extraordinary undertake. Friar Martin Nedić is also important for his social works. Both as usual friar and as provincial of Bosnian Franciscans, he promoted education, the one that served to educate young Franciscans, and one that served to literacy of the people. He is also known for his literary work and as the first Illyrian poet of Bosnia and Herzegovina. About the great reputation of friar Martin Nedic speak the facts that the Vienna Academy appointed him as an honorable member, and the Sultan awarded him with the Turkish decorations.