How Kastavska Crekvina was Built
In the 17th century the Jesuits decided to build a magnificent church devoted to St. Mary on the east side of Kastav.
All of the residents of Kastav had to help with its construction without any compensation. They had to even carry sand on their back from Preluka to Kastav for the construction. Among them was a poor widow with three children who did not have anything to feed them. When her turn to work came, she begged one of the Jesuits who was supervising the work to free her from this obligation so that she could go to work as a servant for a family in order to earn a piece of bread for her hungry children. Instead of releasing her from work, the Jesuit struck her three times with his whip. The humiliated, insulted woman cursed the construction of the church, "May God always tear down this building!" The Jesuits tried three times to finish the church, but always failed. Even today it is not known why the construction fell apart and whether it will ever be finished. The ruins of the church, which is popularly known as "Crekvina," still stand in Kastav today as a historical and cultural monument.