Resting-place of Žakan Jurij

The illuminated manuscript Missal of Prince Novak has been acquired in 1405 for the church in Nugla near Roč. Eighty years later the text was used as a model for the first Croatian printed book – the Glagolitic Missal in 1483. It is not known were it was printed, but Istrian Glagolitic priests prepared it for print, and one of them was žakan (deacon) Jurij (George) from Roč. Enthusiastic about the printing of the first Croatian book, he wrote on the last page of the manuscript Missal: Vita, vita. Our books are rising. So I want that they grow. Written in the town of Isola, on June 26, 1482. This was written by Juri Žakan from Roč.  God help him and all who wish him well. The memorial dedicated to Jurij is at the foot of Hum, at the beginning of the branch road to western Humšćina. It consists of a high stone block carved in the shape of a book with the inscription: Vita, vita, our books are rising, 1482, and seven smaller stone blocks reminiscent of Glagolitic letters for manual type-setting. They compose the name žakn Juri. The memorial was set in 1981, on the 500th anniversary of the Croatian Glagolitic Missal of 1483.