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The Cistercian Kutjevo monastery was founded in 1232 as a daughter-house of Zirc Abbey in Hungary, of the filiation of Clairvaux. The Cistercians planted the vineyards, which are still cultivated today. After the Turkish attack of 1521 (or 1529) the monastery was dissolved and subsequently destroyed.
In 1689 the monastery estate was granted by Emperor Leopold I to Ivan Babić, a canon of Zagreb, who was named titular abbot. In 1698 the site was re-settled by the Jesuits, who remained there until 1773. In 1882 the property was acquired by Vjenceslav Turković and Franjo Türk who developed a significant wine production on it. After World War II this was conducted as a Socialist enterprise.
The existing building complex was built by the Jesuits in the 18th century on the ruins of the Cistercian monastery. The former monastery church, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, still stands.
References:Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.