Croatian Glagolitic Script Day is marked today

(Photo: Marino Pavletic/Creative Commons)

Zagreb, 22 February 2021 – Today is the official Croatian Glagolitic Script and Glagolitism Day.

In 2019, the Croatian Parliament voted to declare the 22nd of February as the official Croatian Glagolitic Script Day and on Monday the day is being marked for the third time.

The Glagolitic alphabet was preserved only by Croats who used it from the 12th to the 20th century, mostly in liturgy.

With the aim of popularising this Croatian alphabet and script as the guardian of Croatian identity, the Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistics launched the campaign called “Croatian Glagolitic Script Day” in 2018.

This is the third year that Croatian Glagolitic Script Day is being observed in Croatia on 22nd of February and is in memory of the publishing of Missale Romanum Glagolitice, Croatian: Misal po zakonu rimskoga dvora), a Croatian missal, written in the Glagolitic script, and incunabulum printed on 22 February 1483.

Baščanska ploča, the oldest evidence of the glagolitic script. Found on the island of Krk, Croatia (Photo: Neoneo 13/Public domain)

Missale Romanum Glagolitice was printed in two colours – black and red, and just 28 years after the Gutenberg Bible was printed. This showed that Croats had been extremely developed in the social, economic and cultural sense already in the 15th century.

Glagolitsa in Zagreb Cathedral (Photo: Neno DUS/Public domain)