The monastery of St Mary the Great near Bale in Istria is a rare example of systematic research of a Carolingian monastery. In the first phase (1995-2000) the church and the south western chapel were excavated, in a French – Croatian partnership (J.-P. Caillet, P. Chevalier, I. Matejčić, M. Jurković). The third partner, the Museum of Croatian national monuments – MHAS (A. Milošević), joined in the second phase of the project, when the eastern and southern parts of the monastery, outside the perimeter of the walls were excavated (2002-2012). The ongoing third phase concentrates on the outer perimeter of the western side of the monastery, and is incorporated in the CROMART project.

The interest of the CROMART project in this archaeological research is in the fact that it is one of the first early medieval monasteries to be built according the rules that were eventually implemented at the council in Inden in 816. Therefore, as it is in ruins, an enormous amount of information for the functioning of Carolingian monasteries is expected. Project team members involved directly in that research are M. Jurković, I. Matejčić, J.-P. Caillet, P. Chevalier, while other team members work on comparative material (S. Mustač, M. Levak, M. Bradanović, R. Starac, S. Riccioni, M. Guardia, C. Mancho).

The 2014 campaign concentrated on the south western corner of the monastery, and the connection of the chapel with the monastery enclosure.