Brač

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Not to be confused with BRAC

Location Brač

Brač (Latin Bratzis, Italian Brazza) is an island in the Adriatic Sea within Croatia, with an area of 396 km², making it the third largest island in the Adriatic, and thus the largest in Dalmatia. Its tallest peak, Vidova Gora, or Mount St. Vid( Italian: San Vito ) , stands at 778 m, making it the highest island point in the Adriatic. The island has a population of 13,000, living in numerous little towns, ranging from the 'main town' Supetar (Italian: San Pietro della Brazza ) , with more than 3,500 inhabitants, to Novo Selo (Italian: Villanova ) , where only a dozen people live.

Supetar harbour

Other towns and villages on the island include Supetar (Italian: San Pietro della Brazza ), Bol ( Italian: Boli, Vallo della Brazza ), Škrip( Italian: Scripea ) (the oldest village, from preroman times), Pučišća (Italian: Pucischie ), Splitska (Italian: Porta di Spalato ), Postira, Nerežišće (Italian: Neresi ), Donji Humac (Italian: Sant'Elia ), Milna (Italian: Milona ), Mirca (Italian: Mirza ), Gornji Humac (Italian: Umazzo ), Dol (Italian: Dol) , Sutivan (Italian: San Giovanni ), Sumartin (Italian: San Martino), Praznica (Italian: Prasnizza), Murvica (Italian: Murvizza ), Povlja (Italian: Poria ), Dračevica (Italian: Dracevizza ), Ložišća (Italian: Losischie ) and many more.

The economy of Brač is based mostly on tourism, but fishing and agriculture (especially wine and olives) are very important too, as is its precious white stone (which was used in building Diocletian's Palace in Split). Historically, Brač was famous for goats; even Pliny comments that from the island of Brattia (the Latin name for the island) comes excellent cheese, wine and olive oil.

[edit] History

Archeological findings date the existence of human communities on the island back to the palaeolithic (in the Kopačina cave between Supetar and Donji Humac). Nevertheless, there are no traces of human habitation from the neolithic. In the Bronze Age and Iron Age, Illyrian tribes populated the inner parts of the island. Numerous villages existed at that time (but none of them survived).

In the 4th century BC Greek colonization spread over many Adriatic islands and along the shore, but none of them on Brač. Nevertheless, Greeks visited the island and also traded with the Illyric tribes; Greek artefacts were found in the bay of Vičja near Ložišća. Brač lay on the crossroads of several trade routes from Salona (today Solin) to Issa (today Vis) and the Po River.

In the year 9, the Romans finally conquered Dalmatia after long fights against the native tribes. Salona became the capital of the new province and, probably because of its proximity to Salona, no bigger villages or towns were founded on the island. Signs of Roman habitation can be found all over the islands, but they usually remain single Roman villas, cisterns, and especially early quarries between Škrip and Splitska. Splitska also became the most important harbour to carry stone to Salona and the whole of Dalmatia. Diocletian's Palace, which later became the seed of closeby Split, was built in this period with the stone that was cut here. Also agriculture, especially wine and olives, started in that time.

After the destruction of Salona by Avar and Slavic tribes, Brač first became a refuge for many a denizen of the shore. Tradition has it that Škrip was founded by refugee Salonans, but the town is actually much older than that. Nominally, the island was then part of the Byzantine Empire. The island became a part of the Medieval Croatian state in 925 under the crown of King Tomislav. In the 12th century, as Croatian influence faded (Croatia became part of Hungary) Brač was able to gain and keep independence for almost two centuries. From 1268 to 1357 the island recognized the supremacy of the Republic of Venice, and after that they bowed to Hungary again. In the summer of 1390, together with the whole region, they accepted the rule of the Bosnian King Stefan Tvrtko I Kotromanić, who died the next year. Soon after his death, Hungary claimed the island again. In this whole period, they kept their basic autonomy and old structures -- the island was never rich or strategically interesting enough to justify serious intervention. Local nobility administered and ruled Brač and the seat of the council was Nerežišća in the island's center. The leader was selected from the noble families. Only in 1420 did the Venetian Republic reclaim the island, finally sending someone to lead the island.

Venice ruled for more than four centuries, until 1797. The official language was Latin. During this time, the Bosnian realm fell to the Ottoman Empire and many refugees settled on the islands, especially on Brač. Many towns were founded in that time and the population began moving from the interior of the island to its coast: to Bol, Milna, Postira, Povlja, Pučišća, Splitska, Sumartin, Supetar i Sutivan.

During the Napoleonic Wars, the power of Venice was terminated and Brač was administrated by France for a short time. In 1807, Petar I Njegoš of Montenegro managed to seize Brač and Korčula with the help of the Russian navy. In the Congress of Vienna in 1814 the island was given to the Austrian Empire. Brač was incorporated into the Austrian crownland of Dalmatia from 1815 and became a part of Transleithania of the Monarchy of Austria-Hungary from 1867. After the fall of Austria-Hungary 1918, Brač became part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

The population of the island drastically decreased in the beginning of the 20th century due to heavy emigration, mostly to Latin America, especially Argentina and Chile, and to New Zealand and Australia. The emigration continued during the whole century, only later generations preferring to move to European countries, especially Germany.

In 1941 Italian forces occupied the island. In the mountainous regions of the island, native rebels fought a quite effective guerilla war, but the occupiers answered harshly with arrests and executions. After the Italian capitulation in 1943, German troops occupied the island in June 1944, but in July they were defeated and the island was freed. As part of Croatia it became part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, until Croatia gained its independence in 1991. The Croatian War of Independence was barely fought on the island (there was a brief bombing of Milna), but the aftermath of the war, especially the loss in tourism, was disastrous for the island. Only now is the island regenerating from the decade-long drainage of its most important revenue.

Southern side of Brač

[edit] Literature

Prirodne osnove otoka Brača, Bračni zbornik, vol. 14, Ivo Marinković, ed., SIZ za kulturu općine Brač, Supetar, 1984
Povijest otoka Brača, Dasen Vrsalovic, Publisher: Skupština općine Brač, Savjet za prosvjetu i kulturu, Supetar, 1968, OCLC: 8993839