Brac
Encyclopedia
Brač is an island in the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...

 within Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

, with an area of 396 km², making it the largest island in Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....

, and the third largest in the Adriatic. Its tallest peak, Vidova Gora
Vidova Gora
Vidova gora is the highest peak on the island of Brač, Croatia....

, or Mount St. Vid, stands at 778 m, making it the highest island point in the Adriatic. The island has a population of 13,000, living in numerous settlements, ranging from the main town Supetar
Supetar
Supetar is a town on the northern side of the Dalmatian island of Brač,in the Splitsko-Dalmatiska County, in Croatia. It became the island's official centre in 1827...

, with more than 3,500 inhabitants, to Novo Selo, where only a dozen people live. Bol Airport
Bol Airport
Bol Airport or Brač Airport is an airport on the Croatian island of Brač, close to the town of Bol.It is primarily served by charter traffic from Europe during the summer seasons. Operators during the summer months are Croatia Airlines, Austrian Airlines and Private Wings Flugcharter. Most of the...

 on Brač is the largest airport of all islands surrounding Split
Split (city)
Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...

.

History

Archaeological 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
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...

. In the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

 and Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

, Illyria
Illyria
In classical antiquity, Illyria was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by the Illyrians....

n 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 colonisation 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 artifacts
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...

 were found in the bay of Vičja near Ložišća. Brač lay on the crossroads of several trade routes from Salona
Salona
Salona was an ancient Illyrian Delmati city in the first millennium BC. The Greeks had set up an emporion there. After the conquest by the Romans, Salona became the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia...

 (today Solin) to Issa
Vis (island)
Vis is the most outerly lying larger Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, and is part of the Central Dalmatian group of islands, with an area of 90.26 km² and a population of 3,617 . Of all the inhabited Croatian islands, it is the farthest from the coast...

 (today Vis) and the Po River
Po River
The Po |Ligurian]]: Bodincus or Bodencus) is a river that flows either or – considering the length of the Maira, a right bank tributary – eastward across northern Italy, from a spring seeping from a stony hillside at Pian del Re, a flat place at the head of the Val Po under the northwest face...

.
In the year AD 9, the Romans
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

 finally conquered Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....

 after long fights against the native tribes. Salona
Salona
Salona was an ancient Illyrian Delmati city in the first millennium BC. The Greeks had set up an emporion there. After the conquest by the Romans, Salona became the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia...

 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 villa
Roman villa
A Roman villa is a villa that was built or lived in during the Roman republic and the Roman Empire. A villa was originally a Roman country house built for the upper class...

s, cisterns, and especially early quarries between Škrip and Split
Split (city)
Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...

ska. Splitska also became the most important harbour to carry stone to Salona and the whole of Dalmatia. Diocletian's Palace
Diocletian's Palace
Diocletian's Palace is a building in Split, Croatia, that was built by the Roman emperor Diocletian at the turn of the fourth century AD.Diocletian built the massive palace in preparation for his retirement on 1 May 305 AD. It lies in a bay on the south side of a short peninsula running out from...

, which later became Split, was largely built with limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

 that was quarried on Brač. Also agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

, especially wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

 and olive
Olive
The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...

s, began in the same era.

After the destruction of Salona by Avar
Eurasian Avars
The Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups...

 and Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...

 tribes, Brač became a refuge for many denizens of the shore. Tradition has it that Škrip was founded by refugee
Refugee
A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...

 Salonans, but the town is actually much older than that.

From AD 1268 to 1357 the island recognised the supremacy of the Republic of Venice
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...

, and after that they bowed to the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary in the Middle Ages
The Kingdom of Hungary was formed from the previous Principality of Hungarywith the coronation of Stephen I in AD 1000. This was a result of the conversion of Géza of Hungary to the Western Church in the 970s....

. In the summer of 1390, together with the whole region, they accepted the rule of the Bosnian
History of Bosnia and Herzegovina
-Pre-Slavic Period :Bosnia has been inhabited at least since Neolithic times. In the late Bronze Age, the Neolithic population was replaced by more warlike Indo-European tribes known as the Illyrians. Celtic migrations in the 4th and 3rd century BCE displaced many Illyrian tribes from their former...

 King Tvrtko 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
Nerežišca
Nerežišća is a village on the island Brač in Croatia. It has a population of 868 , 98% which are Croats.In the past, Nerežišća was the capital of the island. It was founded in the middle of the island because of fear of pirates marauding the Adriatic Sea...

 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, when the Habsburg Monarchy
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...

 annexed most of its territory in a deal with Napoleonic France. The official language was Latin. During this time, the Bosnian realm fell to the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 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
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

, Brač was conquered by the French Empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...

 for a short time in 1806. In 1807, Prince-Bishop Petar I Njegoš of Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...

 managed to seize Brač with the help of the Russia
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

n navy, however already at the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...

 in 1815 the island was returned to the Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...

. Brač was incorporated into the Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n crownland of Dalmatia from and became a part of Transleithania of the Monarchy
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...

 of Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

 from 1867. After the fall of Austria-Hungary 1918, Brač became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, or Yugoslavia since 1929. In 1939 an autonomous Croatian Banate was created that included the island.
The population of the island drastically decreased in the beginning of the 20th century due to heavy emigration, mostly to Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

, especially Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 and Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

, and to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. The emigration continued during the whole century, only later generations preferring to move to European countries, especially Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

.

In 1941 Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 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
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 troops occupied the island on January 12 and 13 of 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
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...

, until Croatia gained its independence in 1991, receiving recognition in 1992. The Croatian War of Independence
Croatian War of Independence
The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between forces loyal to the government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia —and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army and local Serb forces, with the JNA ending its combat...

 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.

Economy

The economy of Brač is based mostly on tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

, but fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

 and agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

 (especially wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

 and olive
Olive
The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...

s) are very important too, as is its precious white stone which was used in building Diocletian's Palace
Diocletian's Palace
Diocletian's Palace is a building in Split, Croatia, that was built by the Roman emperor Diocletian at the turn of the fourth century AD.Diocletian built the massive palace in preparation for his retirement on 1 May 305 AD. It lies in a bay on the south side of a short peninsula running out from...

 in Split
Split (city)
Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...

 and the Canadian National Vimy Memorial
Canadian National Vimy Memorial
The Canadian National Vimy Memorial is a memorial site in France dedicated to the memory of Canadian Expeditionary Force members killed during the First World War. It also serves as the place of commemoration for First World War Canadian soldiers killed or presumed dead in France who have no known...

. Historically, Brač was famous for goats; even Pliny
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...

 comments that from the island of Brattia (the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 name for the island) comes excellent cheese, wine and olive oil. Brač produces about half of the Dalmatian olive oil production .

Towns and villages

Other towns and villages on the island include Supetar
Supetar
Supetar is a town on the northern side of the Dalmatian island of Brač,in the Splitsko-Dalmatiska County, in Croatia. It became the island's official centre in 1827...

, Bol
Bol, Croatia
Bol is a town on the south of the island of Brač in theSplit-Dalmatia County of Croatia, population 1,661 .Bol is renowned for its most popular beach, the Zlatni rat . It is a promontory composed mostly of pebble rock that visibly shifts with the tidal movement, a unique sight...

, Škrip
Škrip
Škrip is a village in Croatia....

 (the oldest village, from pre-Roman times), Pučišća
Pucišca
Pučišća is a municipality in Croatia on the island of Brač in the Split-Dalmatia county. It has a population of 2,224 , 99% which are Croats. The municipality consists of three settlements: Gornji Humac, Pražnica and Pučišća....

, Splitska
Splitska
Splitska is an ancient village on the island of Brač in Croatia. The population is 381 .The village got its name from a derivative of Split...

, Postira
Postira
Postira is a village and a municipality in Croatia in the Split-Dalmatia county on the island of Brač.-Geography:The village of Postira is located on the northern coast of the island of Brač....

, Nerežišća
Nerežišca
Nerežišća is a village on the island Brač in Croatia. It has a population of 868 , 98% which are Croats.In the past, Nerežišća was the capital of the island. It was founded in the middle of the island because of fear of pirates marauding the Adriatic Sea...

, Donji Humac
Donji Humac
Donji Humac is one of the oldest settlements on the Croatian island of Brač, about 2 kilometers from Nerežišća, the previous capital of the island and home of Brač's aristocracy. Population is 157 ....

, Milna
Milna
Milna is a village and municipality on the western side of the island of Brač, Split-Dalmatia county, Croatia.It is situated in a deep bay oriented towards the island of Mrduja and Split Channel, on the west.The village was settled in the 16th century, by sheppards from Nerežišća.- Villages in the...

, Mirca
Mirca
Mirca is a small village is one of the 24 villages on island of Brač, close to the middle of the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea, Croatia.-History:...

, Murvica
Murvica
Murvica is a 29-inhabitant small village 6 km west of Bol, on the island Brač, in Croatia. It is situated beneath karst caves along the southern side of the island and was mentioned for the first time in 1286. Later it developed as a supply centre for the many hermits living there.Monks and...

, Gornji Humac
Gornji Humac
Gornji Humac is a village in Croatia. It is connected by the D113 highway....

, Dol, Sutivan
Sutivan
Sutivan is a town on the island of Brač, Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. It has a population of 759 , 93% which are Croats....

, Sumartin
Sumartin
Sumartin is a port village in Croatia on the island of Brač. It is connected by the D113 highway and by ferry....

, Praznica
Pražnica
Pražnica is a village in Croatia. It is connected by the D113 highway....

, Povlja
Povlja
Povlja is a village in Croatia....

, Dračevica, Ložišća
Ložišća
Ložišća is a small settlement on the west parts of the Croatian island of Brač. It is built on a steep hillside, and has a view of the ocean. The center of the town is an old church dedicated to Saint Blaise, the patron saint of Dalmatia. One of the unique features of the church is a large,...

, Bobovišća na moru
Bobovišća na moru
Bobovišća na Moru is a hamlet located near Supetar on the island of Brač, off of Split, in Croatia. Its population is 68 .-References:...

  and many more.

Other places of interest are the Blaca hermitage
Blaca hermitage
The Blaca Hermitage is located on the southern side of Brač island, in the Split-Dalmatia County of Croatia.- Site Description :The hermitage was originally established in 1551 by two Glagolitic monks, and continued by successive generations of monks until 1963 with the death of Father Niko...

 and Drakonjina špilja
Drakonjina špilja
Drakonjina špilja , also known as Zmajeva pećina , is so called because of the mysterious relief of a dragon found inside. It is located immediately above Murvica, on the island of Brač, in Croatia....

.

Literature


External links

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