Gabela
Encyclopedia
Gabela is a town in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina
, 5 kilometres south of Čapljina
and 4 kilometers from Metković
, in Croatia
. It is situated in the navigable lower course of the Neretva
, off the major road linking the coast with the mountainous hinterland. The word Gabela comes from the Italian word for customs and Arabic word for tax (al-qabala).
, the ruler, and Dubrovnik
as Drijeva (the Croatian word for ship or ferry). Up to the end of the 12th century it was called Drijevo and was an important centre for the trade between the Bosnian kings and Dubrovnik, in which goods were flowing from Dubrovnik and Venice: salt, oil, wine, fabrics, glass, weapons and luxury goods, and from the inside: wood, meet, corn, wool, honey and cheese, until it became a Dubrovnik colony known as Osobljane.
Drijeva rapidly became a port for slave trading, along with Brštanik, and this was sanctioned by law. This can be seen in the archives of Dubrovnik, where the Mercantum Narenti (Forum Narenti) is mentioned, and in the Statute of Dubrovnik of 1272, where in the sixth book there is a series of passages (42-52) dealing with the social status of slaves. The trade was mostly carried out by the Bogumil Bosnians who brought them into Bosnia and then exported to Venice
, Genoa
, Sicily
and Tripoli
on the African coast.
In the 14th century the Bosnian kings began to implement forceful measures against this "trade in human flesh on the Neretva" and under pressure from them in 1400 the Dubrovnik Senate banned the trade in human lives, and the transport of slaves in Ragusan ships in 1416 under the threat of six months imprisionament in the underground dungeons in Dubrovnik in the Rector's palace in Dubrovnik, as well as a fine. Under the name Gabela (it. Gabella - "customs house") the town was mentioned in 1399.
The Turks occupied the town in 1529 and built the Sedislam Fortress on the right-hand bank of the Neretva. It became the center of the Gabela captany (orignized before 1561). In 1537 Gabela becomes part of Nevesinje kadiluk.
In the middle of 17th century Ali-Pasha Cengic rebuilt and reinforced the fort (so called Novi grad). In 1693 it was conquered by the Venetians who repaired the Turkish buildings, especially in Novi Grad (the new town) and Derzelez fortress, but they destroyed these buildings again when the Turks
attacked once more and recaptured from them in 1715. In 1718 the Turks themselves rebuilt part of the settlement. As well as fragments of the walls and towers, the ruins of two churches are also still visible, as well as the "sultan's Mosque" (Careva džamija) which the Venetians converted into a church, St. Stephen's (Sveti Stjepan), and added stone sculptures of lions, the symbol of the Venetian Empire.
Until 1878 it was an important border town between Herzegovina
and Dalmatia
, but the role of Gabela as the fort was taken by the town of Pocitelj
. Today Gabela is a small town in Čapljina
community in Bosnia-Herzegovina about 3 km from the border with Croatia
on the right bank of the Neretva river, again an important point of transit, with a rail road passing though it.
was a concentration camp run by the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia and Croatian Defence Council. The camp consisted of detention facilities and a munitions warehouse. "Outside observers were not allowed to visit Gabela until August, 1993. At this time the ICRC registered 1,100 inmates."
, but on the site of present Gabela. At the mouth of the Neretva
, he claims to have found traces which were totally in accord with his research which points out to the fact that Gabela was in fact Troy
. Sketches that he drew on the basis of descriptions from the Iliad
agree totally with air pictures of Gabela, as well as archeological digs in the area from the early Iron Age
. Descriptions of the town, temples, palaces, the names of allied cities, islands, the Trojan hinterland all agree.
He then compared the stars mentioned in the Iliad and confirmed that they could only have been visible from Gabela in those positions which Homer describes in the Iliad. When he visited Gabela again in 1985, he continued to claim that Gabela was in fact ancient Ilios, and that no other place coincides with Homer's description of Troy better than Gabela. He also claims that in the ruins of Gabela, there are remains of the Temple to Athena, but he termed his own book "provocative", expecting archeologists to respond to his questions and statements.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, 5 kilometres south of Čapljina
Capljina
Čapljina is a town and municipality of the same name in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Čapljina is located on the border with Croatia a mere from the Adriatic Sea....
and 4 kilometers from Metković
Metkovic
Metković is a city in the Dubrovnik-Neretva county of Croatia, located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the river Neretva and on the border with Herzegovina.-Demographics:...
, in 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 ...
. It is situated in the navigable lower course of the Neretva
Neretva
Neretva is the largest river of the eastern part of the Adriatic basin. It has been harnessed and controlled to a large extent by four HE power-plants with large dams and their storage lakes, but it is still recognized for its natural beauty, diversity of its landscape and visual...
, off the major road linking the coast with the mountainous hinterland. The word Gabela comes from the Italian word for customs and Arabic word for tax (al-qabala).
History
According to history, Gabela was first mentioned in a contract between NemanjaNemanja
Nemanja is an old name of Serbian and a Slavic origin, most likely meaning meaning "stubborn" or "persistent" as a negative of a Serbian verb "maniti se" or "manuti se" which loosely translates as "to give up"/"to leave something alone". It first appears in 11-12th century and, thanks to the...
, the ruler, and Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...
as Drijeva (the Croatian word for ship or ferry). Up to the end of the 12th century it was called Drijevo and was an important centre for the trade between the Bosnian kings and Dubrovnik, in which goods were flowing from Dubrovnik and Venice: salt, oil, wine, fabrics, glass, weapons and luxury goods, and from the inside: wood, meet, corn, wool, honey and cheese, until it became a Dubrovnik colony known as Osobljane.
Drijeva rapidly became a port for slave trading, along with Brštanik, and this was sanctioned by law. This can be seen in the archives of Dubrovnik, where the Mercantum Narenti (Forum Narenti) is mentioned, and in the Statute of Dubrovnik of 1272, where in the sixth book there is a series of passages (42-52) dealing with the social status of slaves. The trade was mostly carried out by the Bogumil Bosnians who brought them into Bosnia and then exported to Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
, Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
and Tripoli
Tripoli
Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
on the African coast.
In the 14th century the Bosnian kings began to implement forceful measures against this "trade in human flesh on the Neretva" and under pressure from them in 1400 the Dubrovnik Senate banned the trade in human lives, and the transport of slaves in Ragusan ships in 1416 under the threat of six months imprisionament in the underground dungeons in Dubrovnik in the Rector's palace in Dubrovnik, as well as a fine. Under the name Gabela (it. Gabella - "customs house") the town was mentioned in 1399.
The Turks occupied the town in 1529 and built the Sedislam Fortress on the right-hand bank of the Neretva. It became the center of the Gabela captany (orignized before 1561). In 1537 Gabela becomes part of Nevesinje kadiluk.
In the middle of 17th century Ali-Pasha Cengic rebuilt and reinforced the fort (so called Novi grad). In 1693 it was conquered by the Venetians who repaired the Turkish buildings, especially in Novi Grad (the new town) and Derzelez fortress, but they destroyed these buildings again when the Turks
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...
attacked once more and recaptured from them in 1715. In 1718 the Turks themselves rebuilt part of the settlement. As well as fragments of the walls and towers, the ruins of two churches are also still visible, as well as the "sultan's Mosque" (Careva džamija) which the Venetians converted into a church, St. Stephen's (Sveti Stjepan), and added stone sculptures of lions, the symbol of the Venetian Empire.
Until 1878 it was an important border town between Herzegovina
Herzegovina
Herzegovina is the southern region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. While there is no official border distinguishing it from the Bosnian region, it is generally accepted that the borders of the region are Croatia to the west, Montenegro to the south, the canton boundaries of the Herzegovina-Neretva...
and 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....
, but the role of Gabela as the fort was taken by the town of Pocitelj
Pocitelj
Počitelj is a town in the Čapljina municipality, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The historic site of Počitelj is located on the left bank of the river Neretva, on the main Mostar to Metković road, and it is to the south of Mostar.During the Middle Ages, Počitelj was...
. Today Gabela is a small town in Čapljina
Capljina
Čapljina is a town and municipality of the same name in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Čapljina is located on the border with Croatia a mere from the Adriatic Sea....
community in Bosnia-Herzegovina about 3 km from the border with 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 ...
on the right bank of the Neretva river, again an important point of transit, with a rail road passing though it.
Gabela Concentration Camp
Gabela campGabela camp
Gabela camp was a concentration camp run by the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia and Croatian Defence Council in Gabela, the camp was located several kilometres south of Čapljina.-The camp:...
was a concentration camp run by the Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia and Croatian Defence Council. The camp consisted of detention facilities and a munitions warehouse. "Outside observers were not allowed to visit Gabela until August, 1993. At this time the ICRC registered 1,100 inmates."
Demographics
| Population of Gabela municipality | ||||||
| style="background: bgcolor="#99CC99" > Year of census | style="background: bgcolor="#99CC99" > 1991 | |||||
| style="background: bgcolor="#FFFFFF" > Muslims by nationality Muslims by nationality Muslims by nationality was a term used in Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as an official designation of nationality of Slavic Muslims. They were one of the constitutive groups of Bosnia and Herzegovina... |
32 (1.31%) | |||||
| style="background: bgcolor="#FFFFFF" > Serbs | 324 (13.27%) | |||||
| style="background: bgcolor="#FFFFFF" > Croats | 2,046 (83.85%) | |||||
| style="background: bgcolor="#FFFFFF" > Yugoslavs Yugoslavs Yugoslavs is a national designation used by a minority of South Slavs across the countries of the former Yugoslavia and in the diaspora... |
24 (0.9876%) | |||||
| style="background: bgcolor="#FFFFFF" >others and unknown | 14 (0.57%) | |||||
| style="background: bgcolor="#FFFFFF" >total | 2,440 | |||||
Is Gabela Troy ?
The Mexican philogogist Roberto Salinas Price published a book in 1985 entitled Homer's Blind Audience in which he argued that ancient Troy was not in Asia MinorAsia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
, but on the site of present Gabela. At the mouth of the Neretva
Neretva
Neretva is the largest river of the eastern part of the Adriatic basin. It has been harnessed and controlled to a large extent by four HE power-plants with large dams and their storage lakes, but it is still recognized for its natural beauty, diversity of its landscape and visual...
, he claims to have found traces which were totally in accord with his research which points out to the fact that Gabela was in fact Troy
Troy
Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
. Sketches that he drew on the basis of descriptions from the Iliad
Iliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
agree totally with air pictures of Gabela, as well as archeological digs in the area from the early 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...
. Descriptions of the town, temples, palaces, the names of allied cities, islands, the Trojan hinterland all agree.
He then compared the stars mentioned in the Iliad and confirmed that they could only have been visible from Gabela in those positions which Homer describes in the Iliad. When he visited Gabela again in 1985, he continued to claim that Gabela was in fact ancient Ilios, and that no other place coincides with Homer's description of Troy better than Gabela. He also claims that in the ruins of Gabela, there are remains of the Temple to Athena, but he termed his own book "provocative", expecting archeologists to respond to his questions and statements.
Further reading
- Official results from the book: Ethnic composition of Bosnia-Herzegovina population, by municipalities and settlements, 1991. census, Zavod za statistiku Bosne i Hercegovine - Bilten no.234, Sarajevo 1991.
- Roberto Salinas Price, Homeric whispers: intimations of orthodoxy in the Iliad and Odyssey, Scylax Press (2006), ISBN 0910865116 on Google booksGoogleGoogle Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
.