Lastovo Poklad
Encyclopedia
Lastovo
Lastovo is an island municipality in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County in Croatia. The municipality consists of 46 islands with a total population of 792 people, of which 93% are ethnic Croats, and a land area of approximately . The biggest island in the municipality is also named Lastovo, as is the...
is one of the more distinctive and authentic carnival traditions celebrated in all of 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 ...
today. All the island residents participate by wearing folk costumes. The origins of the Lastovo carnival go back to a historical event. Legend has it that Catalan
Catalan people
The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...
pirates attacked neighbouring Korčula
Korcula
Korčula is an island in the Adriatic Sea, in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia. The island has an area of ; long and on average wide — and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 16,182 inhabitants make it the second most populous Adriatic island after Krk...
and sent a Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
messenger to Lastovo to tell the islanders to surrender or they would be next. The inhabitants of Lastovo did not let themselves be intimidated – instead they armed themselves and went on the attack. The women and children prayed to Sv. Jure (St. George
Saint George
Saint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...
) for help and their prayers were answered: a storm destroyed the pirates' ships and the inhabitants of Lastovo caught the messenger. In order to mock him, he was taken through the village on the back of a donkey and was afterwards sentenced and burned to death. This event is celebrated through the Poklad every year over a period of two days just before Lent
Lent
In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...
.
The first recorded mention of the Lastovo carnival is from 16th century. In 1597 the Prince forbade the often riotous carnival crowd to bear arms. Those who disobeyed his decree ran the risk of being banished from the island.
Carnival tradition
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
" starts on Lastovo after the New Year on January 6 – the Feast of the Three Kings
Epiphany (Christian)
Epiphany, or Theophany, meaning "vision of God",...
, and ends on the night preceding Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday, in the calendar of Western Christianity, is the first day of Lent and occurs 46 days before Easter. It is a moveable fast, falling on a different date each year because it is dependent on the date of Easter...
. (Because of the movable date of Easter the date occurs between February 10 and March 17).
On the morning of Obese Monday the doll or puppet called Poklad is made. The festivities follow a detailed pattern: in the early morning on the Monday before Lent, the Poklad is made. The body is filled with straw
Straw
Straw is an agricultural by-product, the dry stalks of cereal plants, after the grain and chaff have been removed. Straw makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has many uses, including fuel, livestock bedding and fodder, thatching and...
and grain husks, while the feet are filled with sand from the local cemetery. The doll is then dressed – a red costume and fez
Fez (clothing)
The fez , or tarboosh is a felt hat either in the shape of a red truncated cone or in the shape of a short cylinder made of kilim fabric. Both usually have tassels...
hat – the face is drawn in with coal, and a cigarette is placed in the mouth. Afterwards, the carnival participants go from door to door collecting eggs and entertaining their hosts.
On Carnival Tuesday (Shrove Tuesday
Shrove Tuesday
Shrove Tuesday is a term used in English-speaking countries, especially in Ireland, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Germany, and parts of the United States for the day preceding Ash Wednesday, the first day of the season of fasting and prayer called Lent.The...
) at eleven o'clock church bells halt all activity in the village. The carnival crowd, known as "Pokladari," gather with and start playing their lyre
Lyre
The lyre is a stringed musical instrument known for its use in Greek classical antiquity and later. The word comes from the Greek "λύρα" and the earliest reference to the word is the Mycenaean Greek ru-ra-ta-e, meaning "lyrists", written in Linear B syllabic script...
s. The carnival procession begins and is accompanied by the music until the end. The Poklad is placed on the village donkey
Donkey
The donkey or ass, Equus africanus asinus, is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African Wild Ass, E...
judged to be the most beautiful. The flag-bearer of the Croatian national tri-colour
Flag of Croatia
The flag of Croatia is one of the state symbols of Croatia. It consists of three equal size, horizontal stripes in colours red, white and blue. The flag combines the colours of the flags of the Kingdom of Croatia , the Kingdom of Slavonia and the Kingdom of Dalmatia...
, the doll on the donkey and the carnival participants make their way towards City Hall (in the past to the 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...
Rector) in order to get permission to visit respected locals.
Sword dance
Sword dances are recorded from throughout world history. There are various traditions of solo and mock battle sword dances from Greece, the Middle East, Pakistan, India, China, Korea, England, Scotland and Japan...
– similar to the more famous Moreška
Moreška
Moreška is a traditional sword dance from the town of Korčula, on the Croatian island of the same name in the Adriatic. Dating back hundreds of years, the Moreška is an elaborate production involving two groups of dancers, engaging in a mock battle over the fate of a veiled young woman...
and Kumpanija from nearby Korčula
Korcula
Korčula is an island in the Adriatic Sea, in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia. The island has an area of ; long and on average wide — and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 16,182 inhabitants make it the second most populous Adriatic island after Krk...
http://www.korcula.net/naselja/korcula/moreska.htm – will take place on some of the locals' terraces. The carnival crowd who, up until the last century were armed with real swords, are followed at some distance by the "beautiful maskers" (girls in costumes and masks). The procession halts when it reaches Pod kostajnu (the tree growing in the middle of the village). A length of rope measuring over 300 meters has already been stretched between the pole set here and another mounted on the top of the hill in the background of the western side of the village. The procession climbs up to the top of the hill and the puppet is attached to the rope down which it slides three times, with petard
Petard
A petard was a small bomb used to blow up gates and walls when breaching fortifications. The term has a French origin and dates back to the sixteenth century...
s cracking under its feet. Each time it reaches the bottom of the rope, the Poklad is met by drawn swords.
After this, the procession heads to the parish church where they are joined by the masked women at dusk. Dancing with the "beautiful maskers" and a sword performance takes place at which also includes circle dancing all of which stops at the signal given by the Admiral. His gesture means that the Poklad must be impaled. The Pokladari set it on fire and start running with the puppet around the circle of dancers. Once the Poklad is burnt down to ashes, the crowd starts shouting, "UVO! UVO! UVO!" After this, the islanders head home and the church bells mark the end of the carnival.
Symbolism
The Lastovo carnival could be explained as a whole system of symbols. Culjanje, hanging and sliding of the puppet down the rope, as well as its death at the stake stand probably for the purification by air and by fire, i.e. for the ritual redemption of the community from the evil which had settled in the village during the preceding year. In the first joining of the carnival crowd by the youth and in the collection of eggs, the underlying pattern of the ritual initiation and fertility rites can be recognised. Lastovo is a typical farmers' and cultivators' community. The episode where the Poklad is lowered down the rope is observed with silent attentiveness because it is immensely important for the community that the Poklad should not slip from their hands or turn over on the rope. This would otherwise predict a bad year for the island's vineyards and harvests.Whether this is true or not, the villagers take this ancient carnival extremely seriously and it is in no way meant to be a "tourist attraction." Lastovci from all around the world return to the island for this event every year and the participants take part in the festival with a certain level of pride.
Further reading
- Lastovo Kroz Stoljeca – Antun Jurica
- Vodic Lastova – Josip Belamaric
- Dubrovnik Revisited – Slobodan P Novak