 Village of Susak | |
  Susak | |
 Interactive map of Susak | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Adriatic Sea |
| Coordinates | 44°31′N14°18′E / 44.517°N 14.300°E /44.517; 14.300 |
| Area | 3.8 km2 (1.5 sq mi) |
| Length | 3.6 km (2.24 mi)[1] |
| Width | 2.3 km (1.43 mi)[1] |
| Highest elevation | 98 m (322 ft) |
| Highest point | Garba |
| Administration | |
| County | Primorje-Gorski Kotar |
| Largest settlement | Susak |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 139 (2021)[2] |
| Pop. density | 36.57/km2 (94.72/sq mi) |
Susak (Italian:Sansego) is a small island on the northernAdriatic coast ofCroatia. The nameSansego comes from theGreek wordSansegus meaningoregano which grows in abundance on the island. A small percentage of natives still reside on the island which has increasingly become a popular tourist destination—especially during the peak summer months. Many of the people from Susak currently live in theUnited States.
Located in theKvarner Bay and southeast of theIstrian peninsula, theCroatian island of Susak is 7.4 kilometers (4.6 mi; 4.0 nmi) southwest from the island ofLošinj,[3] 10 kilometers (6.2 mi; 5.4 nmi) south of the island ofUnije, and 120 kilometers (75 mi; 65 nmi) east of theItalian coast. Susak is about 3 km (1.9 mi) long and 1.5 km (0.9 mi) wide, and covers an area of approximately 3.8 square kilometers (1.5 sq mi).[4] Susak's highest elevation point,Garba is 98 metres (322feet)above sea level.[1][3]
The island is geologically different from other Adriatic islands in that it is mostly formed of fine sand laid on alimestone rock base. The way sand appeared on the island has not been fully settled: while some scientists speculate that Susak formed as a result of sediment deposits from the riverPo during the lastice age,[5] which rose above the surface through tectonic activity, others believe Susak's sand is ofeolic origin.[6] Due to the porous soil, there are no permanent water streams or other bodies of water on the island.[6]
Susak's history is a rich and complex story. Unfortunately, little of it prior to the 20th century is known. This is a result of mainly three factors. First, few of Susak's inhabitants prior to the 20th century had formal education. Before the massive exodus off the island afterWorld War II, it was rare to find a resident who had finished the equivalent of grade school. Next, most of the island's history was not recorded – it was passed down orally. Finally, and probably most prevalent, the island's history was consistently manipulated, suppressed, and influenced by those who were its current rulers.[citation needed] For example, even the island's name changed at least three times (Sansagus, Sansego, and Susak) depending on which government controlled it. For these reasons, it is difficult to precisely piece together the island's history.
"In Antiquity, when the archipelago was home to a Greek colony, the islands were called the Absyrtides. This is because, according to an episode in the legend of theArgonauts,Jason andMedea were said to have taken refuge here on the island ofMinerva to escape pursuit by Absyrtus, the sorceress's brother, after they had stolen thegolden fleece. Medea's brother found them, however, and fell into a trap she had laid: he was chopped into pieces and thrown into the sea where his body parts formed the many islets surroundingCres andLošinj. TheKolchians, who had come with them, remained here and founded the city of Absoris."[7][8]
The name of Susak is believed to be derived fromsampsychon (Greek formarjoram), which was later transformed intosansegus andsansacus inRomance languages, and finally adopted by Slavs as Susak.[9]
There is speculation that Susak has been settled for at least two thousand years byIllyrians, Greek sailors, andRomans (as a summer resort for wealthier Roman citizens[3]). While there is little or no surviving evidence from Susak supporting this claim, there are ancient remains - including buildings, mosaics, coins, and burial sarcophagi - on other islands surrounding Susak. The latest Susak would have been settled is during theearly Middle Ages.[10] Assuming Susak was settled then, probably Slavs would have ruled the island under theByzantine Empire during that time period (circa 500 CE through circa 1000 CE).
Giovanni the Deacon wrote the earliest surviving text referencing Susak in the early 11th century. He wrote aboutSaracens in 844 destroying a fleet of Venetian ships. The surviving ships were said to have fled to Sansego.
Susak was likely governed by the Croatian Kingdom during the 10th and 11th centuries. In or around 1071, the Croatian KingKrešimir gave Susak toBenedictine monks to build anabbey on the island, which would be dedicated to Saint Michael and Nicholas. The Benedictine monks governed Susak until sometime between the 12th century and 1267. 1267 is the year in which Istria became a territory of theRepublic of Venice and it is likely that Susak was also ceded to the Venetians at or around the same time. The monastery was operational from the 11th century until 1770 when the new Church of Saint Nicholas was built on its place.
Between the 13th and 18th centuries, Susak is mentioned in various documents, charts, and official papers ofVenetian doges. Around 1280, the oldest surviving nautical chart mentioning Susak, theCarta Pisana is published.[3] Between the 16th and 18th centuries,cartographers detail a settlement on Susak. In 1593, Christiaan Sgrooten[11] was the first to chart a settlement on the island. In the late 17th century, the cartographer Cornellius mentioned a tower on Susak:Villa e torre di Sansego. In 1771, cartographerAlberto Fortis cited a settlement on Susak with a church, harbor, and several coves and capes.
After the Benedictine monks, theRepublic of Venice was next to rule Susak. Venetian rule lasted until April 17, 1797, whenNapoleon Bonaparte signed theTreaty of Leoben ceding the land between Istria and Dalmatia (including Susak) to Austria. The proposed secession of this land to Austria was ratified on October 17, 1797, by theTreaty of Campo Formio.
Although Susak was now part of theAustrian Empire, it was still under Napoleon's jurisdiction. This area between Istria and Dalmatia during this time (1797 through 1815) was known as theIllyrian provinces of Napoleon's Empire orNapoleon's Illyria for short.
After Napoleon's exile, the Austrian Empire annexed Susak and much of the region per a Viennese congressional resolution. The Austrian Empire and subsequently theAustro-Hungarian Empire ruled over the island for the next 100 years from roughly 1815 through the end ofWorld War I, in 1918. Under Austro-Hungarian rule, Susak became part of theAustrian Littoral or Küstenland.
After the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after World War I, the 1919Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye gave Susak and several other territories to the relatively new nation of Italy. The Italian government under the fascist government ofBenito Mussolini began theItalianization of these new Italian territories. On Susak, for example, the Italian government changed the spellings and pronunciations of several of the island's surnames. Tarabokija became Tarabocchia; Picinić became Picini. Immigrants from Susak would give Italian as their ethnicity and non-Croatians themselves would spell Tarabocchia instead of Tarabokija since the Austro-Hungarian government had spent many efforts to reduce the Italian population.[citation needed]
Italian sovereignty of Susak ended in September 1943 when theAllies invaded Italy. TheNazis established theOperation Zone of the Adriatic Littoral and took control of the area including Susak. The Nazis remained on the island until the end of World War II in 1945.
In 1947, theParis Peace Treaty formally ended World War II. Susak became part of theSocialist Yugoslavia underMarshal Tito. Yugoslavia consisted of 6 republics, 1 autonomous district, and 1 autonomous province, Susak becoming a part of theSocialist Republic of Croatia. Around the middle of the 20th century, Susak experienced a mass exodus.
On June 25, 1991, Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia and Susak remained a part of the newly formedRepublic of Croatia.
Today, the Island of Susak is renowned for its unorthodox exploration of art. Most notably, this is seen through “Susak Expo” an art conference held on the island every two years. Although some, including the expo’s creator claim that the art produced is explorative and abstract, many locals have described Susak Expo as “rather unimaginative and dull”.
Susak's inhabitants reside in a single settlement of the same name. The settlement has two parts: atop a small hill,Gornje Selo is the older part of the village where the island's church is located; andDonje Selo is the lower part of the village adjacent to the seashore and small harbor.
Between 1948 and the early 1960s, the island's population plummeted because of theIstrian exodus.[citation needed] As of 2011, Susak had only 151 residents with approximately 2,500 emigrants or descendants of emigrants living inNew Jersey, United States.[12] While the greatest concentration of emigrants and descendants currently live in theNew York City metropolitan area (particularly innorthern New Jersey), most went toHoboken, New Jersey, people from Susak can be found living throughout the United States.
There are only about a dozen surnames from Susak.[5] The engravings on the island's white tombstones boast these names (or some form of them): Busanić, Hrončić, Lister, Matešić, Mirković, Morin, Picinić, Sutora, Skrivanić, and Tarabokija.
BeforeWorld War II, most if not all of the inhabitants labored asvintners, farmers, fishermen, or some combination of all three occupations. Today, the island's emigrants and descendants hold a wide variety of professions fromlongshoremen to conductors and from engineers to lawyers.
| Year | 1680 | 1785 | 1857 | 1910 | 1921 | 1931 | 1936 | 1948 | 1953 | 1964 | 1991 | 2001 | 2011 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 91[13] | 357[13] | 1,089 | 1,412 | 1,564 | 1,541 | 1,656[13] | 1,629 | 1,438[14] | 634[14] | 188 | 188[15] | 151 | 139[2] |
Italians in the Julian region were under extreme pressure to leave after the war, especially following the mass killings of Italians in nearby Istria. The Croat and Slovenian nationalists in the socialist government sought to impose collective punishment on the Italians after the annexation to the Slavic state (the Republic of Croatia in the Yugoslav Federation). The inhabitants of Susak-Sansego spoke in a local idiom, with both Romance and Slavic vocabulary. Faced with poverty, famine, and lack of employment opportunities, along with the desire for a better life, the island experienced a mass exodus between 1948 through the mid-1960s directly due to the political climate and nationalist policies. After World War II,Yugoslavia's new government required that all able men work for a period of time without payment. Many of the Sansegots (people from Susak), more than 80% of the population, had left the island by the mid-1960s.
Susak's inhabitants immigrated to the United States for two main reasons. First, they believed that the United States would be able to offer them better opportunities for wealth, employment, education, and standard of living. Second, the majority of the people who emigrated from Susak prior to World War II had moved to the United States, primarily toHoboken, New Jersey.
For much of the island's history, Susak's inhabitants supported themselves by making wine, farming, and fishing. The islanders produced a significant quantity ofwine andgrappa between 1936 and 1969 when a cooperative wine cellar aided in the production and manufacturing of the beverages. At one time, there was also a fish cannery on the island.
By the mid-1960s, Susak had become almost completely depopulated with its main town in virtual ruin.
Today,tourism is Susak's main industry although some wine is still produced - particularly a red wine calledpleskunac and a dry rosé calledtrojiśćina. Between June and September, several hundred tourists visit the island each day, overnight or on day-long excursions.[12] In the peak of the tourist season, in July and August, the island's population swells up to 1,500.[12] A boost to Susak's tourism was the Susak Expo – an international annualart event attracting leading, contemporaryartists.
Due to its significant distance from mainlandCroatia and the many cultures that have governed it through the years, the people from Susak have many unique traditions. Some traditions are exclusively the island's own (such as the island's language and the fanciful clothing). Other traditions, such as cuisine, are a blend of the diverse customs fromsouthern andcentral Europe.
The people from Susak speak a distinct dialect that is heard only on the island and among the older generation of the island's emigrants. Additionally, most of the island's population over the age of 60, to varying degrees, speaks Italian.
The islanders have a custom of referring to each other by nicknames, and the outsiders who visit Susak are often given a nickname too.[5]
Susak is perhaps best known for the ornate and elaborate costumes worn by younger women primarily for special occasions such as a wedding or feast days. The costume is made up of a short, brightly, almost neon-colored skirt with multiple ruffledpetticoats underneath which gives the wearer the appearance that she is dressed in aballet tutu. A similar-colored vest is generally worn over a long-sleeved, whitechemise. The outfit is accentuated by pink or orange woolen stockings, leather shoes, and a headpiece that matches the colors of the skirt. When wearing this traditional outfit, women generally place one or both hands on their hips to emphasize the dress's uniqueness.
Older and working women generally wear darker, longer skirts without ruffled petticoats. They wear white or dark, long-sleeved shirts, a short veil to cover their hair, and dark, woolen stockings.
Male costumes from Susak are less ornate than their female counterparts. Men traditionally wear dark trousers and a dark vest over a long-sleeved, white, collared shirt. The outfit is completed by a soft, dark cap and may be accentuated with a colorful belt or ribbons on the vest.
During a period of mourning - generally following the death of a close family member such as a spouse, parent, sibling, or child - people from Susak wear all black for a period of time.
Susak's cuisine combines a unique blend ofItalian,Croatian,Austrian, andMediterranean cooking. Seafood — especially fish such assardines,mackerel, andgrouper - is popular fare due to its relative abundance. Lamb and pork cooked on an open fire are also popular but are generally reserved for special occasions.
For dessert, the people of Susak enjoyPalacinke filled with jam or fruit,strudel (a throw-back from when the island was under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), or losi, a fried pastry made with flour and sprinkled with powdered sugar.
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