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| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Adriatic Sea |
| Coordinates | 42°57′N16°54′E / 42.950°N 16.900°E /42.950; 16.900 |
| Archipelago | Southern Dalmatian |
| Area | 279 km2 (108 sq mi) |
| Length | 46.8 km (29.08 mi) |
| Width | 7.8 km (4.85 mi) |
| Highest elevation | 568 m (1864 ft) |
| Highest point | Klupca |
| Administration | |
Croatia | |
| County | Dubrovnik-Neretva |
| Largest settlement | Korčula (pop. 5,663[1]) |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 14 594 (2021) |
| Pop. density | 56/km2 (145/sq mi) |
| Ethnic groups | 96.77%Croats |
| Additional information | |
| Official website | Official website |
Korčula (Croatian:[kɔ̂ːrtʃula]ⓘ) is aCroatianisland in theAdriatic Sea. It has an area of 279 km2 (108 sq mi), is 46.8 km (29.1 mi) long and on average 7.8 km (4.8 mi) wide,[2] and lies just off theDalmatian coast. Its 15,522 inhabitants (2011) make it the second most populous Adriatic island afterKrk.[3] The population are almost entirely ethnicCroats (95.74%).[4] The island istwinned withRothesay in Scotland. It is known for Grk, a white wine that is only produced on the island and not exported due to limited production.[5]
The island of Korčula belongs to the centralDalmatian archipelago, separated from thePelješac peninsula by a narrow Strait of Pelješac, between 900 and 3,000 metres (3,000 and 9,800 feet) wide. It stretches in the east–west direction, in length of 47 kilometres (29 miles); on average, it is 8 km (5.0 miles) wide. With an area of 279 square kilometres (108 sq mi), it is the sixth largestAdriatic island. The highest peaks areKlupca, 568 metres (1,864 ft) andKom, 510 metres (1,670 ft) high.
Main settlements on the island are towns ofKorčula,Blato andVela Luka. Villages along the coast areBrna,Račišće,Lumbarda andPrižba;Žrnovo,Pupnat,Smokvica andČara are located inland. The island is divided into municipalities of Korčula, Smokvica, Blato and Lumbarda. The climate isMediterranean; an average air temperature in January is 9.8 °C (49.6 °F) and in July 26.9 °C (80.4 °F); the average annual rainfall is 1,100 mm (43.3 in). The island is largely covered withMediterranean flora including extensivepine forests.
The main road runs along the spine of the island connecting all settlements from Lumbarda on the eastern to Vela Luka on the western end, with the exception of Račišće, which is served by a separate road running along the northern coast.[citation needed] Ferries connect the town of Korčula withOrebić on the Pelješac peninsula. Another line connects Vela Luka withSplit and the island ofLastovo. Fast passenger catamarans connect those two ports with Split,Dubrovnik and the islands ofHvar, Lastovo andMljet.
According to legend, the island was founded byTrojan heroAeneas or his friendAntenor.[6]
The island was first settled byMesolithic andNeolithic peoples. There is archaeological evidence at the sites ofVela Spila[7] and at Jakas Cave near the village of Žrnovo. The findings at Vela Spila are on display at the Center for Culture in Vela Luka. The fate of these peoples is not known but the sites do provide a window into their way of life.[citation needed]
The second wave of human settlement was byIllyrians,[8] documented around 1,000 BC.[9] They were semi-nomadic tribal people living from agriculture. There are numerous old stone buildings and fortresses (gradine) left behind by the Illyrians.[10]
Melaina Korkyra (Greek:Μέλαινα Κόρκυρα,lit. 'BlackKorkyra') was the ancientCnidianGreek colony founded on Korčula.[11] Greek colonists fromCorfu formed a colony on the island in the 6th century B.C.[citation needed] TheGreeks named it "Black Korkyra" after their homeland and the dense pine-woods on the island. Greek artifacts, including carved marble tombstones can be found at the local Korčula town museum.
A stone inscription found in Lumbarda (Lumbarda Psephisma) and which is the oldest written stone monument in Croatia,[12] records that Greek settlers from Issa (Vis) founded another colony on the island in the 3rd century BC. The two communities lived peacefully until theIllyrian Wars (220 BC to 219 BC)[13] with theRomans.
The island became part of theRoman province ofIllyricum[14] after the Illyrian Wars. Roman migration followed and Roman citizens arrived on the island.Roman villas appeared through the territory of Korčula and there is evidence of an organised agricultural exploitation of the land. There are archaeological remains of Roman Junianum[15] on the island and old church foundations.[16]
In 10 AD, Illyricum was split into two provinces,Pannonia andDalmatia.[17] Korčula became part of the ancient Roman province of Dalmatia.
In the 6th century it came underByzantine rule. TheGreat Migrations of the 6th and 7th centuries broughtSlavic[18] invasions into this region. Along the Dalmatian coast theSlavic peoples including the Croats poured out of the interior and seized control of the area of theNeretva Delta, as well as the island of Korčula, which protects the river mouth. TheChristianisation of the Croats began in the 9th century, but the earlyCroatian rural inhabitants of the island may well have fully acceptedChristianity only later; in theearly Middle Ages the Croatian population of the island was grouped with thepaganNarentines or Neretvians, who quickly learned maritime skills in this new environment and became engaged in piracy against Venetian trade ships.[citation needed]
Initially,Venetian merchants were willing to pay an annual tribute to keep their shipping safe from the infamous Neretvian pirates of the Dalmatian coast. After the 9th century, the island was briefly under nominal Byzantine suzerainty. In 998 the Principality of Pagania came under Venetian control.DogePietro II Orseolo launched a naval expedition along the coast and assumed the title Duke of Dalmatia.[19] Afterwards Korčula came under the control of the Great Principality ofZachlumia.
In the 12th century Korčula was conquered by a Venetian nobleman, Pepone Zorzi, and incorporated briefly into the Republic of Venice. Around this time, the local Korčula rulers began to exercise diplomacy and legislate atown charter to secure the independence of the island, particularly with regard to internal affairs, given its powerful neighbors.[citation needed]The brothers ofStephen Nemanja,Miroslav andStracimir, launched an attack on the island on 10 August 1184, raiding its fertile western part. The island's inhabitants called for help from theRepublic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik), which in turn captured all of Stracimir'sgalleys.[20]
The Statute of Korčula was first drafted in 1214.[21][22] It guaranteed the relative autonomy of the island against her outside rulers including the semi-independent Grand Principality of Zachlumia, theGrand Principality of Serbia, the Kingdom of Hungary-Croatia and the Republics of Ragusa and Venice. Captains were created for each of the island's five settlements for organized defence. Korčula had fewer than 2,500 inhabitants at that time.[citation needed]
In 1221,Pope Honorius III gave the island to the Princes ofKrka (theŠubić family). During the 13th century the hereditaryCounts of Korčula were loosely governed in turn by theHungarian crown and by theRepublic of Genoa but also enjoyed a brief period of independence. In 1255, however,Marsilio Zorzi conquered the island's capital and razed or damaged some of its churches in the process, forcing the Counts to return to Venetian suzerainty.[23]
What is more definite is that in 1298 the Republic of Genoa defeated Venice in the documentedBattle of Curzola[24][25] off the coast of Korčula and a galley commander,Marco Polo, was taken prisoner by the victors to eventually spend his time in a Genoese prison writing of his travels. However, some Italian scholars believe that he may have been captured in a minor clash nearAyas.[citation needed]
After the writings ofPope Martin IV in 1284 andPope Honorius IV in 1286 to theArchbishop of Ragusa, the Archbishop installed a certain Petar asBishop of Ston and Korčula –stacnensis ac Crozolensis. In 1291, Ivan Kručić was in Korčula's city as the Bishop of Korčula. Kručić contested his overlord, theArchbishop of Hvar, and wanted to uniteSton with his church domain. In 1300,Pope Boniface VIII finally founded theKorčula Bishopric under the Archbishopric of Ragusa. In 1333, as the Republic of Ragusa purchased Ston with Pelješac from theSerbian Empire, the suzerainty of Ston'sRoman Catholic Church with the peninsula was given to the Bishopric of Korčula.[citation needed]
Curzola, as the Venetians called the island, surrendered to theKingdom of Hungary in 1358 according to theTreaty of Zadar, but it surrendered to theBosnian KingStephen Tvrtko I in the summer of 1390. However the Kingdom of Hungary restored rule of the island, and in December 1396Croatian-Hungarian KingSigismund gave it toĐurađ II Stracimirović of theBalšić dynasty ofZeta, who kept it up to his death in 1403, when it was returned under the Hungarian crown. In 1409 it again became a part of the Republic of Venice, purchased by the neighbouring Republic of Venice in 1413–1417, it still declared itself subjected to Venice in 1420. In 1571 it defended itself so gallantly against theOttoman attackers at theBattle of Lepanto that it obtained the designationFidelissima fromPope Pius V.[26]
Korčula had for years supplied thetimber for the wooden walls of Venice, and had been a favourite station of her fleets. From 1776 to 1797 Korčula succeeded Hvar as the main Venetian fortifiedarsenal in this region. According to theTreaty of Campo Formio in 1797 in which the Republic of Venice was divided between theFrench Republic and theHabsburg monarchy, Korčula passed on to the Habsburg monarchy.[citation needed]
TheFrench Empire invaded the island in 1806, joining it to theIllyrian Provinces. TheMontenegrin Forces ofvladikaPetar I Petrović-Njegoš conquered the island withRussian naval assistance[27] in 1807 during his attempt to construct another Serbian Empire. The defeat ofAustria however at theBattle of Wagram in 1809 had put most of the Adriatic under French control. On 4 February 1813 however,British troops andnaval forces underThomas Fremantle captured the island from the French. This short period of British rule left an important mark on the island; the new stone West quay was built, as well as a semi-circular paved terrace with stone benches on the newly built road towards Lumbarda, and a circularMartello tower, "forteca" on the St. Blaise's Hill above the town.[28][29]
According to the terms of theCongress of Vienna, the British left the island to the Austrian Empire in the 19th of July of 1815. Korčula accordingly became a part of the Austriancrown land of Dalmatia.[30] From1867, Korčula was in theCisleithanian part ofAustria-Hungary.
During theWorld War I, the island and other territories were promised to theKingdom of Italy in the1915 Treaty of London in return for Italy joining the war on the side ofGreat Britain andFrance. However, after the war, the island and the rest of Dalmatia became a part of theState of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs in 1918.
Korčula was ruled by Italy from 1918 to 1921. It became part of theProvince of Dalmatia, before becoming part of theDubrovnik Oblast in 1922. Later, it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, known from 1929 on as theKingdom of Yugoslavia. The island became part of theLittoral Banovina in 1929 and in 1939 it became a part of the autonomousBanovina of Croatia.[citation needed]
After theAxisinvasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941,Italy annexed the island.[31] After theArmistice of Cassibile between Italy and theAllied powers in September 1943, it was briefly held by theYugoslav Partisans who enjoyed considerable support in the region.[31] Korčula was then occupied byGerman forces which controlled the island until their withdrawal in September 1944.[32] With theliberation of Yugoslavia in 1945, the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia was formed, and Korčula became a part of the People's Republic of Croatia, one of the six Yugoslav republics. The state changed the name toSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1953, and so did the Republic toSocialist Republic of Croatia. After1991, the island became a part of theindependent Republic of Croatia.[citation needed]
The 17th century saw the rise ofPetar Kanavelić who wrote love songs, occasional epicpoems and dramas. He also translated fromItalian the major poetic works of that time. He is regarded as one of the greatestCroatian writers of the 17th century.[33] In 1673 he became the representative of the Korčula community in Venice. There is a primary school named after him in the town of Korčula.
Moreška is a traditionalsword dance[34][35] from the town of Korčula. It is one of the many proud traditional sword dances that are performed on the island. It arrived in Korčula around the 16th century. Korčula has a rich musical history ofklape groups.Klapa is a form ofa cappella style of singing. The tradition goes back centuries, but the style as we know it today, originated in the 19th century.
Korčula has a tradition ofstonemasonry,[36][37] which reached its peak during the rule of the Republic of Venice (1420–1797).[38] The island also has a very strong art tradition.[39]
The Korkyra Baroque Festival is an annual international event, launched in 2012. The festival showcases a selection of the world's leading ensembles and soloists specialized inBaroque music. Over ten days a series of concerts and supporting events focus on Baroque music, promoting the richness of Korčula's cultural monuments and the whole town as a unique architectural treasure.[40]
Korčula is linked to the mainland by a regular ferry service that runs between Dominče, just outside the town of Korčula and Orebić.[41] There are numerous other local ferry services including one linking Vela Luka and Lastovo.[42] The main Croatian ferry operatorJadrolinija runs a service linking Korčula Town withRijeka, Split, Hvar, Mljet, Dubrovnik and (from May to September)Bari.[42] An operator Linijska Nacionalna Plovidba runs a seasonal service linking Korčula withDrvenik.
There are also bus services that link the island to major cities on the mainland, which reach Korčula using the Orebić ferry service.[43]
Korčula town also has mooring facilities. The western harbour gives shelter from wind though not against thebora and north-westerlies. Boat owners are advised to shift to the eastern harbour or to Luka Cove. The port is open to international seaborne traffic as a permanentport of entry; it offers all types of repairs to hulls and engines at the Brodograditelj Shipyard.
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| Other | |
