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Revision as of 04:55, 21 April 2011

  • Below is article transferred from Wikipedia article "Italian cultural and historic presence in Dalmatia" It is under "Text of Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License"



File:Split riva.jpg
The "Riva" (seashore in Italian) of Split (Spalato), that was created and named by Antonio Bajamonti, the last Dalmatian Italian Major of the city.

Cultural and historical Italian presence in Dalmatia is related to the Italian influence in Dalmatia (now divided between Croatia, Herzegovina and Montenegro) from the historical and cultural points of view.

Cultural influence

The cultural influence from the Italian peninsula is extremely important in Dalmatia since the Roman times. It has increased to influence totally the dalmatian culture during the times of the Republic of Venice and the Italian Renaissance.

File:Zadar PortaTerraferma.jpg
Venetian Gate of Zara

In the XIX century the cultural influence from Italy originated the creation in Zara of the first dalmatian newspaper, edited in Italian and Croat: Il Regio Dalmata - Kraglski Dalmatin. It was founded and published by the Italian Bartolomeo Benincasa in 1806.

The Regio Dalmata - Kraglski Dalmatin was stamped in the tipography of Antonio Luigi Battara and was the first done in Croat language.

The cultural influence from Italy is clearly evident in the urbanization plans of the main Dalmatian cities in the XIX/XX centuries. One of the best examples is the one of Spalato.

In 1880 Antonio Bajamonti (the last Dalmatian Italian Major of Spalato under Austrian rule) developed an urbanization project of this city centered on the "Riva", a seaside walkway full of palms based on the Italian Riviera models. Even today the Riva (with cafe bars) is used by the locals to stroll in a typical Italian way from the "Palace of Diocletian" toward an old square called locally "Pjaca" (or square in venetian).

Renaissance in Dalmatia

In Dalmatia flourished a religious and public architecture with clear influences of Italian Renaissance, but a bit original. Three works out of that period are of European importance, and will contribute to further development of Renaissance: Cathedral of St James in Sebenico, Chapel of Blessed John in Trau, and Sorgo’s villa in Ragusa of Dalmatia.

File:Sponza Palace-Dubrovnik-4.jpg
The "Sponza" Palace in Ragusa is one of the many examples of Italian Renaissance architecture in Dalmatia

Only in the kind of environment, free of dogmas and self-governed - far of major governing centers, could it be possible for artisan known as Giorgio da Sebenico to build a church entirely by his own project – Cathedral of St. James in Šibenik, in 1441. Besides mixing of gothic and renaissance style it was also original by unity of stone building and montage construction (big stone blocks, pilasters and ribs were bounded with joints and slots on them - without concrete) in the way that was usual in wooden constructions. This was unique building with so-called three-leaf frontal and half-barrel vaults, first in Europe. The cathedral and its original stone dome was finished by the tuscan Niccolò Fiorentino following the original plans. On the cathedral there is a coronal of 72 sculpture portraits on the outside wall of the apses. Giorgio da Sebenico himself did 40 of them, and all are unique with original characteristics on their faces.

Work on the cathedral of Sebenico (Sibenik) inspired Nicola for his work on the expansion of chapel of Blessed John from Trogir/Trau in 1468. Just like Šibenik cathedral, it was composed out of large stone blocks with extreme precision. In cooperation with a disciple of Giorgio da Sebenico, the albanian Andrija Aleši, Nicola has achieved unique harmony of architecture and sculpture according to antique ideals. From inside, there is no flat wall. In the middle of chapel, on the altar, lays the sarcophagus of blessed John of Trogir.

Surrounding are reliefs of puttos carrying torches that look like they were peeping out of doors of Underworld. Above them there are niches with sculptures of Christ and apostles, amongst them are putties, circular windows encircled with fruit garland, and a relief of Nativity. All is ceiled with coffered ceiling with image of God in the middle and 96 portrait heads of angels. With so many faces of smiling children the chapel looks very cheerful and there isn’t anything similar in European art of that time.

In the entire area of Republic of Ragusa there were numerous villas of nobility, unique by their functionality and space organization - combination of Renaissance villa and government building. Sorgo’s villa in Lapad near Ragusa in 1521 is original by order of building parts in asymmetrical, dynamical balance.

Wordiest Croatian renaissance sculptures are linked to some architecture, and the most beautiful one is perhaps relief Flagellation of Christ by Juraj Dalmatinac on altar of St Staš in Spalato cathedral. Three almost naked figures are caught in vibrant movement.

The most important Dalmatian Renaissance painter is from Ragusa: Nicolò Raguseo. He painted the altar screens with first hints of portraits in characters, linear perspective and even still life motifs.

The most important Dalmatian Renaissance writers are:

File:De Gondola.jpg
Giovanni Gondola, with his typical Italian face, actually called in croat Ivan Gundulic

Historical influence

The historical influence from the Italian peninsula in Dalmatia started with the Roman conquest of Illyrian Dalmatia. The historian Theodore Mommsen stated in his book History of Rome that all Dalmatia was fully Romanised and Latin speaking by the fourth century.

The actual Dalmatians may in part trace their origins back to the Romanised Illyrians during the "Barbarian Invasions" of the fifth and sixth centuries when Avars with some Slavs invaded Illyria. This invasion opened the way to the settlement of different Slavic tribes (mainly the "Croats").

File:Dalmazia1560.png
The Dalmatian possessions of the Venetian republic in 1560, before the venetian annexation of the Republic of Ragusa

During those years the original Latin population took refuge in the coastal cities and in the islands, whilst other migrated to the mountains (they were later called "Morlachs"). So, in the early Middle ages, the coastal area of Dalmatia retained its original latinised culture, mainly on the islands and cities such as Zara, Spalato, Ragusa and Cattaro. These cities maintained deep cultural and commercial links with the Italian mainland, thanks to intense commerce through the Adriatic sea.[2]

Starting from the tenth century the Republic of Venice imposed its influence on Dalmatia, gradually assimilating the neolatin Dalmatians while the local Slavs maintained their language.

The Republic of Venice controlled most of Dalmatia from 1420 to 1797. During that period, part of its Slavic population was italianised. The Venetian possessions were called "Venetian Dalmatia" and enjoyed a flourishing period of economic bonanza with huge development of the arts and culture. Dalmatia was greatly influenced by the Italian Renaissance and many buildings, churches and cathedrals were done in those years, from Zara and Spalato to Sebenik and Ragusa (actual Dubrovnik).

In these centuries, the Venetian language became the "lingua franca" of all Dalmatia, assimilating the Dalmatian language of the Romanised Illyrians and influencing partially the coastal Croatian language ("Chakavian"[4]) and the Albanian language.[3]

Zara (actual Zadar) was the capital of the Venetian Dalmatia, a role that has maintained through the successive centuries (during WWII it was the capital of the Italian "Governatorato di Dalmazia"). In those centuries, the most southern area of Dalmatia was called Albania Veneta, now called coastal Montenegro.

After the fall of the Republic of Venice in 1797 to the Napoleon Armies, the Dalmatia was incorporated briefly (1805–1809) in the "Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy". In those years the scholastic system was expanded to all the population (following the ideals of the French Revolution) and the Italian language was instituted as the official language in the schools of Dalmatia.

When Austria occupied Dalmatia there was a revival of the Slav people inside Dalmatia. The Italian (venetian speaking) population, that was (according to the Italian linguist Bartoli) nearly one third of the Dalmatians in the second half of the XVIII century, according to the Austrian census decreased from 22% in 1816 to 12.5% in 1853 and a mere 2.9% in 1910.

After WWI Italy obtained Zara and some northern Dalmatian islands (Cherso and Lussino). During WWII the Kingdom of Italy annexed, to the newly created Governatorato di Dalmazia, most of Dalmatia. In 1942 there were 4020 Italians in these newly annexed areas: 2220 in Spalato (Split), 300 in Sebenico (Sibenik), 500 Cattaro (Kotor) and 1000 Veglia (Krk). Furthermore there were in the Governatorato 10000 Italians who took the Yugoslav citizenship after WWI, in order to remain there and be accepted without problems by the new Yugoslavian regime after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.[4]

After WWII Italy lost all the territories in Dalmatia, and more than 22000 Dalmatian Italians exiled mainly in Italy. There are still some Dalmatian Italians in Dalmatia: 300 in Croatia and 500 in Montenegro.

That means that in only one hundred years (from the 1850s to the 1950s) the Dalmatian Italians decreased from 45000 in the 1857 Austrian Census[5] to less than one thousand in the last Croatian and Montenegrin Census.

Perasto: an enduring example

An enduring example of the Italian cultural and historic presence in Dalmatia is the small town of Perasto (actually Perast in montenegrin language) in coastal Montenegro.[6]

Postcard showing the Venetian architecture of Perasto in 1900

Perasto was at its peak in the 18th century under the Republic of Venice, when it had as many as four active shipyards, a fleet of around one hundred ships, and 1,643 residents. At that time the most beautiful buildings arose in this fortified town. Many ornate baroque palaces and magnificent dwelling-houses decorated the town of Perast (Perasto), full of typical venetian architecture[7]. Perasto had the privilege to keep war-flag of the Venetian Navy in the peace time (it was called "La fedelissma Gonfaloniera")[5].
The sailormen of Perasto were involved in the last battle of the Venitian navy, fought in Venice in 1797 [6].
At the fall of the "Serenissima" (1797) Perasto was the last city of the Repubblic to lower the Venetian flag. On 12 May 1797, the Republic of Venice ended, but a few places in the Albania Veneta for several months still continued to remain loyal to the Venetian Repubblic: Perasto was the last place of the Republic to surrender. On 22 August 1797 the Count Giuseppe Viscovich, Captain of Perasto lowered the Venetian war-flag of the Lion of Saint Mark pronouncing the farewell words in front of the crying people of the city and buried the "Gonfalon of Venice" under the altar of the main church of Perasto.

The population has since decreased to 430 in 1910 and around 360 today. According to the "Comunita' nazionale italiana del Montenegro", in Perast actually there are 140 persons who still speak at home the original venetian dialect of Perasto (called "veneto da mar"), and call themselves in the census "Montenegrins".

Actual Dalmatian Italians

The autochtonous population of Dalmatia is represented by the Dalmatian Italians, direct descendants from the romanized Illiryans (they used to have their own language -the Dalmatian language- disappeared at the end of the XIX century) and the Italians who moved to Dalmatia mainly in the centuries of Venetian domination.

The 1816 Austro-Hungarian census registered 66,000 Italian speaking people among the 301,000 inhabitants of Dalmatia, or 22% of the total Dalmatian population.[8], but following the Italian emigration from Dalmatia after World War II, the Dalmatian Italian population was reduced to 300 in Croatian Dalmatia and 500 in Montenegro.[9] Today they reside mostly in the littoral areas of Zara, Spalato, Trau, and Sebenico in Croatia, and Cattaro, Perasto, and Budua in Montenegro. In Croatia, there are 20,000 Italians in total, mostly located in communities in the Istrian peninsula and the city of Rijeka (Fiume).

Actually the most renowned are:

File:Ottavio Missoni.jpg
Ottavio Missoni

a) in Italy:

b) In Croatia:

Notes

  1. ^ in Croatia are called croatian latinists (latinisti croati) those who wrote mainly in latin.
  2. ^ http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Dalmatia#Population_and_National_Characteristics
  3. ^ Bartoli, Matteo. Le parlate italiane della Venezia Giulia e della Dalmazia
  4. ^ [1]
  5. ^ [2]
  6. ^ Perast
  7. ^ Citizens of the venetian Perasto (in that period the city had 1,600 citizens) became privileged in the Venetian Republic. They were allowed to trade with large ships and to sell goods without tax on the Venetian market, which made them very rich. As an example of the wealth of people from Perasto, at the end of 18th century they managed to collect 50,000 Venetian gold coins (about 200 kg of gold) in order to pay the famous Venetian constructor Giuseppe Beati to build them the highest campanile (55 m) on the East-Adriatic coast. Right in front of Perasto there are two small islands. St George with its small church from the 12th century and the artificial island "Gospa od Skrpjela" (in venetian Madonna dello Scarpello) with a very interesting legend. On the reef whose top was 1m above the surface of the water, people from Perasto had been throwing rocks and sinking old shipwrecks for 200 years, thus creating a plateau of 3,030 square meters, which they then built a church on. Along with the impression that the island gives with its architecture, for centuries the church received many gifts and now it is a type of gallery and treasury of various objects. Beside 68 oil on canvas works done by Tripo Cocolia (the most talented baroque painter on the East-Mediterranean coast during the 17th century), on the church walls there are 2,500 golden and silver votive tablets which people from the Cattaro area donated to the church, in order to avoid various human disasters.
  8. ^ Montani, Carlo. Venezia Giulia, Dalmazia - Sommario Storico - An Historical Outline
  9. ^ Petacco, Arrigo. L'esodo, la tragedia negata degli italiani d'Istria, Dalmazia e Venezia Giulia
  10. ^ [3] "...ha visto poi la presidente della comunità italiana di Zara, Rina Villani e Adriana Grubelić, componente della stessa comunità."

See also

Bibliography

  • Diehl, Charles. La Repubblica di Venezia. Newton & Compton Ed. Rome, 2004.
  • Durant Will. The Renaissance. MJK Books. New York, 1981.
  • Lane, Frederick. Storia di Venezia, Einaudi. Torino, 1978
  • Manno, Antonio. I tesori di Venezia. Mondadori. Vercelli, 2004
  • Martin, John Jeffries. Venice Reconsidered. The History and Civilization of an Italian City-State, 1297–1797. Johns Hopkins UP. New York, 2002.
  • Norwich, John Julius. A History of Venice. Vintage Books. New York, 1989.
  • Randi, Oscar. Dalmazia etnica, incontri e fusioni. Tipografie venete. Venezia 1990.
  • Scaglioni Marzio. La presenza italiana in Dalmazia 1866-1943. Histria ed. Trieste,2000.
  • Zorzi, Alvise. La Repubblica del Leone. Storia di Venezia Euroclub Ed. Milano, 1991

External links

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