The Island of Korcula
Island of Korcula - Dalmatia Croatia
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 The island of Korcula was inhabited already in pre-historic times, and the trails of pre-historic life were discovered on many places. The oldest funds are the stone knives from the Neolithic found on the small island of Badija next to the town of Korcula. The richest and best investigated fund place from the Neolithic is the Vela spila (the big cave) in Vela Luka. They found and investigated there several stratums of pre-historic life with fire places, ceramic pieces, graves (5000-3000 before Christ). From that time originate numerous Neolithic heaps, culture places and graves - stone pieces, and they can be found everywhere on the island. In the 6th century before Christ the island was inhabited by Greek; at first next to Vela Luka.
The colonists were Knids that named the island Corcyra Melaina (black ). some time later, on the other end of the island, on the part of today’s Lumbarda, came Greek from the island of Vis (Issa) and founded the significant settlement that is mentioned in the PHSEPHISMA, found by the end of the 19th century and that originates from the 3rd century before Christ. In Lumbarda were found Greek graves with additional gnathia vases from that time.
A systematically archeological excavation would certainly discover not only a whole Greek metropolis but other trails of their settlement.
In the 1st century after Christ the island, as well as whole Dalmatia, were occupied by the Romans and they named it Illyricum. In the 7th century the Slaves came to the Adriatic Coast - the Croats - and they established their own state, that was at first a principality, and from the year 925, with the crowning of the first king Tomislav, it became a kingdom. Within the framework of that state was Korcula as well. Running from the invasion of the Slaves the Roman population from Salona came to the islands of Brac, Hvar and Korcula, and, after the claming of the circumstances, most of them returned to their old dwelling, the rest assimilated with the settlers.
In the year 1000 the Venetian doge Peter II Orseolo took over the Dalmatian towns and islands, and Korcula came under the rulership of Venice, too. Right here on the nearby small island of Majsan the doge had his camp from where he led his campaign towards Korcula and Lastovo. They resisted but were soon subjugated.
After that the government over Krocula changed quite often: Venice was replaced by the Zahumlje governors, Croat-Hungarian kings, again Venice, from 1413 to 1420 the Republic of Dubrovnik, then from 1420 to 1793 Venice. When Napoleon pulled down the Venetian Republic, Dalmatia was taken over by Austria for a short time, but soon came the Frenchmen.
In the period from 1807 to 1813 the governors were Frenchmen, then the Englishmen till 1815, when on the Congress in Vienna it was decided about the new borders of the European countries. Dalmatia came under the rulership of Austria and stayed there until the end of the I World War (1919). It was annexed to the new established state Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians in 1921 and that state was named later Yugoslavia. After the multipartial elections in 1990 the population of Croatia decided on a referendum to separate from Yugoslavia and the independent state Republic of Croatia was declared.
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Position
Middle Dalmatian archipelago in the Adriatic Sea, 42° 58' N; 17° 08' E (the town of Korcula), 12700 metres from the mainland at nearest point, 49 nautical miles northwest of Dubrovnik, 57 nautical miles southeast of Split, 250 nautical miles from Venice, 250 nautical miles from Corfu |
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Climate
The island has a very mild Mediterranean climate. Mean temperatures are rather high: the mean annual temperature is 16.8C, in the coldest month of January it is 9.1C, in the hottest month of July 26.9C. Daily and annual temperature differences are small, which is very favourable for agriculture and tourism. |
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Flora and fauna
The island vegetation is Mediterranean, rich and varied. Korcula is one of the most forested Adriatic islands, as much as 61% of its surface is covered with woods and macchia thickets. Conifers grow everywhere: Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis), stone pine (Pinus pinea), Dalmatian black pine (Pinus nigra), cypress (Cypressus), and other species. The island has thick indigenous forests of holm oak (Quercus ilex), wild olive, carob, and bay. Heather, arbutus, prickly juniper, vetch and other plants grow in the low undergrowth called macchia. |
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Population
The oldest island settlements were in the interior beside the poljes and the many caves, Zrnovo, Pupnat, Cara, Smokvica and Blato, later developed on the sites of Greek and Roman settlements, and near them: only the city of Korcula grew on the sea shore. Lumbarda developed rather late, because a provision from the 14th century Korcula Statute explicitly prohibited the settlement of that area. Nevertheless, from the end of the 15th century people of Korcula built their summer houses and worked the land there, and a village gradually formed around them. Raciste dates from the 17th century, founded by refugees from the Turks on the mainland, mostly from Herzegovina, while Vela Luka developed at the beginning of the 19th century.
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Island Korcula costumes and folklore
Although the islander’s way of life and work changed considerably and thoroughly through time, especially in the second half of the 20th century, many old customs connected to church holidays and other community and family events have been preserved.
Until recently most of the people lived in villages. Their clothes were similar because they wore national costumes that changed negligibly throughout the centuries. Everyday wear was simple and dark-coloured, and for holidays they dressed in finer clothes of a richer cut and decoration. These costumes have been preserved in most of the island villages and are used by folklore societies which cultivate folk traditions, songs and dances. |
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Education and Culture
Regular primary schooling was established on Korcula at the beginning of the 19th century, but much earlier than that priests taught children to read, write, arithmetic and natural sciences, and not only the sons of rich families. Many continued their education at universities in Italy, especially in Padua. Besides priests, there were local literate, educated people on Korcula quite early, mostly lawyers, and there were also educated foreigners: teachers, doctors, and pharmacists, mostly from Italy. In the 19th century a relatively large number of islanders graduated from various universities, and they played an important role in the social, cultural and political life of the city and the island. |
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| KORCULA PHOTO GALLERY |
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