Original scientific paper
Research of the late medieval sacred complex and the late ancient fort Opačac at site Opačac in Proložac near Imotski
Snježana Tonković
; Imotski, Croatia
Abstract
This paper presents the results of the research at site Opačac in Proložac, carried out by the Local History Museum from Imotski, which includes the works on the chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary from 1719 that was built on the remains of an older church from the 14th century. The latter forms, together with the monastery, a sacred complex that was erected by the first Franciscans upon their arrival in this place. Along with the chapel and the church, the graveyard located on the south and west sides, as well as the graves inside the church, were also investigated on this occasion. Burials had started here in the 15th century and continued until the end of the 17th and in the 18th century. The research works carried out north of the investigated area, towards the bed of the Vrljika river, yielded massive walls of a structure that belonged to a smaller late ancient fort, which contained elements of Byzantine military architecture, characteristic for forts of the Justinian era. The structure had also the function of a watchtower, for reconnaissance or surveillance of the nearby source of the river Vrljika and the road direction Imotski, Proložac, Aržano to the municipium of Bistua Nuova. At the same time, it possibly could have also protected an agricultural estate that belonged to a hitherto undetermined villa rustica, whose presence is suggested by the discovered stone remains, i.e. architectural parts. A few sporadic early medieval objects found in the loose soil, as well as a grave with the discovery of an earthenware vessel with an incised wave pattern, belong to the Early Middle Ages and thus are confirmation of an uninterrupted continuity of life in this place from the Antiquity, Late Antiquity through the Early and Late Middle Ages, until the 18th century, that is the departure of the Ottomans from these regions.
Keywords
late ancient fort; Early Middle Ages; Franciscans; Gothic church and monastery; chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary
Hrčak ID:
308903
URI
Publication date:
31.12.2022.
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