Original scientific paper
GEOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL POSITIONS OF THE PORTS OF PARENTIUM AND NESACTIUM
Marin Zaninović
; Arheološki zavod Ivana Lučića 3 10001 Zagreb, HR
Abstract
SUMMARY
GEOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL POSITIONS OF THE
PORTS OF PARENTIUM AND NESACTIUM
Marin ZANINOVIĆ
Parentium and Nesactium, as well as Pola, were the key settlements on the Histrian
peninsula. However, the particular geo-strategic positions of Parentium on the west
coast of Istria and Nesactium on the east coast were specific in the pre-historic period,
which is confirmed by the hill-fort nature of both settlements. From the earliest times,
both settlements played important roles in navigation, figuring as important spots on the
East Adriatic navigation route. Nesactium, with its Budava Cove, was used as a resting
place for ships that would enter the cove looking for natural shelter from the winds.
As a consequence, Nesactium, as it developed, had contacts with remote regions, from
Italy to Greece, which is testified by archaeological finds. The fact that the Romans
destroyed Nesactium in the year 177 BC could not prevent the natural re-development
of this settlement in its original role, that is, as one of the final ports on the East Adriatic
navigation route. By all indications, this was the main reason the settlement acquired
the status of a Roman municipium, even though it was practically located in the ager of
the colony of Pola. Practical Romans thus made it possible for the people involved in
maritime transport and shippers to resolve their practical problems in Nesactium proper,
thus saving them the 10 kilometer trip to Pola. The port settlement retained this role
until the end of the antique period.
Parentium was an important port on the west Istrian coast, with the peninsula that also
provided shelter from the north and south winds. The inhabitants of the hill forts of Picugi
and Sv. Anđel used it as a harbor. In the course of urbanization of Histria, from the time
of Cesar onward, Parentium acquired the status of a Roman colony. Its importance as a
port is also shown in the inscriptions of Titus Abudius Vero, a high-ranking officer of
the Ravenna f leet, who reconstructed the city’s temples and port piers in the 1st century
AD. Salt pans were also used for the city’s prosperity. In the year 534 AD, Bishop
Euphrasius donated to his canons a third of the income that came from the Brijuni salt
pans. Numerous villae along the coast also had salt pans. This means that the income
coming from salt pans was partially used for the building of the famous basilica while
salt was shipped inland to Histrian cattle breeders and farmers. The histories of these old
and famous Histrian settlements are peculiarly intertwined by their strategic functions
and by the similarity of their positions as natural harbors.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
40943
URI
Publication date:
15.11.2007.
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