Review article
The Urban and Construction Development of the Lučac Suburb in Split
Stanko Piplović
Abstract
The old Split suburb of Lučac is located to the east of the historical center of the city. It stands on the southern sunny foothills of Gripe hill. At one time farmers who worked the surrounding fields lived here outside the city walls. Today this is a part of the expanded and large urban agglomeration. Its spatial axis was formed by three approximately parallel long streets which from the center ran to the east and to the fields. Shorter transversal streets in which stood individual craftsmen’s shops connected vertically to these. The buildings are simple stone structures with spirited roofs covered with plates. Next to them stood business quarters, wine cellar and stalls. Lučac retained features of a simple living quarter without specific public services up to the second half of the XIXth century. At that point, on the western part nearer to the city, larger edifices with stylistic features of historicism and the Art Nouveau movement began to be built. Such are the parish church of St. Peter and the neo-Renaissance building of the bishopric, built in 1903 according to the plans made by the architect Ćiril Iveković. To the south lies the large convent of St. Clare. After WWI the surrounding areas towards the sea, Bačvice, and to the north, Gripe, began to be built and surrounded it with modern buildings. Between these stands the Pension Offices built in 1933. Between Lučac and the oldest part of the city is level ground. From of old, to the east of the borders of the wall of Diocletian’s palace stood certain important buildings. Amongst these was the Old Christian church of St. Catherine and afterwards next to it a Dominican monastery. Nevertheless, down to our own days this space has not been heavily built up. For defense against the Turks this space was encompassed by Baroque fortifications in the 15th century. After the Turkish menace had ceased, the walls and the bastions were gradually dismantled and in this way communication between the City and Lučac was facilitated. In the XIXth and the XXth century most of this space was covered with buildings for dwelling. Amongst these are certain public buildings such as the Archeological Museum, The Higher Girl’s School and the Military Bakery. In most recent times the church of St. Dominic has been enlarged while in 1933 the Pension Offices were built. Some way to the south an open market for the sale of fruit and vegetables was formed. During Venetian rule, even more towards the sea, stood large lazarettos where goods arriving by caravan from Bosnia were disinfected. Later this complex was altered and partially taken down so that in the XIXth century on this space the buildings of the Port Authority, the Financial Offices, the Custom- House, The Tobacco Warehouse and a prison were built. The suburb of Lučac with the space of the old market and its position in the center of today’s large city became an area through which traffic corridors passed. The population has experienced a change of its social structure which has brought about the alteration of old houses. This is why it is important to preserve the typical rural environments which have in large measure survived.
Keywords
Lučac; Split; town planning; XIX–XXth C
Hrčak ID:
11893
URI
Publication date:
5.9.2006.
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