Kulturna baština, No. 34, 2007.
Izvorni znanstveni članak
ŽRNOVNICA UNDER THE TURKS
Joško Kovačić
; Državni arhiv u Splitu, Podružnica u Hvaru
Sažetak
The paper deals with the history of Žrnovnica, an outstanding village in the vicinity of Split, during the period when it was under the Turkish rule (roughly 1570-1685). The first Turkish attack on this village, however, was recorded as early as 1472, when the raiders damaged the mill of the Commune of Split. The following century until the final
Turkish takeover was a period of constant insecurity, and many inhabitants left their native region in search of a better and a more humane life (a small colony of natives of Žrnovnica is mentioned in the city of Hvar in the first half of the 16th c.). Their chief destination was
of course the nearest city, that of Split, especially when the great plague took the lives of two thirds of Split’s population in 1607; people from Žrnovnica founded there some guilds, the best known being that of Gospa Žrnovska (Our Lady of Žrnovnica).
Already around 1548 the Turks managed to convert to their own Imperial Treasury the earlier salt-works in the mouth of the Žrnovnica River, consequently of utmost importance to them, particularly to their Bosnian possessions. Venetian forts that protected the area were
few and feeble, so they easily fell at the outbreak of the Cyprus War in 1571, when their garrisons, made of Italian mercenaries, out of sheer cowardice surrendered to the Turks. In that way Žrnovnica proper (the upper valley of the River) came under Turks as well, along with its lucrative water-mills.
The Osmanli terror (an example: the murder of Bishop Ugrinović in 1604) was so intense, that the villagers wholeheartedly embraced the Christian side in the Candian (Cretan) War, when in 1648 Venetian General Foscolo took the crucial fortress of the area, that of Klis,
from the Turkish hands. Because of their engagement therein, the inhabitants of Žrnovnica were forced to abandon their native village, to seek shelter in the Venetian Government and to settle in and around the fort of Kamen (in Italian: Sasso), from where they repelled a
serious Osmanli attack in 1660. They were also given land-leases and some privileges for their dedication to the Venetian Republic.
Although Venice succeeded in conquering the area of Žrnovnica proper for some years during the Candian War, the final expulsion of the Turks from this place came about only around 1685, after the disastrous Turkish defeat at Vienna; it was only since that time that the former inhabitants of Žrnovnica were able to return and resettle their old village.
Many documents, both published and unpublished, bear witness to the facts exposed above; three of the latter are added in full extent. Several preserved (but only as ruins!) Turkish monuments – the tower and the bridge at Dvori – are also mentioned, along with "soparnik"
(the local dish: Swiss chard-pie seasoned with garlic and olive oil, allegedly also of Turkish origin).
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
66352
URI
Datum izdavanja:
1.12.2007.
Posjeta: 4.229 *