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Croatia best destination
- Hvar - History |
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The
name of the island is without doubt Greek in origin, from Pharos
(lighthouse). From it the Romans derived the name Pharia.
The Dalmatian Romans then derived from this Fara, and the
newly settled Croats in the early Middle Ages changed this to Hvar,
as the old Slavonic consonant f was subsumed by the consonant group hv. The
Dalmatian Romans, under the influence of Croatian pronunciation in the
medieval documents spelt the name as Quara or
Quarra. |
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Since Hvar
lay in the middle of the main sea routes, history has left here many traces,
maybe more so than on any other Adriatic is land. The finds from Grapčeva
and Markova spilja (caves) have enabled the archaeologists to identify the
so-called Hvar culture (around 3500 to 2500 BC). The
examples of painted and encrusted pottery, with their various spiral
motives, are among the most decorative artefacts from pre-Illyrian
times. They are part of the general Aegean culture
but were also further developed on Hvar.
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Prosperity
came to the island in the 16th century, when viticulture was intensified,
wine being produced in sufficient quantities both for local needs and for
export. Fishing was also an important source of livelihood. In 1512, the
people of Poljice produced 4000 to 5000 barrels of salted pilchard and as
many barrels of salted mackerel. The historian Pribojević confirms the fact
that there were 180 boats for summer fishing, as well as many cargo boats,
some of which sailed as far as England. |
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Venice put
an end to the island's clan structure (such families as the Kačići, and
Šubići having formerly wielded power) and introduced a communal system. The
noblemen of Hvar, Juraj and Galeša Slavogosti rebelled
against Venice in 1310. The communal Statute was conceived in 1331. The
island again came under the Croatian-Hungarian kingdom in 1358, and then
under Bosnian kings and even Dubrovnik -
until 1420 when the Venetians occupied it for the third time, together with
the rest of Dalmatia. This political situation lasted until the fall of the
Venetian Republic in 1797. |
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In
1797, Hvar came under Austrian rule until the arrival of
the French in 1806. The following year the town of Hvar was
heavily bombarded by the Russians from the nearby islet of Galešnik. The
Austrians reoccupied the island in 1813 and reigned over it through out the
19th century and the very beginning of the 20th, bringing a period of
relative prosperity. |
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One
of the fateful events of 19th C European history took place in the Hvar
Channel off the island of Vis. The Austrian fleet, whose crews consisted
mostly of Dalmatians, under the command of Admiral Willhelm von Tegetthoff,
defeated a three times stronger Italian fleet on July 20th, 1866. This was
the last naval battle to be conducted in the old-fashioned way "in melee"
using the ships as battering-rams.
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In
November 1919, the Italian army occupied the island after
much fighting. Their occupation lasted until the signing of the Treaty of
Rapallo in 1921, when Hvar, along with almost the whole of Croatia, joined
the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenians, which was
later called Yugoslavia and succeeded by the Socialist
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia after the Second World War. The island was
modernised in the second half of the 20th century, with all the positive and
negative aspects of the modern age. Hvar obtained a new administrative
position in the territorial reorganisation that took place after the
recognition of Croatia as an independent state (January
15th, 1992). |
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