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'A door open to friends', reads the inscription on the front of a summer residence in the centre of Stivan, which tells us of the way guests and travellers are welcomed in this place. Facing Split, but welcoming the whole world, small and friendly Stivan is a true gem in the crown of the eternally green island of Brac.
AS FAR as the bird sings
Text and photo: Franjo Mlinac
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stivan
Today, descendants of the people of Stivan live all over the world, as they travelled the Atlantic, Pacific and other sea routes to settle and find their new homes in places as distant as Canada, the United States, Argentina, Chile, Australia and New Zealand - everywhere where need and circumstance took them. Although scattered over the globe, many of these people share the same desire - to seize the first opportunity to return and continue their life in the place of their origins. The lucky ones do so during their lifetime, while others travel back to Stivan in their thoughts, dreams, in another lifetime or through their children and grandchildren, to whom they have passed on the love of Stivan - their song at sea. Echoing the words of the poet Rikard Katalinic Jeretov, let us take a look at the longing of Stivan's sons from all corners of the world. Our journey begins at the place where the settlement was founded, on the foundations of the early Christian basilica on Bunta, the present-day site of the Church of St John the Baptist, after whom the town is named.This is also where one of ten early 6th-century Christian basilicas on Brac was found, and one of only three churches of this type ever discovered in Dalmatia. The church also keeps fragments of an altar-piece that were found there. It is believed that a Benedictine abbey used to stand in this place in the Middle Ages, and people have always referred to the ruins in the vicinity as 'mojstir' (monastery). Today, we know for sure that Stivan's St John and the adjoining land were turned into a benefice of the Split church of St John the Baptist. In 1097., the Split prior Peter gave his property surrounding Stivan's Church to the Church of St John the Baptist (de Fonte). The property he donated was said to stretch over all the land where birdsong could be heard. Over the entrance to the small church of St John, which is used as a gallery in the summer months, there is a coat of arms and an inscription in Latin which informs us that the church's builder was Split's canon and rector, Jerolim Natalis, and that it was erected in 1655.About the nameOne way to tell Sutivan locals from visitors is that the locals are 'in the know' when it comes to Sutivan's name: on old maps and registers, Sutivan can always be found under its original name of Stivan. Similarly, the only name by which the locals want to be called is Stivans, while other names, such as Sutivans, hurt their ears. For anyone who truly wishes to become a part of Stivan, the first step is to learn all the right names.Newcomers who settled in the area soon spread out from around the old basilica to the nearby hills and down to Stivan's bay. Intending to stay there for good, they built a stone fort.Marijanovic House, a kind of citadel which stands right next to the sea, was built in the 17th century by Janko Marijanovic-Drazoevic from Poljice, better known as Count Janko. It is a smallish, picturesque building, with a slanted fortlike ground floor, a balcony facing the sea and a sun dial on the southern side, which was recently restored and is now a favourite of tourists and their cameras. The new settlers were not the first to reside in the area, however, as remains of Roman villas were uncovered while the foundations of new buildings were being laid. These archaeological finds testify to the fact that Diocletian's contemporaries had long before known of the beauties of Stivan's bays and karst valleys.About the inhabitantsRavaged by looters and buried under fertile soil eroded from the nearby hills, the pre-Christian history of Stivan lies hidden under the walls of modern-day houses. It is not yet ready to be fully told. (continues on page 2)
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stivan
Our story continues at the time when the people from the closed-off, hidden settlements of Brac's interior chose to come down to the coast and meet the world. The world they were now welcoming had much to offer Brac, especially economically and culturally, and the more skilful, and fortunate Brac people used these opportunities wisely. Among them, three families contributed enormously to Stivan's town planning and culture, especially with regard to the building of the farming and residential buildings that make up the town's centre: these were the Definis, Ilic and Kavanjin families. The former Biedermeier interior of the Definis villa used to house a rich medical library from the 18th and early 19th century, as well as five miniature portraits of the Definis family, painted by the Trieste-based French artist Vincent Poiret (i8i3-i868). The first fortified place in Stivan was built by Jakov Nadali-Bozicevic in 1505. Much of the original beauty of this Renaissance-style building was lost in later changes, especially those made to its front. The Renaissance inscription in Latin on the front of the building was written in praise of the Venetian Republic, since Jakov Nadali fought under the flag of St. Mark and built this grand house with the money won in those battles. Nadali's or Natali's, and later on Ilic's, residence is surrounded by a large park, which has been preserved and restored in recent times. Its southern part has been turned into public park.The mother of the Split nobleman, lawyer and poet Jerolim Kavanjin, author of the longest epic in Croatian literature 'Bogatstvo i ubostvo' (Wealth and Misery, 1643 -1714), came from the Stivan family Nadali-Bozicevic, and Jerolim himself spent a considerable part of his life and literary career in Stivan. The summer residence he built in the town's harbour (1690-1705) was designed in Baroque style, with a Baroque-style park and estate buildings. He placed a Humanist inscription over the southern entrance to the courtyard which reads OSTIVM NON HOSTIVM, meaning 'a door open only to friends'. The side of the house facing the courtyard today carries a plaque honouring the poet, with verses from his epic. In 1890, at its economic and population peak, Stivan was a town of 2.010 people with a good mix of skilled fishermen, farmers, craftsmen, merchants and intellectuals, all of whom wove their skills and aspirations into the fabric of the community, something that has been preserved until today.The years of economic demiseThe tears, sadness and uncertainty of Brac's economic crisis also form part of Stivan's history, as its founders sailed off to different parts of the world in search of a way to feed their families, turning Stivan into a town of women, children and the elderly, who strove to keep it alive for happier times.The main reason for the crisis was the trading contract concluded on 19. January 1892. by the Viennese Parliament and Italy. The contract included the infamous clause which lifted all duties on the sale of Italian wine in the market of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The clause remained in force until 1904. and caused great harm to Brac's wine industry at the time, and to the wine industry in general.People sought refuge in their faith and prayed in the Baroque-style local parish and countless little chapels, while the catacombs and dark niches of the church of St Rocchus, the town's patron saint, provided a sanctuary and a place of eternal rest for the tired, persistent and unyielding - the tough islanders of the eternal ballads. The church of St Rocchus - protector against the plague - was built in 1623, and extended in 1788. The main church's bell tower, which can be seen from a distance and which gives Stivan its distinctive appearance, was built in 1879. The church's altar was made by Pavao Bertapelle in 1787. The church houses the wooden statue of Saint Roechus and paintings of the Annunciation, Resurrection and the Last Supper, whose creator is unknown. In addition, there are several votive paintings and models of ships from the 19th century, which were created or commissioned by Stivan sailors after their safe return from the stormy seas.Stivan's future is determined both by its happy and miserable past. Ingenious town-planning ideas, such as cutting through people's private grounds in order to create practical, aesthetically pleasing access to the town's waterfront, the centre of all of Stivan's social life, as well as wide streets separating the houses from the sea and stretching to the east and west of the island, command attention and engage the responsibility of all present-day and future town planners. A rich agricultural history and remarkable heaps of grey rock make it difficult to ignore the toil of the fields and blindly yield to the temptations of tourism. Finally, the island's rich cultural and aesthetic heritage ensures that this text is not simply an eye-pleasing picture postcard, but a closer look into the history of a real island town, meant to awaken dormant feelings in those who know it, and give those who are yet unfamiliar with it a glimpse into a new world to discover for themselves.(The author Franjo Mlinac is head of the public library in Sutivan, the district's Department of Culture and the founder and editor of the island s Internet portal www.otok-brac.info)
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A rich agricultural history and remarkable heaps of grey rock make it difficult to ignore the toil of the fields and blindly yield to the temptations of tourism. Finally, the island's rich cultural and aesthetic heritage ensures that this text is not simply an eye-pleasing picture postcard, but a closer look into the history of a real island town, meant to awaken dormant feelings in those who know it, and give those who are yet unfamiliar with it a glimpse into a new world to discover for themselves.
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© Franjo Mlinac, ZOA - Sutivan, otok Brač. Sva prava pridržana. All rights reserved
