number of antique fragments are disposed. It was stopping to have some
wine here that caused us to miss our train. There were some eight or ten
children playing beneath the pergola, and I found by experience how
small a sum may suffice to make a human being happy, since the
distribution of three halfpence in heller, the small copper coin which
is the basis of calculation, delighted them all! As we left the station
on arriving we saw a crowd of peasants kneeling at the cross roads, with
three banners, a big crucifix, a chandelier with three candles, and
other objects rising above their bent heads. The priest in the centre
was blessing the fields, sprinkling holy water in all directions, whilst
prayers and responses went up from the kneeling people, the smoke from
the censers which the acolytes were slowly swinging hanging round the
group like a cloud. Afterwards they came down the road in procession.
The priest held a little silver crucifix on a base; near him were the
acolytes bearing their various, utensils, and a choir of male singers.
The men and boys went first, in two rows down the sides of the road,
just as we had often seen in Italy. The women and girls followed.
[Illustration: OSTERIA AT SALONA
_To face page 310_]
The oldest part of the city is towards the Clissa road, for it spread
westwards. The Basilica Urbana is quite close to the wall, and only a
little farther south are the Porta Suburbia and the Porta Cæsarea. Of
the latter the arches no longer exist, but the ruts in the stone show
the carriage-way, flanked by two footways. The Basilica Urbana, with its
accompanying buildings, has been fully excavated. It was used for
religious purposes till its restoration in the ninth century, for Salona
was not entirely abandoned after its destruction in 639. The soil
removed showed evident traces of its destruction by burning. It
consisted of nave and aisles with a western narthex, and buildings both
to the north and to the south. The nave appears to have had twelve
columns on either side, with projecting piers from the narthex and from
the eastern wall. There was one apse with an ambulatory surrounding it,
as in the Lycaonian buildings recently described by Miss Lowthian Bell.
The foundations of the chancel were found, and of an enclosure which
reached to the second column on the right. In the north aisle wall were
two doors, one towards the baptistery, the other to the catechumens'
room, and all along the wall there was a seat. The _prothesis_ is an
irregular space to the north of the apse, entered by a door at the end
of the aisle, with a short column in the middle, probably the central
column of a table. For ritual reasons this arrangement (the _diakonikon_
communicating directly with the presbytery, while the _prothesis_ does
not) is usual in the Greek Church. The nave appears to have been
flagged, but the aisles were covered with a mosaic pavement, now more or
less damaged. Fragments of glass were found, and an inscription of the
fourth or fifth century discovered in the cemetery, "Pasc[asi]o
vitriario," shows that glassmaking was a Salonitan industry. Beneath the
presbytery remains of an earlier building were discovered with a pagan
mosaic of the second or third century, representing the poetess Sappho
and the nine muses. The ambulatory is also floored with mosaic, in which
is this inscription:
NOVA POST VETERA
COEPIT SYNFERIUS
ESYCHIUS CJUS NEPOS
CUM CLERO ET POPULO FECIT
HAEC MUNERA
DOMUS XPE GRATA
TENE.
The two names here recorded are those of bishops of the end of the
fourth and beginning of the fifth centuries, judging from the
palæography of other inscriptions. Esychius was bishop, 406-426. The
baptistery is accessible by steps both from the basilica and the
narthex. Attached to it is the _consignatorium_, as at Parenzo. This
retains its mosaic pavement, with a design of stags drinking at a vase,
and the text "Sicut cervus," &c. It is kept covered with pebbles to
preserve it. The baptistery itself is octagonal externally and circular
internally, with niches and several doors. It appears to have had six
columns (fragments of three of cipollino remain) and grey stone bases.
The font is somewhat cruciform in shape, about 3 ft. deep, and with a
little step at one end. The slabs at the bottom and the conduit for the
water still remain. North of this is the house of the Director of the
Excavations, with a pergola composed of fragments from the campanile,
&c., among which is a cap the exact counterpart of one in the cathedral
at Veglia.
[Illustration: BASILICA OF THE CHRISTIAN CEMETERY, SALONA
_To face page 312_]
North-west of the house is the Christian cemetery, a bewildering mass of
sarcophagi and foundations of several epochs, from among which many
objects have been taken to the museum. All the sarcophagi had been
broken into and plundered; with a single exception, that of a little
Greek girl who still had the earrings in her ears. Apparently apses were
built round the martyrs' tombs, pointing in all directions, and many
burials took place close to them. When the Goths destroyed the city they
plundered the tombs; and when the Christians returned they levelled the
ground, and built another basilica properly orientated; and here, also,
burials took place. The Avars descended upon this and destroyed it, and
the soil washed down from the hills covered much of it to the depth of
15 ft. Fragments found of the eighth and ninth centuries, however, show
that the place was not abandoned; the theatre was only demolished at the
end of the tenth century to build S. Michele, and the amphitheatre
lasted till the close of the thirteenth. Upon the extinction of the
Croatian dynasty in 1102, Salona rapidly declined, and when the Turks
appeared in the sixteenth century it became a neglected ruin.
At Marusinac, some distance to the north of the station and the
amphitheatre, is another basilica, dedicated to S. Anastasius, and a
Christian cemetery. The children are on the look-out for chance
visitors, and ready to point out the road; and sell copper coins and
tesseræ of mosaic at a price which lowers remarkably as the basilica is
approached. It is to be feared that they come from the great mosaic,
which is necessarily unguarded. The basilica consists of nave and
aisles, separated apparently by six columns on each side, with a single
apse, which seems to have had external buttresses, but there is no trace
of the usual internal bench. The total length approaches 150 ft., the
nave is 39 ft. wide, the left aisle about 14 ft., and the right 17 ft. 6
in. The _prothesis_ and _diakonikon_ are square, and a long _schola
cantorum_ forms a continuation to the presbytery westward, though it is
less in width. The westward angles of the aisles also have rectangular
rooms walled off. The whole surface was covered with mosaic, of which a
great deal is still preserved, consisting of geometrical pattern work
for the most part, without inscriptions, though there is one panel
showing a vase with scrolls issuing from it. A large drawing to scale
has been made of it, which is in the communal palace. It took a full
year's labour to complete. The basilica was built between 425 and 443,
but there was a villa there previously, of which considerable remains
were discovered in 1890, at the same time that the first sarcophagi came
to light.
In the modern chapel of S. Caius, pope and martyr, the side of an
antique sarcophagus serves as altar-frontal. It is sculptured with the
deeds of Hercules. The subjects are the Killing of the Dragon of the
Hesperides (which the peasantry mistake for the Garden of Eden),
Alcestis being brought back from Hades, and the Binding of Cerberus. The
water which filtered into the sarcophagus believed to be the tomb of S.
Caius was credited with the same miraculous powers as the "Manna" of S.
Nicola at Bari.
[Illustration: A MORLACCO FAMILY, BETWEEN SALONA AND CLISSA
_To face page 314_]
A path skirts the wall of Salona to the Porta Andetria upon the Clissa
road, which climbs the hillside in well-graded curves. To the north the
ridge of Kozjak rises to the height of 2,000 ft.; across the gap up
which the Roman Via Gabiniana ran, the course of which the modern road
follows, beyond Clissa, the still higher crests of Mosor frown. The
isolated rock on which the fortress stands appears to have been an
outwork of Salona in Roman times, and some assume that it was Andetrium,
which others place farther off; the Byzantines called it Clausura. It is
the key between Sinj and Spalato, its possession effectually closing the
pass to an enemy. The Avars took it in 640 by stratagem, disguising
themselves as Romans. It was Turkish from 1537 till 1669, except for
a short period, and one of the attempts of the Spalatines to possess
themselves of it has been referred to. The fort has three terraces, and
retains a characteristic building, a mosque of Turkish times, now used
as an ammunition store. Round arches which sustain the dome spring from
stalactite-shaped brackets. There is also a Venetian wall-fountain, but
considerable additions have been made to the buildings in modern times
by the Austrian military authorities, who have held the place since
1813; and permission from the command at Spalato is necessary to enter
the fort. To the south-east are the ruins of the Roman camp.
XXII
THE SOUTHERN GROUP OF ISLANDS
The chain of islands which forms a natural breakwater to the coast of
Dalmatia is broken into two groups by the Punta Planka, the ancient
Promontorium Syrtis, south of Sebenico. To the northern group belong
Veglia, Cherso, Ossero, Arbe, Pago, and a number of smaller and less
important islands, including Ugljan, opposite Zara, and Pasman, a little
farther south. Of these the first four have been described at length,
and the others are mentioned briefly in the chapter dealing with Zara
and its surroundings. The southern group lies south of the harbour of
Spalato, and includes Solta, Brazza, Lesina, Curzola, Meleda, the more
distant Lissa, Busi, and Lagosta, and a few small islands which belonged
to the Republic of Ragusa. The interest of these varies a good deal,
some containing much to delight the traveller, while others are scarcely
worth a visit. Most of them have historical memories reaching from the
dawn of history to times which are within the memory of many now living,
and some of them are remarkable for their geological formation or
luxuriant Southern vegetation. The planning of a tour among them
requires the most careful comparison of the time-tables of the various
shipping companies, and the scheme, once decided on, must be strictly
adhered to under pain of the risk of being stranded in some little
visited place for three or four days without any of the comforts which
the average traveller now expects to find everywhere; for the weather
cannot be relied on for twenty-four hours together in the seasons when
travellers are most numerous, the sea frequently rising under an
unfavourable wind so rapidly as to make escape by a fishing-boat a
doubtful experiment.
The direct boats, on leaving Spalato, steer between Solta and Brazza,
and round the point of Lesina, proceeding by the Canals of Curzola and
Meleda towards Gravosa; and we cannot do better than visit the islands
in much the same order.
Solta is the ancient Olinthia, celebrated for its honey; Olinthian honey
was held to be superior to all other, except that of Hymettus. The bees
are of a special kind, which work hard, and go out in wind and slight
rain; but the excellence of the honey was probably due to the rosemary
blossoms, on which they feed by preference, only visiting other flowers
when these have been completely rifled. Of late years the inhabitants
have cleared a great part of the land in order to cultivate vines or
chrysanthemum, so the yield of honey is much reduced. Remains of mosaic
pavements found here and there show the sites of Roman villas.
Brazza is the largest of the Dalmatian islands, the most populous, and
the richest in wine and oil. The stone for Diocletian's palace came
mainly from this island; and Professor Bulic has found abandoned
fragments partially worked in the quarries, as well as inscriptions. The
greater part of the stone with which Salona was built also came from
Brazza. Its history commences with the destruction of Salona and Epetium
in the seventh century, much of the population taking refuge in the
island, though it is believed that Greeks inhabited it before the
Romans. The legend that S. Helena, the mother of Constantine, was born
here (though most historians regard her as English) probably arose from
the name of Brettanide, which is said to have been the Greek name for
the island, though Brattia is also met with. The most ancient document
preserved is a privilege of 1077, given to the nobles by Demetrius
Zvonimir; but the island belonged by turns to Byzantium, Venice, the
Ostrogoth, Frank, Narentan, and Hungarian, becoming finally Venetian in
1420, except for the disturbed period which closed in 1815; since then
it has been Austrian. In a convent of Dominicans at Bol, on the south
coast, is a Gothic church, with a restored altar-piece representing the
Marriage of S. Catherine, with SS. Mary Magdalene, Paul, and Dominic as
witnesses. An entry in the convent register attests the authorship--"to
Master Jacomo Tintoretto, painter, a further payment of 200 ducats for
the high-altar piece." In the convent is a collection of coins and a
Lombard lintel with ninth-century interlacings; and on the Casa Nisiteo
a knocker resembling that at Curzola--a female figure with an anchor in
the middle, a lion on each side with head turned up, a shell below and a
shield with arms above, charged with a sun and dolphin one above the
other; a crowned lion and an eagle as supporters.
In a hut at Birce, near Serip, Andrea, son of Salomon the exiled king of
Hungary, lived as a shepherd and died.
Lesina was once a Venetian arsenal and station of the fleet. The
vegetation is sub-tropical. Rosemary fills the air with its aromatic
scent, oleanders, lemons, lofty palms, carob and bay trees are
continually met with, and aloes are often used for hedges. It was the
island Pharos of the Greeks, a colony from the Ægean Paros, founded in
385 B.C., and a free republic. Coins which have been found are similar
to the most ancient ones of Greece and Asia Minor, and the remains of
walls appear to be Pelasgic. From 221 B.C. it belonged to the Roman
province of Dalmatia, and shared the fate of its neighbour Brazza. The
Illyrian pirates mastered it, and under their lordship the celebrated
Demetrios was born, who was like a condottiere of the Middle Ages and
Renaissance, and whose treachery led to the destruction of the Greek
city. Many Christian martyrs were buried here, and it became known as
"the Holy." The population is Slav, and the Greek name "Pharia" is
preserved to some extent in the Slav name "Hvar." It is the longest of
the Dalmatian islands, being 70 kilometres long by 10 broad.
[Illustration: PORTA MAGGIORE, LESINA]
The town of Lesina lies on the south-west coast, and still retains a
great part of its crenellated walls. It is decayed, and there are many
ruined palaces of the Venetian period, some of which are fine. The
piazza is the largest in Dalmatia, and beyond it the houses form a
semicircle interspersed with gardens. On the east is the cathedral,
Lombardesque in style; on the south a large building, the so-called
Venetian arsenal. The present ground floor, with broad-arched door
opening on the water, was arranged to house the galleys belonging to the
Republic, and was used till 1776, when the arsenal was transferred to
Curzola. The upper floor, divided into two, was the theatre and communal
hall. The Loggia of Sanmichele is to the north, close to the remains of
the palace of the count. It has seven rather narrow arches on piers with
columns, and a whole order attached in front, a balustrade between the
pedestals and above the frieze, with obelisks supported on balls as
crowning features. The door is in the centre; above it a panel with the
lion of S. Mark replaces the balusters. It is now the hall of a
sanatorium which has been erected behind it, thus destroying two of the
towers of the palace of the count, and spoiling a very picturesque
composition. The "Fondachi" are used for military purposes; other Gothic
palaces remain along the side of the piazza. Above the town is Fort
Spagnuolo, which probably occupies the site of an older castle besieged
by the Hungarians and their allies in 1358; an inscription states that
the present building is due to the Spaniards, and was built in 1551
under Charles V., when he was allied to Venice against the Turks. Higher
still to the east is Fort S. Nicolò, constructed after the Russian
attack in 1807.
The cathedral is not remarkable for its architecture. The façade has a
semicircular termination, quadrants above the aisles, and an early
Renaissance doorway. The stalls are carved and pierced like those at
Arbe and Zara, but have lost the tops and the carved divisions. At each
side is an ambo of stone supported on four columns, but with an
octagonal body above, arcaded, with shafts at the angles. The arches are
all round, but the change in the plan produces a curious pointed
appearance in perspective in the lower arcade. On the high-altar is a
picture by the younger Palma, a Madonna and the Child in the clouds,
with S. Stephen vested as pope below, and SS. Jerome and Carlo Borromeo.
There is also a more ancient picture by Antonio Gradinelli, a dead
Christ supported by angels. Near the west end is a carved reredos of
Venetian-Gothic style; S. Luke in the centre with his ox, and S. John
the Baptist are recognisable among the well-carved figures of saints
beneath pointed arches with shell-heads to the niches. Two Venetian
lions have closed books with the date 1475. The sacristy contains some
fine embroidered vestments and several interesting pieces of
metal-work--a ciborium of the fifteenth century of silver, with a
pyramidal roof, a large silver chalice of Venetian late
fifteenth-century work in _repoussé_, a monstrance with round upper part
and an angel with a scroll and the inscription "O Salutaris," &c.,
decorated with translucent enamel.
There is also a very curious sixteenth-century crozier of gilded copper
enriched with silver bands and rosettes, which repeats and enlarges on
the idea of Bishop Valaresso's crozier at Zara. Inside the crook (which
is a complete circle) is the Coronation of the Virgin, above whose head
is a dove, and beneath her feet the head of the serpent, which
terminates it. She is crowned by a half-figure emerging from a flower,
wearing the kind of high mitre which is frequently given to God the
Father; behind her is a similar half-figure of Moses bearing a scroll,
and with his shoes on the ground before him. On the outside are busts of
Christ and six Apostles, right and left in profile, also springing from
flowers, all with nimbi; lower down are the twelve prophets, holding
labels with their names, and set close one above the other. At the top
of the stem are six figures, four Evangelists, S. John the Baptist, and
Elijah. Below are twelve little busts of patriarchs named on labels. The
knop has twisted colonnettes at the angles, with swags hanging from the
lower parts, and half-length figures above a canopy with one arch and
two half-arches on each face; on the flat surfaces between are
miscellaneous saints; below are three bishops and three other saints,
and below them are representations of the six days of creation; the
words "Opvs· Presbyteri· Pavli· Silvii· Tivnio· lavs· Deo" can be
deciphered. The stem is sheathed with silver plates with stamped
patterns.
The ruined church of S. Marco, now undergoing restoration, has a fine
campanile, rather dilapidated, and sepulchral slabs of members of
patrician families, and the Franciscan convent, S. Maria delle Grazie,
has a similar campanile, both of which were probably rebuilt after the
Turkish raid of 1571 under Uluz-Ali, the Calabrian renegade. The door in
the western façade of this church resembles that of the cathedral at
Ossero, and appears to belong to the original building of 1471. Within
it are three interesting altar-pieces by Francesco da Santa Croce; one
above the high-altar has two rows of panels with figures of the Madonna,
SS. Helena, Lucy, Clara, Elizabeth, Stephen, Peter, Francis, Anthony,
Bernardino of Siena, and Bonaventura; another shows seven prophets; and
a third has the Madonna in the centre, with three little angels below,
and S. Jerome on the left, and S. John on the right. The church also
contains a S. Francis by Jacopo Palma, and a S. Diego and S. Francesco
di Paola by Jacopo Bassano, restored. The principal treasure of the
convent, however, is the great Last Supper by Matteo Rosselli, a very
impressive picture, which fills the end wall of the refectory above the
panelling, and contains his own portrait (1578-1650). The table at which
the Apostles are seated is in the form of a horseshoe, with Judas on the
near side. The story goes that Rosselli went to Ragusa to deliver some
paintings commissioned from him, and on his way back fell ill, and was
obliged to land at Lesina, where the Franciscans took care of him and
nursed him back to health; in gratitude he painted this picture for
them. The great cypress, which spreads almost like an oak, he may have
sat under during his convalescence.
The other towns are Cittavecchia, Verbosca, and Gelsa. The first is the
new Pharos, founded at the end of the third century B.C., and
flourishing during the Roman period. It lies at the bottom of an inlet
six miles long, and is a nourishing modern town with little antiquity
visible. The campanile of S. Stefano, which appears to be of the
fourteenth century, is on ancient foundations, and there are traces of
Cyclopean walls here and there. In Verbosca is a fortified church with
bastions, S. Lorenzo, which contains the fragments of a Titianesque
painting, ascribed to the master on the strength of an entry in the
archives of a payment of 1,000 ducats to the Master Titiano Vecelli. It
is now in three portions, and shows S. Laurence with angels and the
Virgin above, S. Roch, and S. Augustine. In another church, S. Maria, is
a Birth of the Virgin, ascribed to Paolo Veronese. At Gelsa the church
is also fortified, a memorial of the time when protection against
Turkish raids was necessary.
Curzola lies due south of Lesina, separated from the long peninsula of
Sabbioncello on the mainland by quite a narrow channel. It is the
Corcyra Nigra or Melaina of antiquity, so called from its luxuriant pine
forests, little of which now remain. Various origins are attributed to
the settlement; one of them is commemorated in the inscription on the
Porta Marina: "Hic Antenoridæ Corcyræ prima Melanæ fundamenta locant."
The early Greek geographers include it in the territory of Narenta or
Liburnia. From Augustus to Heraclius (642 A.D.) it was Roman or
Byzantine, and from that date till 998 Narentine. From the victory of
Orseolo II. till 1100 it was Venetian, when the Genoese possessed it for
twenty-eight years. In 1128 the Venetians, under Popone Zorzi, took it
again, and it remained Venetian on the whole till 1357; from that time
till 1418 it was sometimes Hungarian, sometimes Genoese, Bosnian, or
Ragusan. Two years later it finally gave itself to Venice, with which it
was connected till the Napoleonic wars. The English occupied it from
1813-1815. It has suffered from raids; and the attack by Uluz-Ali after
he had sacked Lesina is noticeable for the brave conduct of the women.
The commandant of the island and fortress, Antonio Balbi, and a great
many of the well-to-do inhabitants fled without fighting. The women and
boys put on their uniforms and manned the walls, making the Turks think
that the place was well garrisoned and too strong to be taken quickly
with the force at their disposal. In one of the naval battles with the
Genoese off the island, Marco Polo (who has been claimed as a Curzolan)
and Andrea Dandolo were taken prisoners. Dandolo dashed his brains out
against the side of the galley; but Marco Polo occupied his four years
of captivity in writing his travels, and, according to legend, earned
his freedom by the pleasure which his work gave to the Genoese.