Vis (town)

Vis ( it, Lissa) is a town on the eponymous island in the Adriatic Sea in southern Croatia. Its population was 1,934 as of 2011. The town is the seat of the eponymous Vis municipality, one of the island's two municipalities (the other being Komiža). Both belong administratively to Split-Dalmatia County.

History

Vis, on the Illyrian coast, was established in the 4th century BCE as an Ancient Greek polis Issa, a colony of Syracuse, Sicily (which in turn was a colony of Corinth). Dionysius the Elder, the contemporary tyrant of Syracuse, founded the colony Issa to control shipping in the Adriatic Sea. Ancient Issa developed as the urban and economic center of the Dalmatian coasts, and it also served as a military base. The city established several colonies, such as Aspálathos, modern-day Split (now the largest city in Dalmatia), Epidauros (Stobreč), and Tragurion (Trogir). Issa functioned as an independent polis until the 1st century BCE, when it was conquered by the Roman Empire. Following the Roman conquest, Issa lost its significance until the late Middle Ages, when it was mentioned in several historical sources.

Until 1797, the island was under the rule of the Republic of Venice. Administratively, the island of Lissa was for centuries bound to the island of Lesina, now named Hvar. Under the Treaty of Pressburg, control of the Dalmatian coast and islands passed to the short-lived Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, with Italian the official language on the island. From 1809 until the end of the Napoleonic Wars the town was occupied by Britain, then ceded to the Austrian Empire from 1815. It maintained its Italian name of Lissa. After the end of World War I, it was under Italian rule again in the period from 1918 to 1921, according to the provisions of the 1915 Treaty of London, before it was ceded to Kingdom of Yugoslavia as part of the 1920 Treaty of Rapallo. Vis was the site of the general headquarters of Marshal Josip Broz Tito, the leader of the Yugoslav Partisan resistance movement during World War II. After the war, the Yugoslav People's Army used the island as one of its main naval bases until abandoning the base in 1989.

Geography

The town of Vis is in a relatively large and protected bay ( hr, Uvala Svetog Jurja, English: ''Bay of Saint George'') on the island's northeast side, facing the island of Hvar and the Dalmatian mainland. The port of Vis is in the southwest part of the bay. The port is protected from the open sea's influence by the islet Host (named after William Hoste) and the peninsula Prirovo (sometimes spelled "Prilovo"). Other, smaller ports are in Kut and Stonca, which are also parts of the town of Vis.

Vis is separated from its hinterlands (''Dračevo polje'' and ''Velo polje'') by 250–300  m high hills which are important for local residents as the main source of income from viticulture. Other official parts of the town are villages on the bays of the south and southeast coast, such as Milna, Rukavac, Srebrna, Stiniva, Stončica, some of which show signs of developing into new towns. Besides Vis itself, these bays and villages are the island's main source of tourist income.

Climate

Vis experiences warm and temperate winters with warm to hot summers. The landward breeze makes it the most moderate climate in Croatia. The climate allows for tropical and Mediterranean vegetation, including palms, carobs, olives, grapes and lemons. The average rainfall is about per square meter. The island of Vis has a number of natural sources of drinking water from natural spring water reservoirs. It is also home to 12 distinct types of island vegetation. The World Organization for Environmental Protection has named Vis one of the 10 environmentally best-preserved islands in the Mediterranean.

Administration

The official area of the town of Vis is the entire eastern half of the island. The western half is under the authority of Komiža. The Vis region comprises eight villages: Dračevo Polje, Marine Zemlje, Milna, Plisko Polje, Podselje, Podstražje, Rogačić and Rukavac. The town council consists of eleven councilors divided into three groups; five from the SDP - HNS - HSS coalition, three from the ''Independent List of Ante Acalinović'' and three from the HDZ - HSP coalition. Ascendancy is currently held by HDZ - HSP coalition in alliance with the ''Independent List''.

Population

Economy

Until the middle of the twentieth century, the main sources of income were vineyards and wine production. In recent times, more and more people have been working in tourism. The town is also famous for the greenery of its palms, the only example on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea.

Notable residents

* Niko pl. Giaxa (Jakša) (1845–1905), first national major of Vis
* Ivan Farolfi (1892–1945), high-ranked official and former mayor;
* Vesna Parun (1922–2010), acclaimed Croatian poet who was born in Zlarin but spent her childhood in Vis;

Monuments and historical sites

* Remains of ancient Issa (thermae in the southern part of the town that were getting their water from a spring that used to be to the west of them,https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/33286142.pdf#page=25 necropolis, theatre, parts of the port)
* Five Roman Catholic churches (''Župna crkva Gospe od Spilica'', ''Crkva svetog Ciprijana'', ''Crkva svetog Duha'', Franciscan monastery on peninsula of Prirovo and ''Crkva Vele Gospe'')
* Residences of Hvar and Vis noble familie
(Hektorović, Jakša, Gariboldi, Dojmi Delupis)
* War forts dating from various times (from the Republic of Venice to Austria-Hungary)
* British Military Cemetery (dating from the British presence during the 1810s)

The Church of Our Lady of Spilice was named after smaller semi-caves that were on the site where it was built. Construction began on the land donated by Frano de Pelegrinis at the very beginning of the 16th century. According to archive documentation, the church was still unfinished in 1521, and the builders had increased its dimensions during construction, evidenced in various styles over time: Gothic, Renaissance and baroque. Its oldest part, in the central area, was built in the first half of the 16th century and shows the transition from Gothic to Renaissance style. The main door has fluted doorjambs upon which two semi-capitals support the transom. Above the door is a simple, well-defined semicircular lunette adorned with pinions. The rounded window of the façade is of the Renaissance period, whilst an attenuate distaff with three bells is the highest in Dalmatia. The church's naves are entered through two baroque doors over which are double-winged pediments and above them rounded windows. The church's interior is divided by broad semicircular arches on masonry pillars into three naves. With this, the unity of the space was achieved, illuminated by the long, narrow windows of the Gothic exterior, of which some were transferred from the old walls which dated back to the 16th century. The posterior part of the church was also enlarged with a baroque shrine, the chapel of St. Vicko and a sacristy. The altar polyptych was created by the famous Venetian painter Girolamo da Santacroce

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