Kaštela () is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. The town is an

agglomeration Agglomeration may refer to: * Urban agglomeration, in standard English * Megalopolis, in Chinese English, as defined in China's ''Standard for basic terminology of urban planning'' (GB/T 50280—98). Also known as "city cluster". * Economies of agg ...

of seven individual settlements which are administered as a single municipality, with populations individually ranging from 3,000 to 7,000 residents. The town is located northwest of the city of

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

, west of Solin and east of Trogir, on the central

n coast. With a total population of 37,794 census, it is the 14th largest town in the country.

History

In the area of today's Kaštela, in the

Early Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progr ...

– from the 9th to the 5th century BC. – the first Illyrian settlements (fortresses) were established in the area of Biranj, Luko and Ostrožine. Traces of life in the Kaštela area can be found as early as prehistoric times, as evidenced by the sources from Mujina cave, which is located in a mountainous area above Plano on the way to Prgomet. Prehistoric man settled in this area and then he found enough fertile soil and drinking water here. From the 1st century BC they were under

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

rule, when a large number of summer houses (villae rusticae) were built for the needs of Roman veterans; the remains of the Siculi settlement near Resnik have been preserved from that period. A large number of buildings date from the early

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

and early Croatian periods; the remains of churches and buildings of early Croatian rulers have been found at the sites of

Bijaći Bijaći was a medieval Croats, Croatian village, some northeast of Trogir. The village developed around the church of St. Martha on the site of a former 1st century ''villa rustica'' at Stombrate locality, about half way between Tragurium and Sa ...

, Putalj, Kozice, Lažane, Ostrog and Sv. Petar od Klobučac. The local population came into contact with the Greeks already present in Trogir, their culture and art. The area of the Resnik port bears witness to the trade between the

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

, as numerous artifacts from the

Hellenistic period In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

have been found there. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, the area of Kaštela Field, as an integral part of the royal estate (territorium regale), was included in the communal estate of Split and Trogir by royal grants, and became the subject of numerous disputes between these two cities. From 1420, together with the rest of the Dalmatian coast, it was included in the territory of the

Venetian Republic The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

. From the end of the

14th century The 14th century lasted from 1 January 1301 (represented by the Roman numerals MCCCI) to 31 December 1400 (MCD). It is estimated that the century witnessed the death of more than 45 million lives from political and natural disasters in both Euro ...

nobles from nearby towns built sixteen fortress-palaces to defend against the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

; around seven of them, settlements formed, consisting of regularly arranged peasant houses within the walls. The castles had Renaissance architectural features, luxurious inner courtyards and rich interiors. Until 1797, the castles were part of the Venetian Republic, from 1797 to 1806 part of the Austrian part of the

Habsburg Monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

, from 1806 to 1813 part of the French Illyrian provinces, and from 1815 they were again part of the Habsburg Monarchy. When a new administrative division was introduced in 1822, small municipalities (so-called unions) were established in the area of the castles: Kaštel Lukšić and Kaštel Kambelovac (together with

Kaštel Sućurac Kaštel Sućurac () is a Settlement (Croatia), settlement within the town of Kaštela in Dalmatia, Croatia. Kaštel Sućurac is the first of the 7 Kaštels from the East. Patron saint of the town is Saint George (Croatian: ''Sveti Jure''). Histor ...

and Kaštel Gomilica) which belonged to the Split district and the Kaštel Novi union (with Kaštel Štafilić and Kaštel Stari). In 1847, the Lukšić and Kambelovac unions merged.

Geography

The town of Kaštela is located in

region, in Kaštelanski zaljev (Kaštela bay), between the city of Trogir on the west and Solin on the east, or the island of

Čiovo Čiovo (pronounced ) is an island located off the Adriatic coast in Croatia with an area of (length , width up to ), population of 5,908 inhabitants (2011). Its highest peak is the 218 m Rudine. The centre of the island has geographical coord ...

and Marjan hill (780 m), underneath the Kozjak mountain. It stretches for approximately 20 km and it consists of following settlements (from Trogir to Solin): * Kaštel Štafilić (2,822) * Kaštel Novi (6,507) * Kaštel Stari (6,950) * Kaštel Lukšić (5,221) * Kaštel Kambelovac (5,051) * Kaštel Gomilica (4,699) *

(6,544) Kaštela is an urbanized area with a rich agricultural environment (vines, fruits, vegetables, flowers), developed industry (cement, chemical industry) and tourism. Split Airport is located in the western part of Kaštela (in Kaštel Štafilić).

Overview

The Kaštela Riviera is a fertile area, about in length, featuring the first Roman floating docks and 50 places on the long, verdant area, northwest of

. It is divided into Gornja (''upper'') and Donja Kaštela (''lower''), and it consists of seven old and two relatively new settlements. The Kaštela region with its

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

tone, picturesque landscape and unique composition of natural environment attracted people since

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

times. From

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

sailors, Roman patricians, Croatian kings, rulers, Venetian royals to the present sun and sea lovers, as well as mysterious legacies from the past. Once an ancient Greek port, a stopover point for Roman veterans and a summer place for

n kings is today a tourist resort, carrying the same name. Along its long sandy beach there are terraces and viewpoints,

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

and other sports grounds, surrounded by greenery of pine and tamaris trees. The Jadro River (the original

water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Th ...

for the

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient h ...

city of Diocletian's Palace) flows through the town of Solin and provides

to both

and Kaštela. Contemporary studies indicate favourable

water quality Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...

levels of the river near the

headwaters The headwater of a river or stream is the geographical point of its beginning, specifically where surface runoff water begins to accumulate into a flowing channel of water. A river or stream into which one or many tributary rivers or streams flo ...

at Jadro Spring. Certain other studies of

hydrology Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and drainage basin sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is called a hydro ...

and sedimentation have been conducted in this area.

Climate

Since records began in 1981, the highest temperature recorded at the local weather station was , on 2 August 2017. The coldest temperature was , on 7 January 2017.

Population

Economy

The industrial zone is developed, and there is an aluminium extraction facility in the vicinity of Kaštel Sućurac and the Split Airport is located in Kaštel Štafilić. Present area of Kaštela and its inland in the vicinity of ancient

Salona Salona (, ) was an ancient city and the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia and near to Split, in Croatia. It was one of the largest cities of the late Roman empire with 60,000 inhabitants. It was the last residence of the final western ...

were inhabited very early (the finds from the Roman and Old Croatian period).

Culture

Folklore society KUD 7 Kaštela was formed in 1980. Society organizes annual "Tamburica & Mandolina" folklore summer event, with folklore societies from

Slavonija Slavonia (; ) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria County, Istria, one of the four Regions of Croatia, historical regions of Croatia. Located in the Pannonian Plain and taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with f ...

and

Twin towns – sister cities

Kaštela is twinned with: *

Bardejov Bardejov (; , , , , ) is a town in North-Eastern Slovakia. It is situated in the Šariš region on a floodplain terrace of the Topľa River, in the hills of the Beskids, Beskyd Mountains. It exhibits numerous cultural monuments in its completely i ...

, Slovakia *

Hradec Králové Hradec Králové (; ) is a city of the Czech Republic. It has about 94,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Hradec Králové Region. The historic centre of Hradec Králové is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech R ...

, Czech Republic * Kiseljak, Bosnia and Herzegovina *

Kupres Kupres ( sr-cyrl, Купрес) is a town and the seat of the Municipality of Kupres in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the municipality has a population of 5,057 inhabitant ...

, Bosnia and Herzegovina * Lindlar, Germany * Pszczyna, Poland * Yountville, United States

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kastela Cities and towns in Croatia Populated places in Split-Dalmatia County Populated coastal places in Croatia