POVLJA
Island of Brac
Description. In the neckless of the island’s settlements, Povlja stood as
early as Roman times, creating thus a long and rich history which is now
imprinted in the cultural and historical monuments ranging from the ancient time
to the present day. In this beautiful region composed of dozens of coves bearing
the common name Luke (The Harbours), a Roman chose the most eastern part Zalo,
to erect there his household. Then in early Christian times and the Middle Ages,
Povlja climbed up the ridge of Brdanjak, near the old Lokva (The Pond). The pond
was very important for the position and the development of the settlement. It
was just between Zalo and Lokva that later on the settlement developed,
sheltered on the sunny hill-side from the northern wind that comes in the winter
months from Vrulja from across the sea and falls downon it again. Its squalls
are hardly anywhere else in Dalmatia so strong as in Povlja. The pines on the
cape of Povlja crouch down, touching the ground with their crowns and, daring
the wind, they grow low, right next to the ground. The houses expose their
larger fronts to the sun. The northern walls are dug into the hill. The two-eaved
roofs are covered with slabs. In the early autumn they are covered with lime in
order to stop the rain that from there flows into the gutter pipes that frame
the house like a decorative wreath. The houses are surrounded by many walled
gardens and lots of green tree-crowns.
The coast is fringed by the two-storey houses. With their size, site and
fittings they reflect the wealth of their dwellers by the end of the 19th
century. In the background, right up to the end of the place there is a row of
low cottages with mansarde roofs inside which the kitchen hearths were set.
Between these houses are the smaller ones built out of loose stone. With wooden
lintels, small openings and unpartitioned rooms with chimneyless hearths and big
unchiselled stone surfaces, they present the very old form of the inherited
Mediterranean architecture of these parts.
This variety of forms in both the age and architecture of the detached houses
and the old Kostilo and the new belfry, gives to Povlja the appearance and
atmosphere of a southern settlement. Povlja has its own chronicler, Dr. I.
Ostojic and his very specialist guide. It treats Povlja excellently in full
detail.
History. The harbour of Povlja and Luke on the west were the main anchorages
for Roman ships. The remains of amphoras affirm such a hypothesis. Near the
Roman estate building on Zalo there are the remains of a water-tank. In the
surroundings there are some copper objects and graves which all bear witness to
the size of this estate.
We see the row of wooden dwellings on Lokva where a large Early Christian
basilica with font used to stand with graves and other, auxillary religious
objects, possibly from the 6th century. It was erected upon the site of a former
pagan shrine such as are found in the neighborhood Bunje (q.v. Novo Selo) and in
Pucisca (q.v.) The size of the Early Christian church and the font give the idea
that it was the religious center of a wider region, probably the whole of
Eastern Brac and, to some extent also of Podbickovlje, across the channel.
At the end of the 9th and the beginning of the 10th century, Christian history
began its course here with the big and famous Benedictine monastery of St. John.
Upon the deserted Early Christian church, the Benedictines built a shrine (the
Early Christian font) and the gathering place, (above the apse of the former
church). The monastery was devastated in 1145 by pirates, but the friars rebuilt
it in 1184. It was in the year of the council that was held in the episcopal
palace in Bol (q.v.). On that occasion all the formerly possessed estates were
returned to the monastery. By means of various prebends and other acquisitions
the friars in Povlja succeeded in gaining one sixth of the most fertile land in
the eastern from 1184 was rewritten and verified 66 years later in the famous
Register of Povlja which is by its lay-out the oldest register written in the
Croatian language. It is kept in the parish office in Pucisca (q.v.). Of no less
importance is the Povlja lintel. It is the lintel of the Benedictine church in
which in 1184, the first Croatian master known by name of Radonja engraved,
besides his name, a few lines in dodecasyllabic verses following the Greek
pattern. These lines are the first verses found with the Croats and belong to
the very rare old verses ever written in any of the Slav languages. The lintel
is kept in the Museum of Croatian monuments in Split. The monastery was many
times attacked and plundered (in 1240, 1294) so that it was finally deserted in
the middle of the century. In 1415 the island’s authorities visited the island
and decided the boundary lines of the abbey and returned to it its estates.
Those boundaries are marked with crosses carved in stone which can still be seen
on the bluff near the sea on the Scirova glava (The Scirova cape). In the
centuries to come there were constant disputes about the rights of jurisdiction
over the abbey. Napoleon’s rule in Dalmatia put a final end to the abbey in
1807 and in the middle of the 19th century the entire estate was sold.
Up to the 16th century the surroundings of the church of Povlja were not
populated. Only after the Kandi’s war (1645-1669) did the refugees from Bosnia
come through Poljica and Krahina and mix with Brac’s old settlers. The
consequences of this migration are felt in the Povlja dialect.
The first dwellers settled at a distance of a kilometer and a half from the
present settlement where we can still see the ruins and a cemetery. This place
is called Gornja Povlja (The Upper Povlja). In the 19th century Povlja reached
an economic development that caused the awakening of national conciousness. In
1894 the Tomislav society was founded with a reading room. At that time Povlja
had 900 inhabitants. They founded the first Dalmatian oil-community. After the
First World War, the number of population records decrease, which was also the
case with other settlements on Brac.
Name. Povlja is the substantival adjective derived from the Latin Paulinus-Portus Paulinus-Povlja (the harbour). The lands to the east of the monastery are called Abacija (the abbey). The name Bota (from bolta-vault directs us to the old vaulted tombs that were set in front of the church because burials were not allowed to be performed in the basilica. The name Kastil is a borrowing from Venetian and denotes the fort built during the times of the Venetian authority of the island.
Monument. Povlja is rich in monuments of exceptional culture value. During
the peaceful period of the Roman rule the dwellings were built either near the
sea or at the fringes of the field. Of such a kind was the estate building on
Zalo at the end of the harbour of Povlja. In Povlja a Roman stele was also found
on which it says that the Roman women Romula erected the stele to her daughter.
We mentioned the relics of the pagan shrine upon which a big Early Christian
basilica was erected.
The Early Christian basilica with the font is the best maintained monument of
the period and one of the most frequent religious of the kind in Croatia. The
basilica has three naves of which the central one is by far the widest. The apse
of the basilica is drawn inside and is over ten meters high. The back of the
apse has a three-part window partitioned with two harmoniously made pillars. The
three longitudinal naves are crossed by a transversal one which makes for the
cross-like groundplan of the church. The interior of the basilica was painted
with frescoes. At the front of the shrine the arched vestibule was added in
front of which Lokva (The Pond) was set.
The baptistery was to the northern side of the basilica and connected to it by a
separate vestibule. Its ground-plan was square from the outer side and octagonal
from the inside. The baptistery was 12 meters high and domed. It is completely
preserved and belongs to the complex of the present parish church. In the middle
of it stands the cross-chaped font. This font was for centuries a place of
homage and therefore it was considered as the grave of St. John of Povlja. The
northeastern niche of the church was also painted with frescoes. In regard to
the fact that they are in good condition and have clear terra-cotta hues they
are considered the most beautiful Roman frescoes in Dalmatia.
Two rooms adjoined the baptistery. The one on the south with a corrider to the
basilica served for the assembling of the baptized while the one on the east was
probably the priest’s dwelling quarters. In the southeastern corner of the
basilica was the bath which was filled with water from the nearby pond. Near the
western side are still visable the relics of the staircase by means of which one
descended to the pool.
Next to the eastern wall stand the two barrel-vaulted tombs which have slightly
elevated bolsters.
Upon the ruins of the famous Roman Early Christian shrine the Croatian
Benedictines erected their monastery at the end of the 9th and the beginning of
the 10th century. This monastery is regarded as the biggest and the oldest one
in Croatia. The former baptistery, the Benedictines turned into the monastery
chapel and upon the preserved apse they built their modest dwelling quarters.
The monastery was in 1145 devastated by the Omis pirates. The friar Ratko
restored the monastery in 1184. Afterwards, the abbey of Povlja was plundered
several times, but the cult of St. John never died out and pilgrimages from
distant parts continued to come for a very long time.
The present parish church was raised in the 16th and the 17th century by the
enlargement of the Early Christian baptirtery. In such a way in fact inherits
the cult of a sacred place formed out of the pagan shrine, Early Christian
basilica the Bendictine church, up to the present day.
On the site of the former font (baptisting well) now stands the main altar. The
belfry was raised in 1858-1872. Only in 1925 were the side naves added and in
the Second War the vestibule was built. There is a lapidary there with relics of
the old cultural history of this place. The church also possesses a very
valuable collection of rural objects and ecclesastical garments.
The conservation work started in 1962 and it is owing to this that many ancient
religious objects deposited up there in Lokva over the centuries are now
accesible to us. Thereupon, we can follow the development from the pagan to the
modern Christian sacrificial post which finally closes the cyle with the
symbolism of the sacrificial table.
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