Dear visitor,

You have chosen this small town for your summer holiday, not without reason. We, the hosts of the town, feel obliged to tell you more about it. Speaking about its natural beauties, words can never express what eyes can see. So, wander along the coast and up the river and judge yourself. However, there is something that is not so clearly visible, and it is the glorious past of this town, for a long time the mightiest pirate town on the Adriatic coast.

True, piracy was not invented by the citizens of the ancient Omiš, but they gave it its full spring. It all started long ago, before the Croats arrived to this territory. Amber, dug out at the shores of the Baltic Sea, was believed to have curative and magic properties. No wonder that it was transported all over Europe and farther on, to the Middle East. It was sea trade, and the ships followed the safest routes, along the coast. For the citizens of Omiš, situated on the narrow strip of land between the mountains and the waters, the sea meant life, cruel and miserable. Expectedly, they started to attack the ships passing by and rob their treasures. The Omiš ships, sagittas (arrows), were small and quick, and after attacking the caravan ships they would sail up the river Cetina. As the caravan ships were bigger, they could not pursue them, even more so because at the very mouth of the river there was a dam with a strong chain on the narrowest passage, and the pursuit ships would strand.

After the fall of the medieval Croatian state (1102) piracy got even stronger than ever, of which there are documents from the 12 th, 13 th and 14 th centuries. The Omiš dukes from the Kaeia family: Malduk, Toljen, Pribislav, Osor were the masters of the sea, so mighty that the towns of Dubrovnik and Kotor were forced to make pacts with them on non-attacking, and in the 13 th century even Venice appeared as a party in the pact with the Omiš pirates making a commitment to pay tribute to ensure free sailing and trade. When the strength of the Kaeia family declined and the Dukes of Bribir, the Šubia family, conquered the Omiš fortresses (1287), it did not mean the end of piracy. It was stopped for a while, but the new master of Omiš, the Duke Juraj Šubia, could not resist the challenge, and he allowed his subjects to continue pirate activities.

In spite of various alliances against Omiš pirates, including the Pope, Venice, Split and Dubrovnik, it was not until 1444 that Venice managed to capture the old pirate town. It happened owing to the approaching Turkish force that made the amber way dangerous, almost impossible. It also meant the decline of the power of the pirates. Deprived of their prey, they lost their strength and the reason for existence. The danger from the Turks became more and more serious. Yet, despite the fact that they conquered the nearby hinterland, Omiš had never fallen into their hands.

Although all this may sound as a desirable romantic dream, the Omiš fortresses stand high as the silent witnesses of its glorious history. By this manifestation, The Pirate Nights, we are trying to bring that brilliant part of history into our minds to help us pave a more brilliant future. Do join us!