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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!
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