Lastovo is an island in the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea. It
is located 14 km south of the island of Korcula (divided by the
Lastovo Channel), southwest of the Peljesac peninsula and the island
of Mljet, east of the island of Susac and southeast of the island of
Vis. It covers 40.82 km² with 791 inhabitants (2011). It stretches
in the east-west direction, is 9.8 km long, up to 5.8 km wide and
417 m high (Hum). The coast is 49.0 km long. The divorce rate is
2.2. The most indented part of Lastovo is its western and
northwestern coast. The island is surrounded by 46 islets and
cliffs.
Administratively, it belongs to the Dubrovnik-Neretva
County. The largest place on Lastovo is the eponymous settlement of
Lastovo.
The island is famous for its Venetian architecture
from the 15th and 16th centuries. A large number of churches are
relatively small in size, which testifies to the long-standing Roman
Catholic tradition of the island. The main cultural event is the
Carnival, or carnival. The island relies heavily on its natural
environment to attract tourists every season. In 2006, the Croatian
government made the island and its archipelago a nature park.
Lastovo belongs to the group of South Dalmatian
islands, and the archipelago consists of the largest home island
Lastovo, and a number of islands, islets and reefs. The island is 99
km from Dubrovnik, 57 km from Vis, 31 km from Mljet, and is
separated from the nearest island of Korcula by the Lastovo Channel,
13 to 20 km wide.
The island is about 10 km long and 5.8 km
wide. The area of the island is 41 km2.
There are 46 islets
and cliffs around the island of Lastovo. The island of Lastovo
itself is the largest island in the Lastovo archipelago, which
branches to the northeast towards the islets of Lastovnjaci and
Vrhovnjaci. The western islands are Prežba, Mrčara, Maslovnjak Veli,
Maslovnjak Mali, Makarac, Vlašnik, Bratin, Pod Mrčaru, Rutvenjak
Veli, Rutvenjak Mali, Crnac, Kopište, Pod Kopište, Bijelac;
northeastern and eastern islands: Tajan Velji, Lastovnjaci or Donji
školji archipelago (Aršenjak Veli, Arženak Mali, Soplun, Česvinica,
Štomarina, Golubinjak Veli, Golubinjak Mali, Kručica, Petrovac, Za
Barje, Lukovnjaci archipelago) and Vrhovnjaci archipelago (Sestrica
Vela, Sestrica, Mala, Smokvica, Mukjenta or Pod Smokvicu, Vlasnik
Gornji, Vlasnik Srednji and Glavat). Along the north coast lies the
island of Zaklopatica, and along the south there are no islands.
The northwest and west coasts have the highest indentation. The
indentation of the coast is large, so the total length of the coasts
of islands, islets and reefs is 115.9 km (island of Lastovo 46.4 km,
archipelago Donji Školji and Vrhovnjaci 22.3 km, islands Prežba 12.9
km, Mrčara and surrounding islands 12 , 9 km, Kopište and
surrounding islands 7.7 km, and the island of Sušac 13.7 km).
Along with Mljet, Lastovo is the most forested Croatian island
with more than 70% of forested area. In 2007, Lastovo was declared a
Nature Park.
It was built of Lower Cretaceous limestone,
dolomite, Pleistocene conglomerates and breccias. There is a cave on
the island (Rača et al.). Numerous fields (Prgovo, Vinopolje, etc.)
were formed by tectonic-karst processes. They are filled with soil
formed by the decomposition of carbonate rocks and the deposition of
Pleistocene Aeolian sediments.
The highest elevations are
Veli Hum (417 m) and Mali Hum in the central part of the island,
Prehodišće, Maslina and Prežba in the western part, Veliki Pjevor
and Sozanj in the northern part, Glavica, Velji Vrh, Sveti Vid,
Stijene and Nori Hum in the eastern part, and a series of hills -
hills to the south with heights above 300 m and 400 m that make up
the limestone ridge Pleševo and Debelo brdo. Of the forty fields
of various sizes, most extend up to 100 m above sea level. In
addition to the largest wine field in the west and Prgovo field in
the eastern part of the island, Nižno polje, Dubrava, Hrastove,
Ždrijelo, Pržina and others also stand out with their size.
The island of Lastovo belongs to the Adriatic type of
Mediterranean climate, which is characterized by mild, humid and
rainy winters, and hot and dry summers. Microclimatic conditions in
relation to neighboring areas, in which maritimeness is expressed,
are manifested through:
lower summer temperatures
smaller
annual temperature amplitude
partly cloudy and
less rainfall
higher relative humidity.
Due to the distance from the
mainland, the southernmost position of all major Adriatic islands
and the influence of the sea, Lastovo has mitigated extreme summer
heat and winter cold. The average annual air temperature is 15.5 C
(22.8 ° C in summer, 9.2 ° C in winter) and the annual temperature
amplitude is 15.3 ° C. Compared to the neighboring coastal area,
Lastovo has a smaller number of cold, warm and hot days, and the
largest number of days with warm nights.
Lastovo belongs to
the sunniest areas of the Adriatic coast with 2761 hours of
insolation per year (average 7.3 hours per day). The relatively
small number of cloudy days (77) is also due to the distance from
the coastal belt.
Lastovo is often exposed to summer droughts
that characterize this type of climate. Dry and warm summers allow
for a long bathing season, however, which sometimes lasts from
mid-May to late October. Relatively low relief height and exposure
to the open sea cause the island to receive the least amount of
precipitation in our coast (622 mm / year). Lack of rain is
especially felt in the summer half of the year (spring 149 mm;
summer 50 mm) but summer droughts are not so pronounced due to high
percentage (70%) of relative humidity. Due to the high relative
humidity, the share of the average number of days with fog and frost
is higher. Hail rarely falls, and due to the mild climate there is a
negligible number of days with snow that almost never stays on the
ground.
Due to the protrusion of the island towards the open
sea, there is a small share of strong (35 days / year) and stormy
(2.5 days / year) winds. Silences occur with an average of about 130
days a year.
Of the local winds, the most common is the jugo (SE). It brings
warm and rainy weather, it occurs throughout the year, but more
often during autumn and winter. In terms of frequency, the bora (NE)
and tramuntana (NW) come behind the south, dry and cold winds that
blow the most in the winter, bringing a relatively cold, dry and
clear type of weather. Levanat (E) brings rainy, cool and gloomy
weather during winter and early spring. Lebic (SW and W) and sharp
(S) occur less frequently, usually after the south, bringing showers
and thunderstorms.
Of the periodic winds, the most pronounced
is the mistral, a daily wind that blows in the summer and brings a
clear and dry type of weather. Burin, a counterpart to the mistral,
blows at night from the land to the sea and comes to the fore only
in larger bays.
History
The island of Lastovo has been
permanently inhabited for several thousand years. The first known
inhabitants were the Illyrians, and in antiquity it was colonized
first by the Greeks, who called it Ladesta, and then by the Romans.
Archaeological finds from the ancient Roman period and the early
Middle Ages have been found in Ublima Bay (on the southwest coast).
As with the other Adriatic islands, in the case of Lastovo, the
power over the island often changed. After the Greeks and the Roman
Empire, the island was ruled by the Byzantines. With the arrival of
Croats on the Adriatic coast, the island is occasionally located
within the Kingdom of Croatia, occasionally within the Venetian
Republic. From the 13th century it became part of the Republic of
Dubrovnik. In 1310, Lastovo received its first written regulation -
the Lastovo Statute, which has all the features of the law.
According to the Statute, the island is governed by a Council of 20
members who hold office from election to death. In 1486, the powers
of the Council fell under the Parliament of the Republic, so that
Lastovo lost much of its autonomy. The constant restriction of
Lastovo's autonomy and high dues led to a short-lived uprising on
Lastovo during 1602. At the invitation of the islanders, Venice
occupied the island in 1603 and returned it to Dubrovnik in 1606.
The next attempt at an uprising took place in 1652, but without
success. Moreover, after these riots, Lastovo further lost its
autonomy.
During the Turkish conquests, Lastovo was often the
target of pirates from Ulcinj. In order to protect the island, the
people of Lastovo introduced compulsory military service. Military
service was abolished in the XVIII. century when pirates from Ulcinj
changed their profession and became traders.
With the end of
the Republic of Dubrovnik, at the beginning of the 19th century,
Lastovo briefly entered the Illyrian province founded by the French.
After the defeat of Napoleon, Lastovo, together with other parts of
the former Republic of Dubrovnik, became part of the Habsburg
Monarchy, from 1867 Austro-Hungary.
During the First World
War, the Austro-Hungarian army formed a garrison on Glavica. There
were soldiers in the fort who were mostly Manari with a temporary
stay on Lastovo. The administration ordered an eclipse and banned
church bells during the war. Towards the end of 1917, French planes
bombed Lastovo, after which they landed in Lastovo in search of
information. Soon Italian troops came to Lastovo and clashed with
the captured French and treated them as prisoners of war. Although
the French soldiers on Lastovo had the status of prisoners of war,
the information about the end of the war was brought to Lastovo by a
French plane that on November 4, 1918. threw information leaflets at
Lastovo.
One week later, on November 11, 1918, the Italian
army occupied Lastovo. Namely, Lastovo, like most of Dalmatia, was
recognized as Italian territory in the Secret Treaty of London
(1915). Italy based its request for the annexation of most of
Dalmatia on the fact that groups of Italians lived in all parts of
Dalmatia. But it was actually a reward for participating in the war
on the side of the Entente. Yet, under the influence of US President
Woodrow Wilson, who supported a national approach to demarcation,
the idea of annexing all of Dalmatia to Italy was rejected. Due to
the proposal of US President Woodrow Wilson, only Zadar (then called
Zara), in which the Italians had a majority, belonged to Italy.
However, the Rapallo Agreement of 1920 made an exception and
‘Lagosta’ belonged to Italy for strategic reasons. This exception
was supported because Lastovo was inhabited by an Italian minority,
and on the other hand, the annexation of Lastovo to Italy acted as a
good compromise that would appease Italian passions.
After the beginning of fascism in Italy (1922), the policy of
Italianization of all ‘foreign’ parts began. As a result, Croatian
schools were closed and Italian became the only official language on
Lastovo. These changes were accompanied by a rise in living
standards on the island. Numerous public works have begun, and the
island’s population has reached its maximum of about 2,000
inhabitants. This sudden population growth was also encouraged by
the immigration of Italians from other Dalmatian cities who wanted
to live under Italian leadership.
When the Axis powers
penetrated the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1941, it experienced a very
rapid collapse. After that, a large part of Dalmatia was annexed to
Italy and the rest of Croatia was annexed to the Independent State
of Croatia. Shortly after the capitulation of Italy 08.09. In 1943,
partisans led by Tito captured Lastovo and annexed it to Yugoslavia.
After the war, Lastovo became part of the Socialist Republic of
Croatia, one of the 6 republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia. By 1953, the majority of Lastovo residents of Italian
nationality had left Lastovo, interrupting the long-standing Italian
presence on Lastovo. However, this period was also marked by the
large emigration of Lastovo residents of Croatian nationality,
primarily to Australia and America. In the Second World War, 26
people from Lastovo died in the ranks of partisans, to whom a
monument was erected in the town of Lastovo.
During the
second half of the 20th century, the then army of the SFRY, the JNA
carried out the militarization of Lastovo: numerous military
facilities were built on the island, movement on the island and
arrival from the island were significantly limited and placed under
strict control, a large number of military personnel settled. They
were mostly Serbs, which significantly changed the ethnic structure
of the sparsely populated island, from which a large number of
domicile population emigrated over many decades, mainly due to the
economic underdevelopment of Lastovo. In addition, the island was a
restricted area for foreigners, so it was not possible to develop
tourism, which was the main driver of development for other islands.
After Croatia declared independence in 1991, members of the
Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) remained in Lastovo until 3:30 p.m. on
May 31, 1992, when they left military bases in Lastovo. The
aggression on Croatia ended in 1995, and Lastovo escaped much of the
devastation that engulfed much of Croatia. Nevertheless, the
depopulation of Lastovo continued from 1,205 in 1991 to 835 in 2001,
and 798 in 2011.
On September 29, 2006, the Croatian
Parliament passed the Law on the Proclamation of the Lastovo Islands
Nature Park. Thus, the Lastovo archipelago became the eleventh
nature park in Croatia. The protection will preserve its inherited
landscape and cultural values, as well as biological and landscape
diversity, which includes the associated sea and submarine.