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Liburnians and Legends Medieval Lovran

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Liburnians and Legends Medieval Lovran LIBURNIANS AND LEGENDS The first known inhabitants in this area were Liburnians, who belonged to one of the Illyric tribes and so the Liburnian area got its name from them. Liburnians lived in the region from river Rasa in Istria all the way to river Krka in Dalmatia and they were vital bearers of maritime tradition along the Adriatic coast as early as the 12 th century B.C. They were masters of shipbuilding as well as pirates. Romans took over the basic type of Liburnian fast-boat and created the well-known battle ship “Liburna” which tells us what good quality ships the Liburnians were building. We will never know the exact number of those Liburnian battle ships which were sailing across the Adriatic Sea before the Romans began to rule, but the history of this area is rich with secrets, legends and myths from those ancient days. The first mythical story from the Liburnian region – the Golden Fleece – tells us about the search for wisdom. Jason, leader of the Argonauts and eager for glory, decided to take the Golden Fleece from King Aetes who reigned on the Black Sea. The fleece was kept by a dragon. Jason managed to take it, with the help of the King’s daughter, Medea – a sorceress desperately in love with Jason. In order to avoid a King’s revenge, Medea, Jason and his fellow Argonauts ran away by ship, chased by the King’s son Apsyrtes. First the Argonauts reached the Adriatic Sea, “over the River Ister”, with the writer of “Argonautica”, Apollonius Rhodius, who was a librarian in Alexandria and was quoted by Strabon, Diodor and others. After the chase reached the abductors, Medea fraudulently lured her brother into negotiations, whereupon Jason killed him. Medea cut into pieces her brother’s body and threw them overboard to delay those chasing. Out of these body parts new islands emerged, nowadays known as the Apsyrtides – just as ancient Greek sailors used to call them. Today those islands are the Kvarner islands – Cres, Losinj, Krk – floating before Lovran in the azure Gulf of Kvarner. Living legend interpreted over the centuries says that the sorceress Medea was hiding somewhere in Lovran’s area, under the Ucka Mountain near one of the most beautiful beaches – Medveja – which was named after Medea. It also says that mountain waters from Ucka, which spring under the sea’s surface, are her tears because of the crimes she committed. MEDIEVAL LOVRAN Modern Lovran (from the end of 19 th century to the present day) is incomparable to the medieval town of Lovran, crouched inside defences with little, narrow paved streets, joined one-floor houses and fanciful chimneys, narrow steps and miniature windows. This is where people used oil-lamps for lighting, cooked Swedish turnip, polenta and fried fish. In those days you could smell salty fish and labourers’ sweat, stable-dung and young wine all over the town. While men were out at sea or in fields, women were the heart of the family, keepers of the fireplace with their hair combed in two rolls, tightened behind their ears. They kept the family together and raised children, sat on the door-step knitting and talking to each other. Many of them were wives of captains and sailors, or their mothers, daughters and sisters, often looking at Vela Vrata waiting for their beloved ones to come back home, after voyages that lasted for years. Until the 19 th century it wasn’t possible to enter the Old Town because of the thick, tall stone-wall embracing it, the door on the entrance locked up from evening to morning. In medieval Lovran the local language of inhabitants was Croatian and it was used for communication with local superiors and clergy, but communication with state superiors was in German and Italian because Lovran belonged to Pazin County which was ruled by Habsburg Monarchy and nearby was its border with the Venetian Republic. Life in medieval Lovran was sometimes rhapsodic and happy in peace and wealth, but more often very hard and suffering, bearing illnesses, poverty, robberies, arsons, wars. In such hard times many people from the wider Lovran area found safe shelter inside its walls, as well as words of comfort, humble meals and peaceful sleep. DEVASTATION OF LOVRAN For long centuries, the Venetian Republic tried to lay its paws on Lovran. All attempts were unsuccessful but sometimes the Lovran people could feel the destructive power of the Venetian lion. In the 16 th and 17 th centuries when Serenissima was at war with the Habsburg Monarchy, Venetians were attacking Lovran intensively and violently and three times destroyed and ravaged it (in 1509, 1599 and 1614). Lovran wasn’t safe from Senj’s surprise attacks either, or from the French who attacked from the sea with artillery and conquered it. WALL-STONE IN MEMORY OF KING FRIDRICH On the entrance to Liberty Square are two wall-stones with engraved text in Latin and Italian describing the visit of King Frederick Augustus II of Saxony to Lovran on June 11 th 1845. The King was passionate about the botanic world and chose Ucka Mountain for his research. .
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