Istria

“ The oil of Istria was already famous in Roman times. Cattle-breeding is another great source of revenue, and the exploitation of the forests gives beech and oak timber (good for shipbuilding) , gall-nuts, oak-bark and cork. Fishing, the recovery of salt from the sea-water, and shipbuilding constitute the other principal occupations of the population. Istria had in 1900 a population of 344,173, equivalent to 180 inhabitants per square mile. ”

“ The Slavs inhabit central and eastern Istria in a compact mass. More Italians live on the western coast, particularly in the towns. They inhabit only five villages north of Pola, and their populations have no territorial unity. Istria is territorially linked with Carniola and Croatia, whereas it is separated from Italy by the Adriatic, and therefore it ought to belong to the Yugoslav State.... Triest and its neighbourhood is geographically an integral part of purely Slav territories. The majority of this town—two-thirds, according to statistics—is Italian and the rest Slav. ”

“ Istria, and hills rise around it; on the south side is a hill of the red land; and the houses are on an outcrop of the white limestone. The Foiba runs along the junction of the two formations. Middle Istria undulates from about 1,200 ft. to 900 ft. above the sea, while Lower Istria is but 500 ft. The hills are lower and less steep, there is more cultivation, and the villages and towns look more prosperous. ”

“ It is difficult to conceive the gay costumes and handsome features of the Albanese existing in these barren mountains that bind the Adriatic. It has been but a continued undulation of rock and sand, for three days past; and the closer we hug to the shore, the more we look at the broad canvass above us, and pray for wind. We make Capo d’Istria now, a small town nestled in a curve of the sea, and an hour or two more will bring us to Trieste, where we drop anchor, we hope for many an hour of novelty and pleasure. ”

“ This is Istria. Its position must have rendered it in early times a fit habitation, for uncivilized man would naturally prefer it to the cold and sterile Austrian provinces north-east and east of it. The neighbourhood of the sea supplies it with abundant winter rains. The peninsula was doubtless inhabited in early ages, and local students still trace in the modern Veneto-Italian speech remnants of the old Illyrian Istri, or Histri, whose dialect has been vaguely connected with Etruscan, Nubian, Illyrian, Keltic, Greek, and Phœnician. ”

“ At the foot of the mountain, and partly concealed by it, appeared Trieste, with its harbour full of vessels, lying on a small promontory. Looking over the town and across the bay the eye embraces the whole hilly coast of Istria, with the towns of Capo d'Istria, Pirano, and others; and promontory is seen beyond promontory till the more distant ones can no longer be distinguished from the waves. The right or opposite coast, stretching down to Venice, is flat, and the last visible point on it is the ancient town of Aquilea ”

“ The soil was dry and fertile, the air is pure and wholesome, and, though extremely hot during the summer months, this country seldom feels those sultry and noxious winds to which the coasts of Istria and some parts of Italy are exposed. The views from the palace are no less beautiful than the soil and climate were inviting. Towards the west lies the fertile shore that stretches along the Adriatic, in which a number of small islands are scattered in such a manner as to give this part of the sea the appearance of a great lake. ”

“ So Pola became a mere appanage of Venice. [Pg 160]
XIII CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ISTRIAN COAST
Istria is in great part a dry and stony land, but there are valleys with streams and woods. It slopes to the west and south with a tolerably continuous declivity, so that the base of the triangular peninsula is on the whole the highest part. Much of the vegetation is greyish, and the rocks also are generally a pale grey. It is divided into three districts, named, from, the prevailing colour of the ground, white, yellow, and red. The first is the stony portion, the grey limestone of the Karst ”

“ There are also many French, Hungarians, Bosniaks, Herzegovinians, Germans, Swiss, and gypsies, the Slav majority increasing towards the south.
In Istria the present inhabitants may be divided into Italians, Roumanians, and Slavs: to the last division belong the Morlacchi, the Tschitsches, Slovens, and Croats. The Italians are the most intelligent portion of the population, and are craftsmen, large occupiers of land, merchants, and sailors. They are the descendants of those who were subjects of Venice from the fourteenth century till the fall of the Republic. ”

“ Let us leave the woman of mystery—let us once more change the scene. Now pass we to the pirate's domain at Istria, a region over which, at the period of our narrative, the control of Venice was feeble, exceedingly capricious, and subject to frequent vicissitudes. At this particular time, it was maintained by the fiercest band of pirates that ever swept the Mediterranean with their bloody prows. ”

“ We loitered about the ruins several hours, finding in every direction the remains of the dilapidated interior. The sculpture upon the fallen capitals and fragments of frieze was in the highest style of ornament. The arena is overgrown with rank grass, and the crevices in the walls are filled with flowers. A vineyard, with its large blue grape just within a week of ripeness, encircles the rear of the amphitheatre. The boat’s crew were soon among them, much better amused than they could have been by all the antiquities in Istria. ”

“ The line then runs close to the provincial boundaries of Croatia and Carniola before attaining the sea again in Istria. The Slovene area thus delimited comprises the duchy of Carniola, excepting the Gottschee enclave, northern Istria, the Udine region, southeastern Karinthia, southern Styria and part of the Hungarian “comitats” of Vas and Zala. This Slovene land is now but a dwindled remnant of its former extension. At one time the Slovenes extended as far west as the Pusterthal in Tyrol, while their settlements even reached the Danube (at Linz and Vienna) . ”

“ In these mountains dwelt the old noble families of Istria and Ornano, the head of whom local tradition declares to have been Hugo Colonna; the same whom I have mentioned in my history of the island. Many a tower and ruined castle still attest, but in uncertain accents, the glory of their rule. The chief cantons of this district are those of Santa Maria and Petreto. ”

“ As our vessel was to touch at nearly every harbour of Istria and Dalmatia, we were never more than one or two miles distant from some coast, either of the continent or of the innumerable islands which stud the Eastern Adriatic from Fiume to Cattaro.
Very few English tourists ever wander among these remote provinces of the Austrian Empire, yet they are exceedingly easy of access, and possibly no countries in Europe are so interesting. ”

“ Rialto between Istria and Venice by the Marquis of Istria, the bishops of Pola and Cittanova, two "locopositi," two "scabini," and twelve other trustees from Pola, Capodistria, Muggia, and Pirano, there convened. A fresh treaty was made in 977 with Capodistria, giving Venice special advantages, and these negotiations were carried on without reference to the Imperial authority, the nominal feudal lord. Walking thus warily, avoiding offence to the Emperor of Germany, Venice took 200 years of continuous political action to acquire the Istrian cities. ”

“ Roman Dalmatia included the whole coast from Istria to the Drina, part of Albania, all Montenegro, Herzegovina, Croatia, Servia, almost all Bosnia, and some of the islands of the Quarnero. The legions for the most part remained near the coast, which gradually increased in commercial prosperity and civilisation; broad and safe roads were made to the interior uniting the Save and the Danube on one side, and the Drina on the other. ”

“ The sailors had run us on a sandy shore, within sight of the town of Pola, on the coast of Istria, and I began to think the wind that blows nobody any good, must indeed be an ill one, inasmuch as many travellers have gone scores of miles out of the regular beaten track, to visit the ancient city, near which we were now safely stranded. The sight of terra-firma restored spirits to our whole party, though they were most of them considerably astonished at finding themselves as far as ever from Ancona. ”

“ It would be just as creditable on the part of the Italians if they will consent to Istria being partitioned in the way we have suggested, for they have been wrongly taught to think themselves entitled to this country, and to believe that the inhabitants, as a whole, are glad to be Italian subjects. "You may suppose we are unpatriotic," the Austrian railway officials of Italian nationality used to say, "but as Austria gives much better pay than we should receive from Italy, we prefer that this part of the world should be Austrian." ”

“ Closely akin to Venetian, though differing from it in about the same degree that the various Gallo-Italian dialects differ among one another, is the indigenous dialect of Istria, now almost entirely ousted by Venetian, and found in a few localities only (Rovigno, Dignano) . The most salient characteristics of Istrian can be recognized in the treatment of the accented vowels, and are of a character which recalls, to a certain extent at least, the Vegliote dialect. ”

“ His architectural works in Istria were considerable; and in Ravenna he consecrated the two churches of S. Vitale and S. Apollinare in Classe, built by Julian, the treasurer. In Istria he founded the monastery of S. Andrea, near Rovigno, and the church of S. Maria Formosa, or "in Canneto," at Pola (which had property in the exarchate of Ravenna) , a magnificent [Pg 401] church, which has been spoken of in the chapter on Pola. The "feud" consisted of a palace, with its dependencies, and three towers in the city of Pola, and a quantity of land in the district. ”

“ This Dalmatian coast and the territory contiguous to it to the east—Istria, Croatia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina—are not populated by Italians to any considerable extent. As a matter of fact, the vast majority of the people are Slavs, and it is this country which many people believe and hope will eventually become Jugoslavia. There is no doubt whatsoever that Italy will get all her unredeemed territory, but whether or not she will get much more than that on the continent of Europe is doubtful in the minds of many, including her well-wishers. ”

“ CAPO D’ISTRIA, GIOVANNI ANTONIO [Joannes] , [1] Count (1776–1831) , Russian statesman and president of the Greek republic, was born at Corfu on the 11th of February 1776. He belonged to an ancient Corfiot family which had immigrated from Istria in 1373, the title of count being granted to it by Charles Emmanuel, duke of Savoy, in 1689. ”

“ A young and small nation like the Jugoslavs would be grateful for an act of generosity and would repay it by lasting friendship—a return worth far more than the contentious territories. "Ah, you don't know the Jugoslavs, Mr. President," exclaimed Signor Orlando. "If Italy were to cede to them Dalmatia, Fiume, and eastern Istria they would forthwith lay claim to Trieste and Pola and, after Trieste and Pola, to Friuli and Gorizia." ”

“ History.—At the time of the foundation of Aquileia by the Romans, the district which now includes Trieste was occupied by Celtic and Illyrian tribes; and the Roman colony of Tergeste does not seem to have been established till the reign of Vespasian. After the break-up of the Roman dominion Trieste shared the general fortunes of Istria and passed through various hands. ”

“ Italian irredentism, in so far as the Tyrol goes, is not unreasonable. But its realization in Istria and the Adriatic littoral is impracticable. Our modern idea of a state is of people living together in a political union that is to their economic advantage. Only the thoughtless enthusiasts could advocate a change in the map of Europe by which fifty million people would be cut off from the sea to satisfy the national aspirations of a few hundred thousand Italians. ”

“ It owed its name to an old belief that the Danube (Ister, in Greek) discharged some of its water by an arm entering the Adriatic in that region. The Istrians, protected by the difficult navigation of their rocky coasts, were only subdued by the Romans in 177 B.C. after two wars. Under Augustus the greater part of the peninsula was added to Italy, and, when the seat of empire was removed to Ravenna, Istria reaped many benefits from the proximity of the capital. After the fall of the Western empire it was pillaged by the Longobardi and the Goths ”

“ Franks, Croats, Bosniaks, Hungarians, Genoese, Neapolitans, and above all, Venetians have held sway over portions of the coast at different times. Families of Hungarian and Bosnian gentlemen established the free commune of Poglizza; exiles from Spain, Jews, for the most part driven out in 1492, established themselves at Spalato and Ragusa; Lombards descended upon the coasts and islands; [Pg 7] and Venetians commenced to establish themselves in Dalmatia in the eleventh century, Istria coming even earlier more or less under their influence. ”

“ It is the principal naval harbour and arsenal of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, and is situated near the southern extremity of the peninsula of Istria. It lies at the head of the Bay of Pola, and possesses a safe and commodious harbour almost completely landlocked. An extensive system of fortifications, constructed on the hills, which enclose the harbour, defends its entrance, while it also possesses a good roadstead in the large channel of Fasana. ”

“ Istria, except Trieste; she owned, on the east side of the Gulf, Zara, Spalatra, and the shore of Albania; in the Ionian Sea, the islands of Zante and Corfu; in Greece, Lepanto and Patras; in the Morea, Morone, Corone, Neapolis, and Argos; lastly, in the Archipelago, besides several little towns and stations on the coast, she owned Candia and the kingdom of Cyprus.
Thus from the mouth of the Po to the eastern extremity of the Mediterranean, the most serene republic was mistress of the whole coastline, and Italy and Greece seemed to be mere suburbs of Venice. ”