Korčula (town)

Korčula (Italian: Curzola) is a historic fortified town on the protected east coast of the island of Korčula, in Croatia, in the Adriatic.

Korčula
Town
Grad Korčula
Town of Korčula
Korčula Old Town
Korčula
Location of Korčula within Croatia
Coordinates: 42°57′0″N 17°07′30″E
Country Croatia
County Dubrovnik-Neretva
IslandKorčula
Government
 • MayorAndrija Fabris
Population
 (2011)[1]
 • Town5,663
 • Urban
2,856
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
20260
Area code(s)+385 20
Vehicle registrationDU
ClimateCsa
Websitekorcula.hr

Population

The City of Korčula has a total population of 5,634, in the following individual settlements:[1]

Construction

The old city is surrounded by walls, and the streets are arranged in a herringbone pattern allowing free circulation of air but protecting against strong winds.[2] Korčula is tightly built on a promontory that guards the narrow sound between the island and the mainland. Building outside the walls was forbidden until the 18th century, and the wooden drawbridge was only replaced in 1863. All of Korčula's narrow streets are stepped with the notable exception of the street running alongside the southeastern wall. The street is called the Street of Thoughts as one did not have to worry about the steps.

Historic sites

The town's historic sites include the central Romanesque-Gothic Cathedral of St Mark (built from 1301 to 1806), the 15th-century Franciscan monastery with a Venetian Gothic cloister, the civic council chambers, the palace of the former Venetian governors, grand 15th- and 16th-century palaces of the local merchant nobles, and the massive city fortifications.

Cursola, as it was called in Latin, became an episcopal see in the early 14th century, when the bishop of Ston (Stagnum in Latin) asked to be authorized to transfer his seat there because of Serb pressure on Ston. This was granted and he was made bishop also of a new diocese of Cursola united with his previous one. In 1541, the Ragusans asked for the separation of ecclesiastical jurisdiction over Ston, which they had conquered, from Cursola, which in the previous century had become a Venetian possession. In 1828, when both the Korčula and Ragusa (Dubrovnik) belonged to the Austrian Empire, the territory of the diocese of Cursola was made part of that of Dubrovnik.[3][4][5] No longer a residential bishopric, Cursola is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.[6]

Culture

The devout Catholic inhabitants of Korčula keep alive old folk church ceremonies and a weapon dance, the Moreška, which dates back to the Middle Ages.[7] Originally danced only on special occasions, in modern times there are performances twice a week for tourists.[8]

The city's Town Statute [9] dating back to 1214 prohibited slavery.[10][11]

  • Church of Saint Nicholas
  • Town walls at dawn
  • View of the town
  • Moreška
  • Sunset at Korčula
  • Korčula town walls
  • Panorama view of Korčula

References
  1. "Population by Age and Sex, by Settlements, 2011 Census: Korčula". Census of Population, Households and Dwellings 2011. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics. December 2012.
  2. Architecture Korčula-www.korculainfo.com
  3. Curzola, in Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques, vol. XIII, Paris 1956, coll. 1116-1117
  4. Konrad Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, vol. 1, pp. 462-463; vol. 2, p. 241; vol. 3, p. 183; vol. 4, p. 170; vol. 5, p. 178; vol. 6, pp. 189-190
  5. Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae, Leipzig 1931, p. 405
  6. Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 878
  7. The Early Korčula Moreska Journal article by Max Harris, Lada Cale Feldman; Comparative Drama, Vol. 37, 2003
  8. Dunin, Elsie Ivancich, ed. (2006). Korčulanska Moreska (in Croatian).
  9. Korčula Statute-www.korculainfo.com Archived 2013-03-16 at the Wayback Machine
  10. Footprint Croatia-Page 289 Jane Foster
  11. "Razvitak hrvatskih otoka" (PDF). Građevinar (in Croatian). 52 (6). 2000. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
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