Podaca
Encyclopedia
Podaca is a tourist locality in southern Dalmatia
, Croatia
, located between Makarska
and Ploče
.
Nowadays, Podaca as a part of the Makarska littoral is completely oriented towards tourism. There are about 660 inhabitants living at Podaca mainly engaged in tourism. The locality has available about 1100 beds in private rooms and suits, ca. 300 beds in the tourist village Morenia and about 600 accommodation units at the camping site "Uvala borova" (The pine bay). Beautiful beaches in the peacefulness of the pinewood and the gastronomic offer of Dalmatian folk – cuisine as well as the vicinity of attractive daytrip destinations make Podaca a very desirable place for vacation.
Podaca was founded on the rocky slopes of Biokovo, on a defensible location, and there are traces of human habitation since Stone Age, like a stone mallet for mixing grain, which is kept in a Franciscan monastery at Zaostrog. Many stone ruins beneath Biokovo bear witness to the period of Illyrian habitation (2000 years BC - 1st century).
During the Roman rule this are was administrated from Narona. There are many artifacts from that period like a broken jar with a silver coin with a Roman emperor Sever (193-211AD), which were found here. Other remains from the Roman age include a part of the walls, near which a Christian tone tablet was found, dated from the Middle Ages. During the Large migrations Croats inhabited these parts (7th - 8th century). They founded their settlements high on the hilltops, in order to have a more defensible position and to make use of mountain pastures.
Middle Ages were marked with a constant struggle between Croats and Venetians. Croats were at the peak of their naval might during the dominance of Kacic dynasty, with their decline (1280) Croatian naval dominance also declined. One of the remains from that period (11th-12th century) is an old Croatian church of St. Ivan with tombs of Kacic family at Gornja Podaca, which were Kacic ancestral lands. The church of St. Ivan at the Podaca cemetery was built in pre-Romanesque period in 11th and 12th century. Not far from the church of St. Ivan, built in 1492, stood the church of St. Stjepan, which was razed to the ground in 18th century to make room for a present-day church built in 1762. After an earthquake in 1962, almost entire population moved to the coastal area where a new church was built to Our Lady of Annunciation. Near the church there is a cemetery with an ancient tombstone.
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, located between Makarska
Makarska
Makarska is a small town on the Adriatic coastline of Croatia, about southeast of Split and northwest of Dubrovnik. It has a population of 13,716 residents. Administratively Makarska has the status of a town and it is part of the Split-Dalmatia County....
and Ploče
Ploce
Ploče is a town and a notable seaport in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia.The total population of Ploče is 10,102 , in the following settlements:* Baćina, population 564* Banja, population 176* Komin, population 1,222...
.
History
Podaca is a village located on the southern part of Makarska Riviera, beneath Biokovo, 35 km away from Makarska. It is made of three parts: Kapec, Viskovica vala and Ravanje.Nowadays, Podaca as a part of the Makarska littoral is completely oriented towards tourism. There are about 660 inhabitants living at Podaca mainly engaged in tourism. The locality has available about 1100 beds in private rooms and suits, ca. 300 beds in the tourist village Morenia and about 600 accommodation units at the camping site "Uvala borova" (The pine bay). Beautiful beaches in the peacefulness of the pinewood and the gastronomic offer of Dalmatian folk – cuisine as well as the vicinity of attractive daytrip destinations make Podaca a very desirable place for vacation.
Podaca was founded on the rocky slopes of Biokovo, on a defensible location, and there are traces of human habitation since Stone Age, like a stone mallet for mixing grain, which is kept in a Franciscan monastery at Zaostrog. Many stone ruins beneath Biokovo bear witness to the period of Illyrian habitation (2000 years BC - 1st century).
During the Roman rule this are was administrated from Narona. There are many artifacts from that period like a broken jar with a silver coin with a Roman emperor Sever (193-211AD), which were found here. Other remains from the Roman age include a part of the walls, near which a Christian tone tablet was found, dated from the Middle Ages. During the Large migrations Croats inhabited these parts (7th - 8th century). They founded their settlements high on the hilltops, in order to have a more defensible position and to make use of mountain pastures.
Middle Ages were marked with a constant struggle between Croats and Venetians. Croats were at the peak of their naval might during the dominance of Kacic dynasty, with their decline (1280) Croatian naval dominance also declined. One of the remains from that period (11th-12th century) is an old Croatian church of St. Ivan with tombs of Kacic family at Gornja Podaca, which were Kacic ancestral lands. The church of St. Ivan at the Podaca cemetery was built in pre-Romanesque period in 11th and 12th century. Not far from the church of St. Ivan, built in 1492, stood the church of St. Stjepan, which was razed to the ground in 18th century to make room for a present-day church built in 1762. After an earthquake in 1962, almost entire population moved to the coastal area where a new church was built to Our Lady of Annunciation. Near the church there is a cemetery with an ancient tombstone.