Summary
Jure Kaštelan: The Light of Dalmatia
Mosaic of Split and its surroundings
Although these travelogues of Jure Kaštelan (Zakučac near Omiš, 1919 - Zagreb, 1990) were written half a century ago, they can still amaze and teach the reader with their immediacy today, because the most important Croatian historical facts, descriptions of monuments and natural heritage are not missing. Kaštelan writes about the earliest past of the Adriatic, Illyrian, Greek and Roman times, the arrival of the Croats, the medieval and Renaissance history of the Croatian people and their culture, about Dalmatian stone signposts, the coast under Mosor and its peculiarities, so that, like a great poet and a top expert, he managed to convey to us all the beauty of the natural and cultural monuments of individual Dalmatian cities and towns. It presents details from the history of ancient Salona, Split, Trogir and the Republic of Poland, skilfully describes the appearance of Diocletian's palace and Radovan's portal, the Brac quarry and pine forests, olive groves, vineyards, the sea and the Dalmatian mountains. Describing his journey through Dalmatia, he started from Split and, via Solin and Kaštela, stopped in Trogir. Then, via Čiovo, Veliki and Mali Drvenik and Šolta, he returned to Split again. Of course, he didn't forget to cast a cursory glance towards Omiš and Stobreč. Then, he sovereignly leads us through the whole of Brač as a miracle of nature: from Vidova gora, the desert of Blac, Postir - the birthplace of Vladimir Nazor, all the way to Pučišće, where the world-famous stone has been harvested for centuries. Finally, he also writes about his Poles and Mosor, about the history and culture of his native region. Instead of photographs, the descriptions of the landscape are accompanied by lyrical poetic landscapes.
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