From Lopsica to Sveti Juraj: 700 Years Since the First Representation of Sveti Juraj on Geographic Maps Cover Image

Od Lopsike do Svetoga Jurja: 700 godina od prvoga prikaza Sv. Jurja na geografskim kartama
From Lopsica to Sveti Juraj: 700 Years Since the First Representation of Sveti Juraj on Geographic Maps

Author(s): Mithad Kozličić
Subject(s): Historical Geography, Maps / Cartography, 13th to 14th Centuries, 15th Century
Published by: Sveučilište u Zadru
Keywords: Sveti Juraj (Lopsica); Senj; Bura; navigation and traffic; Velebit Channel and hinterland; geographic maps and portolan charts; Claudius Ptolemy; Tabula Peutingeriana; Abū ‘Abdullāh Muḥammad al-Šarīf;

Summary/Abstract: This paper offers an analysis, based on original cartographic material as a historical source of the first order, of the significance of the settlement situated in the position of today’s Sveti Juraj near Senj as a nexus of overseas and hinterland commerce. It is regarded as a coastal settlement, which entails a port that is a connection between the circulation between merchant goods from the hinterland towards other overseas destinations, as well as goods which arrived by sea traffic in order to be transported to the hinterland market. In that regard it is important that above Senj a mountain pass (Vratnik) is located by which Velebit is traversed. The notorious Bura, however, which shortened the season of navigation, is also a factor. Considering that in antiquity Lopsica was situated there, and that in the Middle Ages Sveti Juraj would mature, it was deemed interesting to consider the shift in the two names of the settlement. For this reason, the problem is examined here up to the Late Medieval era, as later attestations are present on almost all of the available cartographic works of world-famous cartographers. This paper was written in celebration of the 700th anniversary of the affirmation of Sveti Juraj near Senj as a settlement and port in the most important historical cartographic sources.

  • Issue Year: 2018
  • Issue No: 5
  • Page Range: 181-202
  • Page Count: 22
  • Language: English, Croatian
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