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A Brief History of Pelješac Peninsula and Janjina |
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Continuity of human life on Pelješac (Pell-yeh-shatz) can be traced from the Neolithic period till our days. Quite likely, the peninsula was inhabited even in the earlier, Paleolithic, period, but the earliest proofs of human habitation on Pelješac are the Neolithic artifacts, from about the third millennium BC, found in caves between Ponikve and Česvinice, as well as on Mt. Ćućin (above Trstenik), and at Gornja [Upper] Nakovana. Around the 5th century BC, an Illyrian tribe called “Plereians” lived on the peninsula. At that time Illyrians inhabited all the land between the Bay of Kotor (in today’s Montenegro) and the Neretva River. Great number of Illyrian burial places, rocky mounds called “gomile” (Croatian for “mounds” or “piles of rubble”), tell us that the peninsula must have been quite densely populated by the Plereians in the pre-historic times. Despite the presence of Greeks in the immediate vicinity of Pelješac, their contacts with and their influence on the Illyrians of Pelješac, appear to have been insignificant. It seems that Pelješac wasn’t interesting to the Greeks. Towards the end of the 3rd century BC on the shores of ancient Illyricum arrive Romans, with their expansionistic intentions and with the excuse of protecting the Greeks and the maritime trade from the Illyrian piracy. The long resistance of the Illyrians was eventually broken in 35 AD, by barbaric massacre of adult Illyrian male captives, which was carried out by the troops of Ocatvian Augustus, on the islands of Mljet and Korčula. The Romans then sold the Illyrian women and took away their children as slaves. After this, all resistance on Pelješac was crushed and the peninsula eventually became a part of the Roman province of Dalmatia, and thus was incorporated into the Roman state. In the 7th century BC, Slavs settled the eastern shores of the Adriatic. From that time on, until 1333 AD, the peninsula of Pelješac was a part of “Hum” (also called “Zahumlje”) -- an early Slavic territory. In 1333 AD, the Republic of Dubrovnik (initially a City-state) bought the peninsula from Serbian king Dušan and Bosnian *ban Stjepan II Kotromanić. Having obtained Pelješac (or “Stonski Rat”, as the peninsula was called at that time), the government of Dubrovnik started undertaking a string of measures aimed at securing its governance of the newly acquired territory, protecting it from potential invaders and ensuring the liveliness of the local economy. One of those measures was the distribution of land to the new owners. Dubrovnik’s nobility wanted all of the land on the Peninsula, but the resistance of the traditional landowners, especially of the elders, forced them to accept certain compromises.
Janjina (Ya-nye-na)
Janjina is a settlement in the middle of the Pelješac Peninsula. It is comprised of Janjina (proper) and a tiny hamlet called Zabreže [Behind Hill] so named because it is “hidden” behind a hill. Janjina is also divided into five parts named: Bara, Jaspričići, Prišlići, Dežulovići and Gornje selo. Gornje selo [Upper Village] is comprised of Lovrovići, Gornje selo (proper) and Polutići. Bara and Gornje selo exist at least since the 4th century AD, while the others are likely to have appeared during 15th or 16th century. There is no reliable explanation about the origin of the name Janjina. According to one opinion, the name is derived from a female personal name “Janja”, because the word Janjina happens to be the possessive case of Janja, meaning “Janja’s”. The oldest document that mentions Janjina dates back to the year 1222 AD. The document records Janjina’s churches of sv. Stjepan [St. Stephen] and sv. Juraj [St. George].
* Ban -- old title for Croatian and Bosnian rulers.
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