Vis (island)

Coordinates: 43°02′33″N 16°09′09″E / 43.04250°N 16.15250°E / 43.04250; 16.15250
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the island of Vis. For the town on the island of the same name, see Vis (town).

Vis
Map
Geography
LocationAdriatic Sea
Coordinates43°02′33″N 16°09′09″E / 43.04250°N 16.15250°E / 43.04250; 16.15250
Area89.72 km2 (34.64 sq mi)
Highest elevation587 m (1926 ft)
Highest pointHum
Administration
Croatia
CountySplit-Dalmatia
Largest settlementVis (pop. 1,920)
Demographics
Population3,313 (2021)
Pop. density36.92/km2 (95.62/sq mi)

Vis (pronounced

Latin: Issa, Italian: Lissa) is a small Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea. It is the farthest inhabited island off the Croatian mainland. Before the end of World War I, the island was held by the Liburnians, the Republic of Venice, the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, and the Austrian Empire. During the 19th century, the sea to the north of Vis was the site of two naval battles. In 1920, the island was ceded to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia as part of the Treaty of Rapallo. During World War II, the island was the headquarters of the Yugoslav Partisan movement. After the war, Vis was used as a naval base for the Yugoslav People's Army
until 1989. The island's main industries are viticulture, fishing, fish processing, and tourism.

Geography

Historical population
of Vis island
YearPop.±%
1857 6,304—    
1869 6,485+2.9%
1880 7,871+21.4%
1890 8,647+9.9%
1900 9,914+14.7%
1910 10,107+1.9%
1921 9,788−3.2%
1931 8,756−10.5%
1948 7,485−14.5%
1953 7,890+5.4%
1961 7,004−11.2%
1971 5,049−27.9%
1981 4,134−18.1%
1991 4,361+5.5%
2001 3,637−16.6%
2011 3,460−4.9%
2021 3,313−4.2%
Source: Naselja i stanovništvo Republike Hrvatske 1857–2001, DZS, Zagreb, 2005

The farthest inhabited island off the Croatian mainland, Vis had a population of 3,313 in 2021. Vis has an area of 90.26 square kilometres (34.85 square miles). Its highest point is

above sea level. The island's two largest settlements are the town of Vis on the island's eastern side (the settlement for which the island was originally named) and Komiža
on its western coast.

History

Ancient history

See also:
List of ancient cities in Illyria

Vis was inhabited by the time of the

Aspálathos (the modern-day city of Split
).

In the 1st century BC, the island was held by the Liburnians.[3]

Under Venice

Until 1797, the island was under the rule of the Republic of Venice. During this time large settlements developed along the coastline (Comisa (now Komiža) and Lissa (now Vis)). Administratively, the island of Lissa was for centuries bound to the island of Lesina, now named Hvar. The Venetian influence is still recognizable in architecture found on the island, and some vocabulary of the Croatian dialect spoken locally is Venetian in origin.[citation needed]

Long 19th century

After the short-lived Napoleonic

better source needed] In the Austrian census of 1910, out of 10,107 inhabitants (10,041 citizens), 9,939 responded that their language is Croatian (98.9%), with just 92 declared to be Italian-speakers (0.9%).[6] (After the end of World War I, it was under Italian rule again in the period from 1918 to 1921, according to the provisions of the 1915 Treaty of London, before it was ceded to Kingdom of Yugoslavia as part of the 1920 Treaty of Rapallo
.

The sea to the north of the island was the location of two battles:

Second World War

See also:
Adriatic Campaign of World War II

Vis was at one point the site of the general headquarters of Marshal Josip Broz Tito, the leader of the Yugoslav Partisan resistance movement. It was occupied by Italy between 1941 and 1943, then was liberated by the Partisans and held by a British flotilla in 1943–44. At the end of World War II the island returned to Yugoslavia. During the war the island was mined. Allied fighter planes were based at a small airfield that was also used for emergency landings of Allied bombers, including an American B-24 flown by George McGovern. No. 6 Squadron RAF extensively used the airfield as a forward operating base, flying Hawker Hurricane Mk IV fighter aircraft, from May 1944 to February 1945.[7][8]

During World War II, a crate of the Armed Services Editions of paperback books was dropped by parachute along with other supplies on to Vis Island off the coast of Yugoslavia. The books were then read aloud to the partisans by English speaking soldiers who translated the books as they read them.[9]

Early in July 1944, the novelist

British military mission to Yugoslavia.[10] There they met Marshal Tito.[10] Waugh and Churchill returned to Bari before flying back to Yugoslavia to begin their mission, but their aeroplane crash-landed, both men were injured, and their mission was delayed for a month.[11][12][13]

During WWII the island was also home to 1435 Squadron of the RAF flying Mark IX Spitfires in ground support of allied troops fighting in Italy.

After 1945

After the war, the Yugoslav People's Army used the island as one of its main naval bases until abandoning the base in 1989.[14] After Croatia became independent in 1991, its navy did not reclaim most of the facilities, and the many abandoned buildings are being used for civilian purposes and tourism, including tunnels, bunkers and a secret submarine base.[14] In 2008, 34 mines left over from World War II were cleared from the island.[citation needed]

In 2017 the movie Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again was filmed on location on Vis.[15]

In 2019 GEOPARK Vis archipelago became a member of UNESCO Global Geoparks.[16]

Administration

Vis town and Komiža are seats of separate administrative municipalities which cover the entire island and nearby islets, which are both part of Split-Dalmatia County.

Economy

The island's main industries are agriculture (mainly viticulture), fishing, fish processing, and tourism.[17]

Around 20% of the island's arable land is covered with vineyards. Autochthonous vine species cultivated on the island are Plavac Mali, Kurteloška, and Vugava.[18] Vugava is autochthonous variety of wine of island Vis.[19]

The sea around Vis is rich with fish, especially blue fish (sardine, mackerel and anchovy). Komiža fishermen of the 16th century developed their own type of fishing boat, the falkuša, which was used until the second half of the 20th century because of its excellent features.[18]

Access

Vis is accessed only by boat from Split. Jadrolinija services the island using mainly the car ferry Petar Hektorović, with the scheduled voyage time of 2h20'. There is also a high-speed passenger catamaran service Split-Milna-Hvar-Vis provided by Jadrolinija which takes 1h30'. During the summer season (from 31.05. - 29.09.), the ferry and high-speed catamaran prices are higher.[20]

There used to be direct ship lines to Italy during summer season. In 2010 Termoli Jet started Termoli-Vis-Split line, taking 3h30' to reach Vis from Italian city of Termoli.[21] In 2015, Blue Line ran the now cancelled night ferry service Ancona-Vis.[22]

In 2016, now-defunct European Coastal Airlines tried establishing seaplane passenger service Split-Vis, which took some 15 minutes.[23]

Gallery

  • Town and bay of Vis
    Town and bay of Vis
  • Komiža town
    Komiža town
  • Stiniva Bay
    Stiniva Bay
  • Map of Vis
    Map of Vis
  • Tito's cave
    Tito's cave
  • Partisan planes on Vis airfield, World War 2
    Partisan planes on Vis airfield, World War 2
  • Submarine bunker, military installation left from Yugoslav army times
    Submarine bunker, military installation left from Yugoslav army times

Notable people

References

  1. ^ An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, Index
  2. ^ The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites (eds. Richard Stillwell, William L. MacDonald, Marian Holland McAllister), ISSA (Vis) Croatia.
  3. ISBN 0-631-19807-5
    , p. 183, "... We may begin with the Venetic peoples, Veneti, Carni, Histri and Liburni, whose language set them apart from the rest of the Illyrians. ..."
  4. ^ Bartoli, Matteo. Le parlate italiane della Venezia Giulia e della Dalmazia. Tipografia italo-orientale. Grottaferrata 1919
  5. ^ Colella, Amedeo. L'esodo dalle terre adriatiche. Rilevazioni statistiche. Edizioni Opera per Profughi. Roma, 1958
  6. ^ Spezialortsrepertorium Von Dalmatien, bearbeitet aufgrund der Ergebnisse der Volkszählung am 20. Dezember 1910. Wien: Verl. d. Deutschösterr. Staatsdruckerei, 1919. Print., s. 21: Lissa
  7. ISBN 1-84037-141-2
    .
  8. ^ The "Tin-opener". No 6 Squadron (RAF ) Association Newsletter. July 2014.
  9. ^ Council on Books in Wartime, and Robert O. Ballou. A History of the Council on Books in Wartime, 1942–1946. 1946. p. 81.
  10. ^ a b Churchill 1997, p. 251
  11. ^ Lovell 2012, p471-6
  12. ^ Soames 2003, p389-90
  13. ^ Churchill 1997, p. 252, 256
  14. ^ a b Ryan (15 March 2015). "Take a Look Inside These Abandoned Submarines & Bases". History in Orbit website. pp. 34–37. Archived from the original on 11 January 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  15. ^ Demark, Nikolina (15 August 2017). "Will the Filming of 'Mamma Mia' Affect the Island of Vis?". Total Croatia News. Archived from the original on 15 August 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  16. ^ "Vis Archipelago Enters UNESCO Global Geopark Network".
  17. ^ (in Croatian) First Croatian online peljar
  18. ^ a b Economy of Vis Archived 7 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  19. ^ "Indigenous Treasures of island Vis". Slobodna Dalmacija. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  20. ^ "Split-Vis price list for 2024". Jadrolinija. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  21. ^ Redazione (10 May 2010). "Termoli-Croazia: Il catamarano pronto alla partenza. Primo viaggio il 24 giugno". myNews Termoli e Molise (in Italian). Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  22. ISBN 978-88-911-9181-6
    .
  23. ^ News, Total Croatia (9 September 2016). "European Coastal Airlines Seaplane Docks at Island of Vis". Total Croatia. Retrieved 10 July 2023. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)

Books

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Vis.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Island of Vis.
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