ISLAND OF MLJET
Homer's Ogygia
We have visited the Island of Mljet in September 1997 and
found an article titled "MLJET - Ulysses' Island of Ogygia" that
roused my interests. The elongated Island of Mljet is almost parallel
Peninsula of Peljesac across the Mljetski Channel of some 8 km width. Mljet is
located not far away at West of the coastal city of Dubrovnik. Some have held Mljet
to be Home's "Ogygia" where the beautiful goddess Calypso supposedly
kept Odysseus as her lover for seven years during his traveling from the Trojan
War to return home. There is a cave on Mljet below the village of Babino Polje
that matches to some extent Homer's description of Calypso's lush cave, but then
Mljet is hardly out "in the navel of the sea" as Homer described
Ogygia to be. The story written by Mirjana Sanader found in the on-flight
magazine of "Croatian Airlines" for Summer 1997 starts with the
following citation:
" Round her cave there was
a thick wood of alder, poplar, and sweet smelling cypress trees, wherein all
kinds of great birds had built their nests - owls, hawks, and chattering sea
crows that occupy their business in waters. A vine loaded with grapes trained
and new luxuriantly about the mouth of the cave; there were also four running
rills of water in channels cut pretty close together and turned hither and
thither so as to irrigate the beds of violets and luscious herbage over which
they flowed. " [Homer's Ulysses, Book
V, 64-73]
Westward aerial view of the Island of Mljet -
at lower right the Great Lake and St. Mary's Island.
Readers of these lines from the Odyssey have long tried to
figure out which was the beautiful island Ogygia that was the home of the sea
nymph Calypso. Few think that the poet was trying to celebrate in verse the
beauties of Mljet that is one of the Adriatic Islands. We're talking about one
of the episodes of Ulysses return to his native island of Ithaca, when, after a
shipwreck, a 9 day long aimless wandering brought him to the island of Ogygia.
The hero was enchanted with the beauty of the island as well as with the
beautiful sea nymph Calypso, who fell in love with him. However, the idyll did
not last long, for Ulysses soon became homesick. But he had to wait for seven
long years, which he spent mainly sitting on the seaside, staring at the open
sea. From this (sweet) slavery the heavenly messenger Hermes, who came to the
island to deliver to Calypso Zeus's ultimatum that she must relinquish her
hero, liberated him.
Below island's center Babino polje on south
coast lies the entrance to The Cave of Ulysses.
To this day no monuments have been found proving presence
of Greece on island. However, it is absolutely certain that the ancient Greeks
knew about Mljet because there exist ancient records dating back 4 centuries
BC, in which this island is mentioned. Agesilaus of Anaxarba, who had been
governor of Cilicia (now eastern Turkey), was banished to Mljet by the Roman
Emperor Septimus Severus (AD 145-211) for some perceived slight. One of the
legends - written sown some time in the 16th century - mentions that Mljet
served as shelter to the Greek leader Agesilaus and his son Oppianos. Oppianos
of Anaxarba is a historical personage who lived in the 2nd century and
wrote some 5 volumes about fishing, the Halieutica, while on Mljet but there is
no proof for that yet. This poem supposedly pleased Caracalla, son of
Septimus Severus, that he awarded Oppianos a gold coin for each line (about
3500 of them) and permitted Oppianos and Agesilaus to return from exile. A
local legend refers to a palace built by Agesilaus of Anazarba at Polace where
still some ruins exist now-a-days. These ruins in fact are rather too late to
have been built by Agesilaus, and it seems that they are the remains of an
extravagant hunting lodge built by one Pierius in 489 AD, to whom Odoacer, king
of Italy, had given Mljet in settlement of a debt.
However, there is no dispute about that the fleet of Caesar
Octavian attacked Mljet in 35 BC to subdue the pirates and to curtail their
misdeeds there too. Emperor Octavian had to subjugate islands whose inhabitants
were practicing intractable piracy that endangered the safety of Roman vessels.
After defeating them militarily Octavian's wrath was terrible and he let
killing the entire islands' population saving only the physically fit to be
thrown into slavery. Thus the island of Mljet became an imperial property and
the Roman colonists settled thereafter. They began cultivating grapes and
growing olive on this fertile land, probably also the production of honey, as
shown by the etymology of the island's name. That the agriculture was the
island's most important factor proves also a Roman inscription saying that the
god Liber was worshipped on the island and had a shrine there. Liber, a very
ancient Italic deity, was used as the symbol of wine growing and agriculture in
general. During Roman times the name MELITA (meaning the "Island of
Honey") was used for both the islands that of Mljet and of Malta as well.
One had also argued about St. Paul's shipwrecking in 62 AD that happened on
Mljet and not on Malta but ended without any reasonable result. Much more is
known about the history of Mljet from the time when the Romans were rulers in
the Adriatic. Thus Appianos, the Roman historian, writing about the Illyrian
wars, mentions the island of Mljet, as well as its Roman name, Melita.
From description of St. Luke in the Acts of Apostles,
chapters 27 and 28, we know that during St. Paul's journey from Caesarea
to Rome there was a shipwreck on the island of Melita. At that time there were
two islands on the Mediterranean bearing the name of Melita: today's
Malta, and the island of Mljet not far from Dubrovnik. There are many
arguments that the shipwreck occured on this island of Mljet, and not on Malta,
see [Nicetic]
(professor of the University of Dubrovnik, and experienced mariner). The
journey from Crete to Malta would be impossible due to unfavorable winds and
unfovarable sea currents. Archeological excavations on Mljet have pointed to
existence of Early Christian basilica which according to local tradition
belonged to the Church of St. Paul. There are also other archeological findings
on Mljet bearing Christain symbols of Syrian and Palestinian origin, datin from
5th to 6th centuries. Ignatio Georgio,
a Dubrovnik baroque writer, poet, and historian, issued a book D. Paulus Apostolus
in mari, quod nunc Venetus sinus dicitur, naufragus, et Melitae Dalmatensus
insulae post naufragium hospes, Venice, 1730, with a map drawn by Giovanni
Battista Tiepolo, kept in the Metropolitan Museum in New York, indicating that
St. Paul had shipwreck in the Adriatic (Mare Adriaticum) on the island of Mljet
(Melita). Added by D.Z., 2005.
The most impressive antique monuments on the island are the
remains of a former sumptuous building located in today's village Polace
(pronounce "Polache") at northern island's shore that name is derived
from this substantial palace (palazzo) from the Roman era. The palace was built
on a mild decline as a residential, one floor, summer building, with two towers
at its front whose stone walls reached down to the coast line. Today parts of
10+ m high walls and few vaults are found at the western village's entrance.
One can also find some ruins of larger buildings next to the mentioned palace
as well as smaller remnants of other dwellings, which show a larger populations
at this port in ancient times.
The aborigines of the island of Mljet were the Illyrians as
based upon their sepulchral monuments and tombs. When the Croats settled on the
Adriatic as from 8th century, the island was given to the people of Neretva
Valley. They continued to live there side by side with Roman settlers, as
reported by the Emperor Constantine Porphyrogennetos in the 10th century. In
1151 the island was donated by a Zahumlje nobleman to Benedictine monks, who
built a monastery on the islet of the Veliko Jezero (Great Lake). This
monastery was built in the Romanesque style, and some architectonic traces bear
witness that on this beautiful spot there had been some dwellings even in
ancient times. In the 16th century the monastery was refurbished in the
Renaissance style, and so it stands until this day. Next to the monastery, on
its western side, they built the church of St. Mary in the Romanesque style too
that is still preserved despite some non congenial changes. Apart from St.
Mary's, the island of Mljet has a number of other small churches, for instance
the Church of the Holy Trinity, in the village of Prozure, where one can see a
beautifully preserved Romanesque crucifix today .
The fortified monastery of Benedictine
monks.
GENERAL ABOUT THE ISLAND
OF MLJET
Mljet is located in the South Dalmatian cluster of islands,
not far from Korcula and Dubrovnik. Its area covers about 1000 km2, and it
counts about 700 only of it original 3500 inhabitants. The municipal center is
at Babino Polje which is the largest village midway on island's ridge. Mljet is
long but not wide some 37 km long and in average 3 km wide only. The island's
geological structure consists of limestone and dolomite forming ridges, crests
and slopes. The island's carbonate structure formed its relief and landscape
characteristics, which are those of a karst terrain. There are no open dolines
and in the lowest parts of "poljes" (fields) and karst holes
atmospheric water disappears underground and flows to the sea. Some of these depressions
are on or below sea level and between which reciprocal water flows takes place.
These little depth lake's like depressions are known as "slatine" or
"blatine" have fresh water between autumn and spring and turn to
brackish one during dry seasons. The water level in all of four
"blatines" varies constantly and sometimes dropping to zero and
exposing the "eye" or sinkhole. There are two existing lakes were
created by tectonic movements forming deeper depressions that subsequently
filled with water.
The central part of Mljet is a highland with three parallel
ranges with the highest point Veliki Grand is 514 m asl. The western and
eastern thirds of the island are somewhat lower but the highland features of
relief and landscape are present there too. The large loess deposits at eastern
part are of geological interest and form the hind part of the beautiful bays
Saptunara and Blaca. This area is still undeveloped because a naval base there
has closed recently only. Mljet is the most heavily wooded island in the
Adriatic: its hills are green year round with Evergreen Holm Oak, Flowering
Ash, Aleppo pines and Carob tree. The beauty of the island lies not only in
dense pine forests only as also in the clear sea which completely surrounds it and
the two salt-water lakes in its interior.
The western end of the island of some 31 km2 was set aside
as Mljet National Park in 1960, and this park centers around two marine lakes:
Veliko Jezero (Big Lake) and Malo Jezero (Small Lake). When sea levels were
slightly lower, these lakes were true lakes and a small channel 2,6 m wide and
50 cm deep joins Malo Jezero to Veliko Jezero. It is bridged over for a path
continuing round the entire perimeter of Veliko Jezero. Veliko Jezero is linked
to the sea of Soline Bay by another channel originally 4 m wide and 50 cm deep.
The old arched bridge over it was destroyed when this channel had been deepened
in the 1960s providing the access for larger yachts into Veliko Jezero. The
inflow of fresh sea water over shallow threshold in these channels is rather
small. Therefore, there are significant differences in salinity and temperature
as well as in plant and animal life in the lakes compared to the ones outside
bays. A special barrier has been built in 1997 to prevent any ecologically
destructible influences from the open seas.
There are several larger
settlements on the island, such as Govedjari, Babino Polje and Korita. The
emigrating Sephardic Jews from Spain settled in the village of Maranovici. Now,
one still meets people with different features compared to those ones of
dominant Croatian population. The islanders, apart from being very good hosts
to tourists, have been busy from times immemorial with producing olive oil, as
well as wine and honey. The island has always been an example of man's respect
towards nature and their mutual relationship. It was exactly because of this
that, in 1960, Mljet was proclaimed a National Park. Thanks to the strict
observance of rules regarding the upkeep of natural and cultural heritage, the
unique beauty of this island has been preserved. Thus, Mljet is considered with
good reason to be the most beautiful amongst of the numerous Croatian island.
ISLAND OF SAINT MARY
in the Great Lake on the Island of Mljet
There is one only larger hotel at Pomena village at far
westward part of Mljet within the National Park itself. From there one has to
transverse a small ridge of some 125 steps up and down to reach Malo Jezero.
After say 10 minutes more of walk one reaches to Mali Most (Small bridge).
National Park service provides regular boat transit in Veliko Jezero, which
takes visitors to the island named Sveta Marija ("ISLAND OF ST.
MARY"). St. Mary's island has had a remarkable history and influence. The
Neretvyan Prince Desa of Zahumlje and Diocleia (Dalmatian coastal kingdoms)
granted the islet of the Great Lake (Veliko jezero) to the Benedictine monks in
1151 who built a monastery there. The Benedictines monks came to Islands of the
Adriatic (like to Island of Vis) from the Monastery of Saint Mary in Pulsano,
Italy. The monks named this islet for St. Mary and the attached church of the
Assumption of the Virgine. Both buildings were constructed in the Romanesque
style in an able bodied form providing refuge for villagers against piracy or
aggression. There are some architectonic traces bearing witness that on this
spot had been some dwellings even in ancient times. Later, the monastery was
expanded and rebuilt particularly during the time of the Dubrovnik Republic,
which ruled Mljet from 1345 till 1808. In the 16th century the monastery was
refurbished in the Renaissance style as it stands today.
St. Mary's small island in the Great
Lake of Mljet Island with its 12th century Benedictine monastery.
The monastery authorities allowed settlers on their lands
only when their need for labor became pressing, so they leased plots to farmers
or even gave to them in return for their obligation to work their land and tend
their animals. Thus, the monastery's cattle herdsmen founded the first village
"Govedjari" (from "goveda" = cattle), on the edge of
Pomijenta plateau. To protect the very picturesque and characteristic
architecture of the village, Govedjari got the status of an ethnological zone
within the National Park.
First the western part of the island was settled and held
all the key functions until the 12th century. The present villages in that part
are all much more recent settlements, from the late eighteenth century onwards.
The reason is that the monastery was the feudal owner of the whole island at
first. Later the Dubrovnik Republic restricted its domain to the western part
of the island only. Until the end of the 18th century, the monastery
authorities allowed no permanent settlements in that area which explains why
the forests are so well preserved in what is now the National Park .
A total of 354 people in 89 households live in the National
Park (1985) now. The population in the park area is not declining in
contradiction to the rest of the island. This due to the attractiveness of the
National Park and the opportunities it offers for tourist development, like
"Odysseus Hotel" at Pomena, as well as some private accommodations,
excursion, visits, etc. It's more pleasant to swim in both lakes and at St.
Mary's island too as water's temperatures are 4-8 C° above of sea's one.
The monastery's boat quay in the Great Lake.
The importance of the monastery is not only architectural.
For full six centuries it served as a focal point of culture, radiating
cultural influences far afield. Many learned men and poets lived in the
monastery as monks or abbots: Mavro Vetranovic Cavcic Mavro Orbini, Bazilije
Gradic, Euzebije Kaboga, Anselmo Banduri, Ignjat Djordjevic (Djordjic), and
others. Many verse compositions, learned treatises and chronicles, documents of
Croatian history and culture, were written in the idyllic setting of the Mljet
forests and lakes. Holiday makers now use the rooms occupied by the monks in
earlier times, which was one way of saving the precious historic building from
ruin.
Unfortunately, under Tito's regime the monastery was turned
into the "Hotel Melita" to be used for recreation of workers from a
state company in Belgrade. Following the Home War "Hotel Melita" was
closed for good in 1995 . The National Park Authorities are in charge of
its historic monuments at last. The monastery's paintings are in museums in
Dubrovnik but interiors of both the church and the monastery were very badly
damaged. Many years will pass before the repairs, which started late in 1997,
will be completed. The rose bushes and lemon trees of the monastery garden were
overgrown with weeds and the garden's clearing has started in fall 1997 too.
Sources:
- Bralic, Ivo, The National Parks of Croatia, Zagreb;
Skolska knjiga 1990.
- Kusin, Vesna, "A Unique Marine Lake System in Mljet National Park";
Croatia Weekly July 31, 1998.
- Sanader, Mirjana & Fabijanic, Damir in "CROATIA AIRLINES"
Magazine of summer 1997.
- Van Duzer, Chet, "Sveta Marija in Veliko Jezero on the Island of Mljet
(Croatia)", in his book Islands on Islands (forthcoming).