Svetac Explained

Sveti Andrija
Map:Croatia
Native Name:Štondrija
Native Name Link:Croatian language
Nickname:Svetac
Location:Adriatic Sea
Coordinates:43.0257°N 15.7489°W
Archipelago:Vis Islands
Area Km2:4.19
Area:4.19 km² -->
Highest Mount:Kosa
Elevation M:316
Elevation:316 m -->
Country Admin Divisions Title:County
Country Admin Divisions:Split-Dalmatia

Sveti Andrija (pronounced as /hr/, meaning "Saint Andrew"), often called Svetac (pronounced as /hr/, meaning "saint"), is an island in the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea. It is situated 14nmi from Komiža (a town on the island of Vis). It is uninhabited, although it used to have permanent residents.

Svetac was inhabited in prehistoric era, as evidenced by archeological remains, the oldest of which were found in Tovorski bod, a cave in the south part of the island. A Benedictine monastery built on the island was abandoned in late 15th or early 16th century. In 1760, a small pine tar factory was opened. After the pine forest on the island was completely cut down, the factory was closed, and Svetac was acquired by members of Zanki family, who settled there. The population census on Svetac from 1951 was around 60, all members of Zanki family. The last one of the group who lived there all year round was Antonija Zanki, an elderly woman who died in 2001. Now members of Zanki family effectively live there four to six months a year, from late spring to autumn, still keeping up the houses of their grandfathers, fishing, making red wine and olive oil. Most of members of Zanki family who own this, biggest private island in Adriatic, live in Komiža now (14 nm east). Svetac island is in open seas, without any natural protected bay, and members of the Zanki family survived there for centuries.[1]

Approximately 300 meters off the south-west coast of the island there is the islet of Kamik, and farther on the open sea there is the volcanic island called Jabuka. About 2.51NaN1[2] to the southeast there is the small volcanic island of Brusnik.

Svetac is a breeding ground for a small number of Eleonora's falcons, a rare bird with only c. 40–80 nesting pairs estimated to live on the outer Croatian Adriatic islands.[3] [4] The falcons migrate to Madagascar every September and return to their nests in April.

See also

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. http://www.dalmatia.hr/CentralDalmatia/Naturalbeauties1/tabid/2402/Default.aspx A tip about the island on dalmatia.hr
  2. Coastline lengths and areas of islands in the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea determined from the topographic maps at the scale of 1 : 25 000. Geoadria. Zadar. 9. 1. 5–32. June 2004. Duplančić Leder . Tea. Ujević. Tin. Čala. Mendi. 10.15291/geoadria.127. PDF. 2019-12-06. free.
  3. Web site: Ugroženog Eleonorina sokola na Svecu prati nadzorna kamera . 24 July 2012 . . Croatian . 25 July 2012.
  4. The status and distribution of Eleonora's falcon (Falco eleonorae Gene 1834) in Croatia. Natura Croatica. 6. 3. 1997. Croatian Natural History Museum. 323–333. PDF. 16 July 2020.