Author(s)

R. Markovina

Abstract

The paper deals with a short history of shipbuilding on the island of Kor č ula (the cradle of the Croatian shipbuilding industry); the main wooden ships types built in the past in the Kor č ula’s wooden shipbuilding school were presented. Keywords: historical overview, wooden ships type, Kor č ula’s wooden shipbuilding \“school”. 1 Introduction The island of Kor č ula is situated in the southern parts of the Croatian Adriatic coast (Dalmatia); due to its geographic position, it played a very important role in shipbuilding and maritime affairs in the past. That was the reason why, in history, great sea power nations like the Greeks, the Romans, the Venetians the Franks as well as the British, the Russians, the Italians and finally the Croats wanted to exert control over a narrow channel between Kor č ula and the Pelješac peninsula, on their way from Dubrovnik to Venice. The intensive traffic through the Pelješac channel and famous pin forests all over the island were in the past an important source of shipbuilding material, which was a good condition for the wooden shipbuilding development [1, 3]. According to archaeological finds, the history of the island of Kor č ula started in the Old Stone Age (XX millennium BC - The Big Cave in Vela Luka and The Jacas Cave in Žrnovo,), whereas the beginnings of navigation can be traced back to the Mesolithic (VIII-X millennium BC, by the sea-line Gargano – Palagruža – Kor č ula). The first Greek colony, Korkyra, was founded in the VI century BC by

Keywords

historical overview, wooden ships type, Kor č ula’s wooden shipbuilding \“school”.