History of the Vrana Lake (Cro. Vransko jezero)
Vrana in Ancient Times
Since the earliest periods in history the Vrana basin has been recognized as a valuable Mediterranean location of great economical importance and beauty with plenty of water, full of life, and has therefore always attracted the attention of landowners who wanted to settle in these parts. The archeological finds at the site „Crkvine“, the spring Pecina and other locations on the margin area of Vrana mud reveal to us several Roman agricultural estates known as the „vila rusticas“. The fragments of the Roman inscriptions written on „Maskovic han“ (Maskovic inn) and on others found on the route of the Roman aqueduct confirm the presence of the Empire's economical activity in these parts.
The above mentioned aqueduct reveals the impressive technical precision of the Roman builders who built the water supply system from Vrana to Zadar with the minimal fall of 1 mm/m in order to successfully bring the water to sea level in Zadar. This water system did not supply only Zadar with fresh water from Vrana but also all the „vila rusticas“ which were located alongside the aqueduct. According to some saved documents and maps, the Vrana area was an important intersection of the Roman public roads, which connected the nearby Blandona and Jadera, also Aenona, Nedinum, Aseria, Hadar, Burnum, Scardona and Salona. The „Scardonian main road“ is of special interest. It used to be a busy road leading to Aenona, across Jadera and Blandona to Scardona. The road was built in a straight line, which was of vital importance for the old roads since it passed by the springs Bristovac, Kasic, Novak, Vrba, Lug, Starac, Misec, Skorobic, Subiba, Biba, Pecina, Vrana and even Veliki Stabanj, Mali Stabanj, Kakma, Tinjska vrulja, Dubalj, Lokvenjak and Luzenjak. Some of these springs have kept their pre-Roman names till today.
With more systematic research it would be possible to determine if the visible remains along the road track belonged to „vila rusticas“, public inns („mansio“) or courier stations („cursus publicus“), which were built along the roads and which secured well organized and frequented courier and postal service.
Vrana in the Middle Ages
The early Croatian settlement of Ravni kotari left us even more data and finds which are of greater interest and relevance to us. Ravni kotari, which include the Vrana property, are the central part of the oldest Croatian sovereignty and it looks like the Croatian habitats were the most tightly organized in these parts. Vrana was surrounded by the royal towns of Nin, Biograd, Knin and Sibenik. Ravni kotari could also be called the metropola of the early Croatian state – it is a well known fact that all of Croatian aristocraty used to own a single small property in Ravni kotari, which served as their residence during the course Sabor (the Croatian parliament), which was attended by representatives of all the Croatian tribes from the whole country.
The plenary sessons of Sabor used to last up to a whole month. Vrana is also special because of its geopolitical position between the forts of Nadin, Perusic, Ostrovac and Skradin, which was the reason why it was the last to be conquered by the Turks in 1537.
The fort „Castrum Aurenae“, around which a village developed later on, was mentioned for the first time in the 9th century. In the 11th century a Benedictine monastery (Saint Gregory) was raised on the spot as a gift from the Croatian king Dmitar Zvonimir to the Pope in 1076 so the monastery, together with the surrounding estate, became a part of Peter's heritage „patronium Petri“. Based on these circumstances, the pope established the papal privilege „pontifiam libertatem“. The Templars took over the monastery and the estate management in 1136, when the Benedictine order was founded until it was absolved in 1312. At that point the monastery was taken over by Hospitallers and Vrana became the first monastery in Croatia with papal exemption. This action had a profound political effect on the entire country, then called the Hungarian-Croatian State. The reason why Zvonimir gave this monastery the leading role in the church reform movement were its economical strength, its important strategic position and the vicinity of the most important towns.
Vrana thus gained extraordinary spiritual and political importance during the entire Middle Ages all the way to the Turk era. The Prior of Vrana based his great social influence on the fact that the monastery was exempt from the local bishop's jurisdiction so not even the rulers nor the nobles could interfere with his decisions without consequences. The exemption allowed them to become directly involved in the Pope's policy, which was especially important during the dinasties' internal battles for the throne, where their influence was of utmost importance. The Templars were a new „knight order“ founded in 1136, which united the two most popular ideals of the time: the military and the monastic ideal. Their management was run entirely in a military fashion and their main feature from the very beginning was their great courage.
The signs of royal dignity, which were used by the Pope's legates for the coronations of Croatian-Hungarian rulers, were also kept in Vrana. With the spreading of a new net of monasteries across the parts behind Velebit, throughout Bosnia and a large part of Hungary, and with their highly developed economy and bank industry, the Vrana monastery as the first and the most distinguished one had the right of jurisdiction in the entire territory of the Hngarian-Croatian „language“ (a territory which included several Hospitaller monasteries). Therefore, during the priorate of Ivan Palizna, the Prior of Vrana had a tremendous ecclesiastis, political and military power. As a result of frequent frictions between the princes and kings on one side, and counts (Cro. ban) and the prior of Vrana on the other side, the Croatian kings of the banat of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia were appointed by a special regulation, with the consent of the pope and with a title given to them by the Prior of Vrana. However, soon the local Priors of Vrana were appointed counts themselves. The entire state, political and church system was constructed because of the already launched Crusades against the upcoming Islamic expansion.
Vrana was in an extremely favourable geostrategic postition at the time. The most famous amongst the Priors of Vrana was Ivan od Palizna, who gained his fame during the mutiny of the queen Elizabeth and her daughter Mary, the heiress of the king Ludovik 1. The Croatian governor Ivan Palizna joined the side of the Bosnian king Tvrtko Kontromanic, and if it had not been for the Turkish invasion, a free Croatian state with the Kontromanic family at its throne would have probably been formed at the time. Elizabeth saved herself by hiding inside the gates of Novigrad.
Together with Vlatkovic from Bosnia, Palizna was the commander of the Christian army during the battle fought at Kosovo polje in 1389. One of the more distinguished priors of Vrana was the brave Petar Berislavic (1517-1520), famous for his courageous battles against the Turks on July 16th, 1513, when he beat the Turks at Dubica and was rewarded with the title Prior of Vrana as well as County head of Dubica (Cro. Dubicki zupan).
He filled the post of the king's secretary, king's treasurer, the bishop of Vesprim, and the count of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia. He was killed in a Turkish ambush at Vrazja gora near Korenica on the May 20th, 1520. The Vrana Codex is a famous historical document dating from the 15th century consisting of 33 paragraphs, which applied to the entire area of Vrana and its surroundings. The Codex shows administrative and judicial system of that town with strong elements of Croatian customary law.
Among historical personae it is especially important to mention the brothers Franceso and Luciano Laurano from Vrana, famous Renaissance painters who were both educated and working in Italy. Many of their work is still well preserved.
Vrana During the Turk Invasion
After the battle on Siget in 1526, there was no organized resistance to the Turk invasion and so Vrana too fell under Turk rule in 1527 lasting until 1648.
For fear of the unknown and powerful Asian army, the locals fled from Vrana to the village Betina on the island Murter; some of them even went to southern Istria. Even today the people of Betina grow huge olive trees in „Modrave“ on the reef between the sea and the Lake of Vrana, which never fell under the Turk rule. The town of Vrana was inhabited exclusively by Muslims and its surroundings was inhabited by orthodox Vlach population. When Vrana was liberated in 1684 three mosques were discovered on the spot and the forts were found ruined. The Turks had rearranged the fort thoroughly by turning it into barracks for 150 infantry-men and 100 horsemen.
The governing of Vrana was now under the sanjak of Klis, then the sanjak of Lika and eventually the Skradin „kadiluk“ (Turkism for „court district“), controlled by the Turkish aristocratic families of Atlagic and Durakbegovic.
One of the most distinguished people from the Turk era is Jusufa Maskovic, probably from Vrana or Pakostane. There was a line of Maskov family in Pakostane only until recently. Maskovic was a talented local boy noticed by the Turkish high dignitaries and who thus became, upon their request, a silahdar (arms keeper on the court). Soon afterwards he was promoted to the position of second vizier and royal advisor. One year later he was addmitted kapudar-basa, the admiral of the Turkish fleet.
He commanded the Turkish fleet in the Candian war and managed to take over the Crete (Candia) from the Venetians. Because of the mercy he had shown toward the captured Venetian soldiers, he was decapitated in 1645 by the orders of the Sultan himself. He left behind an important monument of the Islamic architecture, the only Turkish monument standing so far to the West in the entire Europe. Toward the end of his duty, for the fear of the faith he knew was destined to most of the dignitaires at the gate, he decided to raise one important public building in his old country, where he had probably intended to spent his old age, away from the court schemes. He gave Durakbeg (Turkism for ruler of Durak) 16000 reals in 1644 so as to supervise the inn. When he died, the construction of the inn was put to stop and was never finished but has been well preserved till today.
