17 Flags Over Croatia

Ted. Now that we are Croatia, we are learning a bit of the local history. If they had a theme park in this beautiful country, 17 Flags Over Croatia would be a good name for it since so many different groups have ruled this region on the gateway to southeastern Europe.

Port of Split with island of Brac to right  

The eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea was known as Illyria to the Greeks and Romans who ruled here long ago.

Part of Roman Emperor Diocletian's Palace in Split

With the fall of the Roman Empire, there was a steady stream of invaders. In fact the Croats didn’t even arrive until the 7^th or 8^th century. Nobody is sure where the Croats came from but my favorite theory is that they came from Poland. In the following centuries, this region was invaded by Byzantines, Franks, Bulgars, Hungarians, Ottomans, Venetians, Austrians, French and Austro-Hungarians…whew!

Split waterfront

Split Cathedral

Fortress of Klis protecting Split from land invasion

In 1918 the area was folded into a new made-up country, which became the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. That was conquered by the Italians and the Germans in WW II, remerging after the war as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. When that country collapsed in 1991, an independent Croatia was formed, leading to a four year war with the Serbs.  Lasting peace finally arrived in 1995 and the country joined the European Union in 2013. I think that comes to around 17 flags but I have confused myself. In a nutshell, the history is fascinating but unbelievably complicated.

Port of Hvar

St Nicholas Convent in Trogir

Walking around Split, Hvar or Trogir, the imprint of the Venetians is unmistakable. My guess is everyone that came afterwards concluded they couldn’t top the Venetians so just left it alone. The result is a sunny Mediterranean country with warm, Slavic charm and beautiful Latin architecture.

Trogir