Omiški kraj u obrani od širenja epidemije kuge u godinama 1762-1765.
Authors: Kovačić Slavko 
Published: December 2023

The Republic of Venice, whose prosperity depended primarily on unimpeded trade by land and sea, had long had a system of defence against infectious disease epidemics, particularly the plague as the biggest threat to the aforementioned trade. These measures were naturally applied in that part of Dalmatia under its authority. There, the city of Split was most imperilled by plague outbreaks as it was the main transit hub for goods arriving by land from the territory of the Ottoman Empire or by sea from Venice. Although to a lesser extent, the plague also threatened the areas of Omiš and Makarska, market towns that were more accessible to the populace from the hinterland, including the Imotski area and the south-western section of Herzegovina on the other side of the state border. A detailed overview of what had been undertaken from 1762 to 1765 to prevent outbreaks of the plague in the area under the authority of the Omiš provveditore was made possible by the extensive data contained in the records of the old Omiš archives, which were deposited in the provincial archives of the time in Zadar. These records simultaneously testify to the very arduous conditions for life and work by the domicile population in that period, as well as the efforts by the authorities to prevent death by starvation. This paper contains a series of data on everything undertaken at the orders of the Venetian central and provincial governments in the area under the jurisdiction of the Omiš provveditore to prevent the possible emergence and spread of the plague from 1762 to 1765 and the difficulties that ensued in the enforcement of these measures. Considerable attention is above all accorded to the surveillance of unpermitted travel by individuals and groups across the boundaries with neighbouring districts, i.e., Poljica and Imotski, and similarly to nearby islands. The border with the Ottoman Empire, whence the plague came into Dalmatia, was subject to the strictest supervision. Inside the Omiš area, particular care was dedicated to health inspections of travellers and goods at Dvare Fortress. A caravan route passed next to its walls and tower, whence coastal villages could be reached from the near or more remote interior and leading to the control stations before the entrances to the towns of Omiš and Makarska. A public health board with its seat in Omiš (Collegio di sanità d’Almissa) was responsible for the enforcement of all stipulated measures and specific decisionmaking related thereto. It selected its own delegate to the supervisory post next to Dvare Fortress, who collaborated with the Dvare superintendent responsible for the nearby village and the fortress commander. It should be noted that at least one member of the aforementioned board had to have a good working knowledge of the Croatian language and the Bosančica script, and such knowledge was also required of the Dvare delegates, who worked in shifts. Provisions stipulating the isolation of individual houses in cases of suspicion of the plague were strictly enforced. Groups of rural sentries (panduri) from villages in the Omiš area were posted in a specific order to guard the boundaries between individual neighbouring districts and the state border. Besides sentry duty, a major hardship for them after being relieved was the obligation to remain in isolation for several weeks in Viseć Fortress, whence they often escaped. The systematic overview of these circumstances contained in this paper may serve as an example for contemporaneous events in other territories of the Dalmatian Zagora region, for which the provveditore archives from that time were either not preserved or do not contain as many records on the topic, and also in cases of plague outbreaks before and thereafter, particularly from the beginning of the 1730s and 1780s.