After WWII Italy lost all the territories in Dalmatia, and more than 22000 Dalmatian Italians exiled mainly in Italy. There are still some Dalmatian Italians in Dalmatia: 300 in Croatia and 500 in Montenegro. In Zara the small Dalmatian Italian community only in September 2012 has been allowed to have a kindergarten for Italian speaking children
That means that in only one hundred years (from the 1850s to the 1950s) the Dalmatian Italians decreased from 45000 in the 1857 Austrian Census to less than one thousand in the last Croatian and Montenegrin Census.
The cultural influence from the Italian peninsula is extremely important in Dalmatia since the Roman times. It has increased to influence totally the dalmatian culture during the times of the Republic of Venice and the Italian Renaissance.
Indeed, the "British Encyclopedia" states that: ""the monuments left in Dalmatia by the Romans are numerous and precious. They are chiefly confined to the cities; for the civilization of the country was always urban, just as its history is a record of isolated city-states rather than of a united nation. Beyond the walls of its larger towns, little was spared by the barbarian Goths, Avars and Slavs; and the battered fragments of Roman work which mark the sites of Salona, near Spalato, and of many other ancient cities, are of slight antiquarian interest and slighter artistic value. Among the monuments of the Roman period, by far the most noteworthy in Dalmatia, and, indeed, in the whole Balkan Peninsula, is the Palace of Diocletian at Spalato. Dalmatian architecture was influenced by Constantinople in its general character from the 6th century until the close of the tenth. The oldest memorials of this period are the vestiges of three basilicas, excavated in Salona, and dating from the first half of the 7th century at latest. Then from Italy came the Romanesque. The belfry of S. Maria, at Zara, erected in 1105, is first in a long list of Romanesque buildings. At Arbe there is a beautiful Romanesque campanile which also belongs to the 12th century; but the finest example in this style is the cathedral of Trail. The 14th century Dominican and Franciscan convents in Ragusa are also noteworthy. Romanesque lingered on in Dalmatia until it was displaced by Venetian Gothic in the early years of the 15th century. The influence of Venice was then at its height. Even in the relatively hostile republic of Ragusa the Romanesque of the custom-house and Rectors' palace is combined with Venetian Gothic, while the graceful balconies and ogee windows of the Prijeki closely follow their Venetian models. In 1441 Giorgio Orsini of Zara, summoned from Venice to design the cathedral of Sebenico, brought with him the influence of the Italian Renaissance. The new forms which he introduced were eagerly imitated and developed by other architects, until the period of decadence - which virtually concludes the history of Dalmatian art - set in during the latter half of the 17th century. Special mention must be made of the carved woodwork, embroideries and plate preserved in many churches. The silver statuette and the reliquary of St Biagio at Ragusa, and the silver ark of St Simeon at Zara, are fine specimens of Italian jewellers' work, ranging in date from the 11th or 12th to the 17th century"".
In the XIX century the cultural influence from Italy originated the creation in Zara of the first dalmatian newspaper, edited in Italian and Croat: "Il Regio Dalmata - Kraglski Dalmatin". It was founded and published by the Italian Bartolomeo Benincasa in 1806.
The Regio Dalmata - Kraglski Dalmatin was stamped in the tipography of Antonio Luigi Battara and was the first done in Croat language.
The cultural influence from Italy is clearly evident in the urbanization plans of the main Dalmatian cities in the XIX/XX centuries. One of the best examples is the one of Split/Spalato.
In 1880 Antonio Bajamonti (the last Dalmatian Italian Major of Spalato under Austrian rule) developed an urbanization project of this city centered on the "Riva", a seaside walkway full of palms based on the Italian Riviera models. Even today the Riva (with cafe bars) is used by the locals to stroll in a typical Italian way from the "Palace of Diocletian" toward an old square called locally "Pjaca" (or square in venetian).
Even in music the Italian influence was very strong in Dalmatia
An enduring example of the Italian cultural and historic presence in Dalmatia is the small town of Perasto (actually Perast in montenegrin language) in coastal Montenegro.
Perasto was at its peak in the 18th century under the Republic of Venice, when it had as many as four active shipyards, a fleet of around one hundred ships, and 1,643 residents. At that time the most beautiful buildings arose in this fortified town. Many ornate baroque palaces and magnificent dwelling-houses decorated the town of Perast (Perasto), full of typical venetian architecture.
Perasto had the privilege to keep war-flag of the Venetian Navy in the peace time (it was called ""La fedelissma Gonfaloniera"") .
The sailormen of Perasto were involved in the last battle of the Venitian navy, fought in Venice in 1797 .
At the fall of the "Serenissima" (1797) Perasto was the last city of the Repubblic to lower the Venetian flag. On 12 May 1797, the Republic of Venice ended, but a few places in the Albania veneta for several months still continued to remain loyal to the Venetian Repubblic: Perasto was the last place of the Republic to surrender. On 22 August 1797 the Count Giuseppe Viscovich, Captain of Perasto lowered the Venetian war-flag of the Lion of Saint Mark pronouncing the farewell words in front of the crying people of the city and buried the "Gonfalon of Venice" under the altar of the main church of Perasto.
The population has since decreased to 430 in 1910 and around 360 today. According to the "Comunita' nazionale italiana del Montenegro", in Perast actually there are 140 persons who still speak at home the original venetian dialect of Perasto (called "veneto da mar"), and call themselves in the census "Montenegrins".
Frugivore
A frugivore is an animal that prefers to eat fruit.
The fruit is part of a plant's sexual reproduction cycle. Plants spend a lot of energy and nutrients in creating fruit. Fruit is produced to attract animals into eating the fruit. The animal digests the pulp but not the seeds, ensuring the plant's genes are spread wherever the animal goes. Seeds can also be germinated by falling near the mother plant. Some seeds must pass through the digestive system (the stomach and intestines) before they can germinate.
Frugivores have also evolved in different ways to eat different fruit; some use teeth, others long beaks or short beaks.
Many birds eat both fruits and insects which makes them omnivores. Mammals may eat both fruits and protein, or eat mostly fruit or nectar, such as many bats. One primate group is essentially herbivore/frugivore, the Owl Monkeys. They live in a non-seasonal area of the Amazon that supports a constant supply of fruiting trees. Elsewhere, an exclusively frugivore diet is impossible and is supplemented by insects or rougher plant matter. Some people say that humans are frugivores; this is unlikely given the evolution of man in the dry tropical region of the Rift Valley. However, the climate in the Rift valley at the time of our evolution was likely a tropical rainforest. That said, almost all primates and even carnivores will travel great distances to feast when a fruit tree has dropped its ripened fruit. Many species will remember the exact fruiting date and location of a fruiting tree which highlights fruits great nutritional benefit. Some people promote a frugivore diet for humans.
View on diet and health at NHE Self-Health Care Systems: Biological Adaptations
Italian language in Croatia