Trsat

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Trsat
Trsat (Croatia)
Paris plan pointer b jms.svg
Coordinates: 45 ° 19 ′ 52 ″  N , 14 ° 27 ′ 26 ″  E
Basic data
State : Croatian flag Croatia
County : Flag of Primorje-Gorski kotar County Primorje-Gorski kotar
Municipality : Rijeka
Telephone code : (+385) 051
Postal code : 51,000
License plate : RI
Boat registration : RK
Structure and administration
(status: 2009, cf. )
Community type : district
Mayor : Vojko Obersnel ( SDP )
Postal address : Korzo 16
51 000 Rijeka
Website :
Others
Patron saint : St. Vitus (Sv. Vid)
Rijeka Trsat grafika 1207.JPG
The coastal town of Rijeka with the Trsat hill

Trsat [ ˈtr̩sat ] (Latin or German outdated Tarsatica , often also Tersatt , Tersacz , Tersat , Italian Tersatto ) is a hill in the Croatian coastal town of Rijeka (formerly Fiume ). Trsat is east of the river Rječina (German Fluff ) and belongs to the Sušak district . From the hill of Trsat and the fortress located there , the entire bay of Rijeka can be seen.

Trsat is the oldest Marian pilgrimage site in Croatia . In Trsat there is the Basilica of Our Lady of Trsat and a Franciscan monastery. The preservation of the Marian pilgrimage site is the responsibility of the Order of the Franciscans (OFM) . The origins of the pilgrimage site can be traced back to the Loreto pilgrimage . Pope John Paul II visited the pilgrimage church of Trsat on June 8, 2003 on the occasion of his 100th trip abroad.

history

In Roman times there was a military fortress on the hill of Trsat ( Tarsatica or Trsatica , once Drsat ), which served to defend the nearby settlement. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Trsat is mentioned in 799, when the Friulian Margrave Erich died here. Trsat is also mentioned in the Vinodol Code (Croatian: Vinodolski zakonik ) as the property of the Princes of Krk , the Princes Frankopan . Trsat was in their possession until 1529.

Name origin

Tarsatica is the name of an ancient Roman settlement from which the settlement Trsat developed, which today forms part of Sušak or Rijeka . Tarsatica was the first settlement and city fortress in this area. It was located on the site of today's old town of Rijeka. Tarsatica was built in the 3rd century and was an important Roman fortress in the 4th century, but was destroyed by the Franks in 799 during battles with the Croats . Margrave Erich von Friuli died at this time . Immediately after the Franks withdrew, the name Tarsatica was transferred to the neighboring 138 m high mountain. The name was subsequently changed to "Tersat" and ultimately to "Trsat".

The name itself could be of Celtic origin and come from the name "Tarsa", which would mean something like "mountain by the river". The settlement is mentioned for the first time as “Tarsatica” in the Vinodol Code of 1288 as the seat of the Vinodol municipality and as the property of the Krk princes, later Frankopan. On the site of the former Tarsatica, the town of "Reka" (today's Rijeka ) with numerous towers, shops and alleys developed in the 13th century . This town was owned by the Habsburgs from 1466 with minor interruptions until 1918 . Today's Trsat extends between the old town Trsat (Gradina) to the former barracks (today's university campus) and up to the slope in the north. The former names Tarsatica and Tarsa remained as names of popular restaurants on the Trsat.

Early history

Trsat was owned by the Iapods in the younger Iron Age and was only later integrated into the Roman Empire for economic-trade-related and military-strategic reasons . With the arrival of the Romans, but before the 1st century, the former settlement began to develop into an urban settlement of the Roman type, maintaining the importance of a central settlement. The settlement was designed based on the model of a Roman municipality . The most important citizens took over the administration, historical sources even mention the activities of priests.

The settlement achieved great importance towards the end of antiquity , more precisely at the end of the 6th and beginning of the 7th century. It served as a defensive bulwark against Avar - Slav attacks.

The legend of Trsat

Transfer of the house of Maria (Casa Santa) first to Trsat, then to Loreto by angels

The legend of the flyover

According to a written chronicle from the 15th century, the birth house of the Blessed Virgin Mary ( Santa Casa ) miraculously came from Nazareth to the hill of Trsat on May 10, 1291 . According to legend, this was transported to this place by angels at God's will . It stayed on Trsat for three years, after which, according to the same tradition, it was transferred in an equally miraculous way, on December 10, 1294, to Loreto on the opposite side of the Adriatic Sea , where it is said to be still today. This event impressed the Croatian population so much that people began to make regular pilgrimages to the hill of Trsat.

When the then landowner, Prince Nikola Frankopan von Krk (Nikola Krčki-Frankopan) found out about this, he came to Trsat personally to make sure that these reports were true. Immediately afterwards he sent messengers to Palestine who, after their return, reported to him what they had learned and seen there. According to their information, Mary's birthplace in Nazareth disappeared during this time without anyone knowing how this happened.

After Maria's house had moved to Loreto, Johann Frankopan (Ivan Frankopan) had a chapel built on Trsat. His son Martin Frankopan had the Franciscan monastery built with the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Only fragments of this church have survived today. In 1509 the city of Rijeka was burned to the ground by the Venetians . Later a slightly larger church was built in the same place. In the Franciscan monastery there is, among other things, a fragment of an illustration of Mary that survived the fire, although the rest of the said book fell victim to the fire.

An image of the Madonna has been venerated in the chapel since 1367, depicting Mary as the Mother of Mercy. Pope Urban V (Pope from 1362–1370) is said to have donated this painting to the Loreto pilgrims from the Croatian coastal region (Primorye) at the request of Johannes (Ivan) and Stephan (Stjepan) Frankopan . The author of the painting is unknown. G. Gamulin describes him as the "painter of Our Lady of Trsat".

Historical truthfulness

Historically, it is likely that the Crusaders, after their defeat in the Holy Land in 1287, sought to keep some of the holy relics that were there. Thus, parts of the house in Nazareth are said to have been removed, while remains of the house can still be seen today in the Annunciation Basilica .

Steps of Petar Kružić

Mary statue above the portico at the beginning of the stairs

The so-called “steps of Trsat”, which lead from the delta of the Rječina river to the pilgrimage church, was built by Petar Kružić, the captain of Klis, in 1531 as a donation. The staircase has been expanded for centuries. Initially, 128 steps were built. Today, however, the staircase consists of a remarkable 538 steps. In addition to these steps, some chapels were built, also as donations. The stairs begin with a baroque portico with a relief of the comforting Mother of God (Mother of God with child in her arms). Above the entrance is: CONSOLATRIX AFFLICTORUM (Comforter of the Sad). Countless pilgrims often even crossed this path on their knees to pay homage to the miraculous Mother of God of Trsat. The pilgrims climbed through colonnades and chapels and over many stone steps high above the Rječina canyon .

Croatian Library of Trsat

Croatian Library of Trsat

The library was built in 1897. In the past, numerous humanitarian events took place in the reading room. The Croatian Library is still a popular meeting place today and is a focal point of cultural events on Trsat.

Marian pilgrimage site

The Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Trsat, Our Lady of Trsat , is the oldest Marian shrine in Croatia and a place of pilgrimage for many pilgrims from Croatia and abroad. In the church there is the miraculous painting of the Virgin Mary. There is also a votive church in the Franciscan monastery . Above the altar bar in the Votive Church stands the Gothic statue of the smiling “Our Lady of Slunj ” (Majka Božja Slunjska), who was saved from the invading Turks in 1583 and brought to Trsat. The monastery also houses a treasury and the art gallery of the pilgrimage church of the Madonna of Trsat with outstanding works: the reliquary of Barbara Frankopan (15th century), a sculpture of Our Lady (silver, 16th century) by Tomo Bakač- Erdődy was donated, a crown for the votive statue (silver, 1615), numerous consecration gifts, etc. a.

In front of the pilgrimage church is a statue of Pope John Paul II with the title "The Pilgrim of Trsat". This shows the Pope kneeling and praying in front of Our Lady of Trsat. A saying from his visit ( "Pray for me as long as I am alive, but also after my death." ) Forms the inscription in Croatian, English, Italian and German. It was erected in memory of his 100th trip abroad, which took the Pope to Rijeka and Trsat on June 8, 2003.

Trsat Castle

View from Trsat Castle

It is assumed that a Roman fortress should have stood on the site of today's fort in Roman times. The castle's observation tower was called the Roman tower during the Renaissance . Possibly this object was built by the pedantic Liburnians .

When the Croats settled in Kvarner , the Trsat fortress was taken over by them. The Frankish King Charlemagne sent the Friulian military leader Erich to the Croats in Kvarner to conquer them. These, however, awaited him on the Trsat hill, where his army was defeated and killed in 799. There is no record of the time after this event until the 13th century.

In 1223, the princes of Krk (later Frankopan) came into the possession of the municipality of Vinodol , to which Trsat also belonged, through a donation from the Croatian-Hungarian king Andreas II .

When the Frankopan divided their possessions in Modruš in 1449 , Trsat and Bakar fell to Prince Martin. In 1527, when the Turks were advancing westward, a cavalry delegation of the Turks rushed into the Grobnik field ( Grobničko polje ). Trsat was taken. The Turks held a large group of Croatian prisoners in the Trsat fortress. When they were forced to give up Trsat, the prisoners were freed by the army of the military border.

With the marriage of Katharina Frankopan with Nikola Šubić Zrinski Trsat passed into the possession of the princes of Zrin . When the Croatian military border was created in the Vinodol area, Trsat fell under the rule of the Viennese imperial court.

In 1582 Archduke Karl of Austria-Burgau pledged Trsat to Captain Raab von Senj . As the owner of the Trsat fort, he had the Roman tower reduced in size by half. Since he did not return the pledge to the Archduke, Trsat was leased to his son-in-law Gašpar Knežić . Trsat was later returned to the Frankopan, but not for long as the village was incorporated into the military border.

When the Turkish threat became perceptible on the Kvarner, Trsat was assigned to the titular captains of the city of Rijeka, who gave up the fortress entirely, after which it was turned into ruins by the beginning of the 19th century. In this condition, the Trsat fort was bought by the municipality of Bakar in 1826 and immediately sold to the commander of the Austrian coastal region , Count Laval Nugent . He had the fort converted into a magnificent residence. He had the renovated rooms equipped with stylish furniture and top-quality works of art. The renovation work was carried out by the Venetian builder Paronuzzi . Nugent also had a picture gallery built by old Italian masters in the rooms of the new courtyard, including some works by Andrija Medulić . Count Nugent died in Bosiljevo on August 22, 1862 . His body was then transferred to the "Heldenfrieden" ( Croat . Mir junaka ) crypt on Trsat.

Attractions

  • Petar Kružić's staircase
  • Trsat reading room
  • Church of Our Lady of Trsat
    • Miraculous image of the Blessed Virgin Mary
  • Franciscan monastery
  • Sculpture of Pope John II "The Pilgrim of Trsat"
  • Trsatski perivoj
  • Church of St. George
  • Trsat Castle (Gradina)

Web links

Commons : Trsat  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence