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HOME > GUIDE > Cultural and historical inheritance |
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Cultural and historical inheritance |
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The Tureta fort, situated on the elevation above the Tarac plain on the south coast of Kornat island, is one of the better preserved forts which were built by Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian in the 6th century, all along the Adriatic coast, from Elafiti to Brijuni. It has been found that there are 40 forts from that period along the Adriatic, at approximately the same distances from each other. All forts are situated on elevated ground which allows for complete terrestrial surveillance over important shipping routes. It is considered that the Emperor Justinian built these forts because he wanted to rebuild the Roman Empire to its old boundaries, which would not be possible without complete control over the shipping routes.
Tureta is the only fort from that period that was not destroyed, obviously because it was built at a location where there was no settlement, and the population did not reach for its stones.
At the foot of the elevation, in the area between a small cove and a plain, we find the St. Mary's church, which was probably built around the same time. This was a large church (its dimensions are around 20 by 30 m) which probably served as safe haven for sailors who waited in the protected coves of Šipnat, Levrnaka or Telašćica for favourable conditions to resume their journeys. That the church had an important place in the consciousness of the then users of the area can be seen from the fact that since the beginning of the 14th century the whole island had been named by variants of its name, the most frequent being Insula Sanctae Mariae and Stomorin otok, the Croatian form derived from it.
Only the apse and part of the church foundations remain to this day, and in the late Middle Ages a small church dedicated to Our Lady of Visitation, known among the locals as Our Lady of Tarac, was built in its main nave.
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