Thursday, December 9, 2010, Korcula, Montenegro.

Korcula, Montenegro is an old historic town that dates back to 4BC when the Greeks came here, which they called Lombardo. The Greeks and Illyrians drew up a contract in 4 BC as friends not as invaders. Then it was called Korcula Black because of the mountains. The first written document in Korcula was written in the 10th century AD. During the 11th century the Venetians gained control. In the 16th century they built walls around the town. The Austrian-Hungarian Dynasty took control in the mid 19th century. The wall surrounding the town has been broken down at the top several times to be able to use the stones. originally the wall had 12 towers, but now there are only 7. Two of the square towers are of Rabeline construction and have a lion with wings holding a book. the lion represents Venice and the book represents peace. So the Venetians came in peace but not to control them. In 1863 they had a draw bridge in order fomented the town. It was locked p at night and you had to ring a bell and pass inspection in order to enter.The highest point around the town is Mount Elias which is 961 meters high.
The main church is ST. Marks. Inside the museum are souvenirs from wars during the 14th -17th centuries. They have come from Crete. The church ceiling is painted with Biblical scenes. On Good Friday the town has a procession of men from 3 separate brotherhoods that originated from the 3 churches. They are: the Brotherhood of All Saints which represents the shipbuilders, the Brotherhood of ST. Michael which represents the stone carvers, and the Brotherhhod of St. Druggall which represents the tradesmen. ll of these brotherhoods are connected to their respective churches. These brotherhoods were influenced by the Venetians and only men march in the procession. the rights to belong to these guilds passes down from father to son at birth. The shipbuilders guild was started in 1301 and was the largest and
oldest guild. The women perform all of the preparation and clean up at the festival. Each guild has a representative that carries a very large candle in a cup supported by a sash. The ST. Michael candles weighs 160 pounds. It is carried in the procession for 1 hour.
ST. Lucie is the lady patron saint of the blind. She is celebrated on December 13th. ST. Katherine is celebrated on November 25th. ST. Nicholas is celebrated on December 6th. Officially, there are o gifts given on Christmas.The gifts are given by Santa in the New Year. Christmas is for the celebration of Jesus only. The Chapel of the Lady of now is on an island and it has protected the town from the Turks. This island controls the channel and all ship traffic. When the Turks attacked Korcula the Bishop sent all of the people outside the walls with weapons. The Turks figured they had just as many soldiers inside. plus a very strong north wind came and the Turks ran away.
The town hall was built on the 16 th century behind the palace for the Venetian rulers. Now the town offices are there because it is the political center of the town. The first example of a public servant in the 17th century was a doctor that was paid by the government.The town is laid out in an unusual way. There is 1 main street with all the other streets crossing this main street. All of the streets on the east of Main Street are curves to slow the wind and cool off the town with it's very hot summers. The streets to the west of Main Street all end at the water and are straight so the wind from the water can flow straight into the town. This is their form of air conditioning and it was built this way thousands of years ago.
The palaces then had the door and window built as one. The kitchen is always on the top floor for safety reasons because fires always burn up. Up at the top of the house they have 2 more hours of light to see to cook. In addition, food smells rise to the roof instead of going into the bedrooms. Last, but not least, they have privacy and a great view from the top floor. One of the stores had a sign that said " OLD IS NICE". They still need stonemason skills today because they need to constantly fix their homes and walls. They keep olive oil in huge stone jugs with a stone on top to keep animals out.
ST. Mark is the patron saint of the town from the 14 th to the 16 th century. The church was built with Roman, Gothic and Venetian influences. It has been built in 4 part; the last part in the 16th century was the bell tower. children and people who had not been baptized had to enter the bell tower to become baptized before they could enter the church. This cathedral was built on top of the Roman castle, so it isn't symmetrical like most. There are carvings showing lions coming down from the heavens with Adam and Eve below them. The columns have a knot in the center representing a connection between the heavens and earth. the remains of ST. Theodore are behind a drape on the altar. Swords are on the walls inside the church because they protected the town against invaders. instead of an organ , they have a piano becaus sit has great acoustics.
In 1254 Marco Polo was born here in Korcula a citizen of the Venetian Kingdom. His family was known for their travels all over the world, so he was just following in their footsteps. He came back and told stories of things he had seen. Europeans did not believe him about the silk, ice cream and fireworks from China. They thought he was making it all up.
We have tasted cappuccinos in every town we have been in. Their coffee is very small and without cream. A cappuccino has steamed milk, not cream. I don't think they even make cream.