We are pleased to invite you to a lecture The old faith of the Croats and its monuments in the Stari Grad Plain by dr.sc. Tonči Tadić on Saturday, 4 August at 9pm in Stari Grad Museum (garden of the Biankini palace).
The rich, 2700-year-long written history of Stari Grad has one poorly-researched emptiness. This is the period of Narentines’ rule on the island of Hvar. From the end of the 7th century to mid-10th century, the island of Hvar was part of the Neretva Principality, an ally of the early Croatian state. The Narentines did not accept Christianity, but continued to believe in the deities of the Old Faith. Only after their Christianisation in the 10th century, the Principality, including the island of Hvar, became part of the Croatian kingdom. Although the period of Narentines’ rule on Hvar was relatively short, it left behind in Stari Grad Plain and in places around it a series of fascinating fragments of ancient Croatian pre-Christian mythology. In order to find the possible locations of the Shrine of the Old Faith – devoted to Perun, Veles, Mokosh, Jarilo and Marzanna – it is necessary to gain insight into the components of the early Croatian pre-Christian mythology, based on the findings of the works of prominent Croatian scientists: ethnologist Vitomir Belaj and linguist Radoslav Katičić.
We look forward to your visit!