Pučišća history-Brač,Croatia

Pučišća harbour

Pučišća is  a town and a  harbor on the northern coast of the island .
Situated on the northern shore of Brač, Pučišća hides in a lee, at the bottom of a deep cove . The town and port called Pučišća got its name from the latin word puteus - meaning "well",  which implied springs where salt and brackish water mix.

Pučišća

The history of this place has roots deep within the past, and can be tracked through many archaeological finds like illirian graves, and the first inhabitants of the island of Brač Illirians, then Greeks with whom the Illirians traded with, mainly living in the interior of the island and herders until the arrival of the Romans and the opening of the first quarry had brought the trend of moving from inland to the sea by building villa rustichas in picturesque bays. In early christian times, from the 6. to the 7. century early christian churches, basilicas and monasteries are built on the outskirts of Pučišća.

And it wasn't an ordinary port in the middle ages, but „ The Port of Towers“ because, pressured by the lingering threats from the sea, the builder of brač construct 13 defensive towers which become the town's "signet of stone".

Tower

The construction of a town in the cove began somewhere after 1420. when the constant danger of pirate attacks stopped. The time of peace didn't last very long because in 1462. the Turks began to threathen Europe. In this period the population of Pučišća build towers for defense, 13 of them to be precise, from which the Ciprijan Žuvetić tower, the Aquila tower and the tower of the Dešković family survived to this day.  Thanks to these forts, the town is picturesquely called "The Port of Towers".

Dešković family tower
Throughout the history of Pučišća, stone was the most important source of income.If Brač's stone is the soul of the island Pučišća is the capital because here "not all is written down on paper, but for the most part, it's carved in stone".The famous stonemasons like Juraj Dalmatinac, Andrija Aleši and Nikola Firentinac acted precisely in Pučišća and Brač's stone built numerous prominent buildings at home and abroad so that is embedded even in the White House in Washington. The continuity of stone masonry tradition is provided by the excellently organized Stonemason school. 

The stonemason school was founded in 1906. Quarries lie in the vicinity of the town (Tesišće, Punta, Veselje, Kupinovo) with the famous stone of Brač (The Veselje quarry is mentioned in 1455., When Juraj Dalmatinac bought it).In  1902. as a successor of stonemason cooperatives the most famous enterprise of Pučišća, Jadrankamen was founded.

– The settlement has developed in the second half of the XV. century near the former Pučišćian Dolac. There, invidivudal families build houses by the shore for greater safety because of the Ottomans and pirates. By 1467. A.D.  Ciprijan Žuvetić has built the first tower,  and when the families named  Žuvetić, Bokanić, Radojković, Akvila, Cepernić, Posinković, Katković i Bilavić built 12 more towers , the settlement got the status of "kaštel" (meaning castle)(castrum, castel). Those families, like those that later came for Straževnik i Pražnica, founded and settled today's Pučišća. The population of the port of Stipan, Gornji Humac, and the refugees from the mainland Dalmatia also settled here. 1566. A.D. Pučišća were, combined with Straževnik, seperated from the parish church in Pražnica so there was a new parish church founded there. Since 1823. 'till 1885. Pučišća were the munipicial cnter for the eastern part of Brač, and then the most eastern settlements separated with Selca.

The skill of local artisans is seeable in the looks of houses and small churches that stretch the surrounding landscape like stone pearls. Rarely can a settlement from Brač brag with so many sacral constructions like Pučišča: The starting parish church is the renaissance church of The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary with a belfry and a graveyard at Botak, and the most monumental church monument is the parish church of Saint Jerome.

Sv.Jerolim

Some of the churches are: The church of The Blessed Virgin Mary on Botak from 1482. A.D., the church of st. Jerome, finished 1576. A.D. decorated with 7 altars, the church of st. Juraj situated west of Pučišča, on Bračuta,built in the 13. century, the church of st. Lucia on Ratac above the parish church, the church of the Lady of Lourdes from 1906. A.D.
On the cemetery is a former benedictine church of st.Stephen.
There is also the church of st. Lucia and the church of st. Dujam, unique in the baroque rural architecture of Dalmatia.

The first public library on the island was open in Pučišća in the year 1868.

Pučišća is a place that today, except for stone, lives from herding, agriculture,viticulture, olive growing, fishing and tourism. In Pučišča there is no crowd, it's the place of the wind, sun, stone, and sea, ideal for a vacation and enjoying nature, gastronomy and numerous graveled and stone beaches. A safe harbor in a long cove, beautiful beaches and a crystal blue sea offer a wide array for water sports and other forms of active vacation.