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SIPAN, the largest of the
Elaphite Islands, 17 km northwest of Dubrovnik; separated from the
mainland coast by the Kolocepski Channel; area 16.5 sq km; population
500 (length 9.1 km, width up to 2.6 km). Two limestone crests, the
higher (Velji Vrh, 243 m) in the northeast and the lower in the
southeast surround a dolomite depression, on which olives, figs, vine,
carob-trees, almond-trees, oranges and citrus fruit are cultivated.
Tourism occupies a
special place in the economy of Sipan. The terminal, submerged parts of
the valley form the cove of Sipanska Luka in the north-west, and the
Sudurad Cove in the south-east. The small island of Ruda is off the
south-eastern arm of the higher crest. Major places on the island are
Sipanska Luka (Luka) and Sudurad; there are several hamlets in the
island's interior (Fraiga, Sutulija, Vojnovo Selo, Odak). Ship
connections with Dubrovnik.
The island was first
mentioned under its present name in 1371. The ruins of a Roman villa
have been excavated in Sipanska Luka. The island has several
architectural monuments from the Middle Ages: the ruins of the St.
Peter's church on Velji Vrh (11th c.), the small church of St. John with
frescoes (11th c., expanded in the 15th c.) in Silovo Selo, and the
pre-Romanesque church of St. Michael (11th c.) within the complex of the
Benedictine monastery in Pakljena, a house with Romanesque and Gothic
elements, a Gothic tower and the Renaissance church of the Holy Spirit
from 1569. The Dubrovnik aristocracy built their summer villas on Sipan
in the 15th century. In Sipanska Luka, with the late Gothic parish
church of St. Stephen containing the paintings by Pantaleone (second
half of the 15th c.), the summer villa of the Sorkocevic family (15th
c.) stands out. In the 15th century the Gothic Duke's Palace with double
windows on the front (and an inscription from 1450 above the Gothic gate
leading to the yard) was built above Sipanska Luka. Sudurad has a
fortified castle built by Tomo Stjepovic-Skocibuha in 1539; his son Vice
erected a high tower (1577) by the castle.
The ruins of the summer
residence of the Dubrovnik archbishops can be seen between Sipanska Luka
and Sudurad, in which the humanist Lodovico Beccadelli (1501-1572) used
to stay. The ruins of a small castle in which, a legend has it, the king
of Naples Renato Anjou (15th c.) used to stay, are in Renatovo a coat of
arms with the inscription "Renatus rex justus" has been found there.
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