(Ger. Dalmatien; Ital. Dalmazia; Croatian, Dalmacija),

A coastal region of Republic of Croatia extending roughly from the town of Karlobag to the Boka kotorska in Montenegro. Its area amounts to 12 157 km².

Chief Towns,---The chief towns are Split, the capital, with 207 000 inhabitants, Zadar (80 000), Šibenik (60 000), Trogir (12 000), Dubrovnik (50.000), Makarska (15 000).

Physical Features.—No part of the Mediterranean shore, except the coast of Greece, is so deeply indented as the Dalmatian littoral, with its multitude of rock-bound bays and inlets. It is sheltered from the open sea by a rampart of islands which vary greatly in size; a few being large enough to support several thousand inhabitants, while others are mere reefs, swept bare by the sea, or tenanted only by rabbits and seabirds. This Dalmatian archipelago, separated from the Istrian by the Gulf of Kvarner, forms two island groups, the northern or Liburnian, and the southern; with open water intervening, off Point Planca. In calm weather the channels between the islands and the mainland resemble a chain of landlocked lakes, brilliantly clear to a depth of several fathoms. As a rule, the surrounding hills are rugged, bleached almost white or pale russet, and destitute of verdure; but their monotony is relieved by the half-ruined castles and monasteries clinging to the rocks, or by the beauty of such cities as Dubrovnik (Ragusa), with its fantastic row of steeples overlooking the beach.

The country is almost everywhere hilly or mountainous. On the north-west Dalmatian border rises the lofty barrier of the Velebit, which, culminates in Sveto Brdo (5751 ft.), and Vakanski Vrh (5768 ft.). The Dinaric Alps form the frontier between Dalmatia and Bosnia; Dinara (6007 ft.), which gives its name to the whole chain, and Troglav (6276 ft.), being the highest Dalmatian summits. North-west of Sinj rise the Svilaja and Moseč Planinas; the ridges of Mosor and Biokovo, with Sveto Juraj (5781 ft), follow the windings of the coast from Split to Makarska; Orjen marks the meeting-place of the Herzegovinian, Montenegrin and Dalmatian frontiers, and the Sutorman range appears in the extreme south. The barren dry limestone of the Dalmatian highlands has been aptly compared with a petrified sponge; for it is honeycombed with underground caverns and water-courses, into which the rainfall is at once filtered. Thus arises a complete system of subterranean rivers, with waterfalls, lakes and regular seasons of flood. Even the few surface rivers vanish and emerge again at intervals. The Trebinjčica, for instance, disappearing in Herzegovina, supplies both the broad and swift estuary of Ombla, near Dubrovnik, and the fresh-water spring of Doli, which issues from the bottom of the sea. Apart from the Ombla, and the Narenta (Croatian, Neretva; Roman, Naro), which creates a broad marshy delta between Metković and the sea, Dalmatia has only three rivers more than 25 km. long; the Zermanja (Zrmanja, Tedanium), Kerka, (Krka, Titius),& Cetina (Cetina; Naronaor Tilurus). The Zermanja skirts the southern foothills of the Velebit and falls into the harbour of Novigrad. Better known is the Kerka, which rises in the Dinaric Alps and flows south-westward to the Adriatic. Near Scardona (Skradin) it spreads into a broad lake, and forms several fine waterfalls, after receiving its tributary the Cikola (Čikola), from the east. South of Spalato, (Split) the Cetina, which also springs from the Dinaric Alps, descends to the sea at Almissa (Omiš), after passing between the Mosor and Biokovo ranges. There are a few small lakes near Zadar, Zaravecchia (Turanj) and the Narenta estuary; while the fertile, but unhealthy, hollows among the mountains fill with water after heavy rain, and sometimes cause disastrous floods. But most parts of the country suffer from drought.

Small quantities of iron, lignite, asphalt and bay salt are the minerals of commercial importance.

The climate is warm and healthy, the mean temperature at Zadar being 14°C., at Hvar 16,7°, and at Dubrovnik 17,2°. The prevailing wind is the sirocco, (Jugo) on S.E.; but the terrible Bora, (Bura) on N.N.E., may blow at any season of the year. The average annual rainfall is about 71.12 cm, but a dry and a wet year usually alternate.

Fauna.—Bears, badgers and wild cats, with a larger number of wolves and foxes, find shelter in the Dinaric Alps and on the heights of Svilaja, Mosor and Biokovo; while jackals (čagalj) exist on Korčula and Sabbioncello, (Pelješac) almost their last refuges in Europe. Roedeer are uncommon, and the wild boar, chamois, red-deer and beaver are extinct; but hares and rabbits abound. By the Cetina about Sinj, and the lagoons of the Narenta estuary; both regions being frequented by wild swans, geese, duck, snipe and other aquatic birds. Among land-birds, the commonest are quails, woodcock, partridges, and especially the so-called "stone-fow" (Steinhuhn, Perdix Graeca , kamenjarka). Tortoises are numerous; snakes, lizards, scorpions and innumerable sand-flies infest the dry hillsides; and the limestone caverns are peopled by sightless bats, reptiles, fish, flies, beetles, spiders, Crustacea and molluscs.

Fisheries.—No region of Europe is richer in its marine fauna and flora. Sponge and coral fisheries afford a valuable source of income to the peasantry, many of whom also go northward for the sardine and tunny fisheries of the Dalmatian coast, while salmon, trout and eels are caught in the Dalmatian rivers.

Flora.—The olive, almond, fig, orange, palm, aloe, myrtle, locust-tree and other characteristic members of the Mediterranean flora thrive in the sheltered valleys of the Dalmatian littoral, where almond-blossoms appear in mid-winter, and the palm occasionally bears ripe fruit. The marasca, or wild cherry, is abundant, and yields the celebrated liqueur called maraschino. But at a little distance from the rivers and on the more exposed parts of the coast the aspect of the country changes entirely. Patches of thin grass, heather, juniper, thyme, tamarisks and mountain roses hardly relieve the bareness and aridity of the seaward slopes.

Forests.—Oaks, pines and beeches still, in a few parts, clothe the landward slopes, but, as a rule, the forests for which Dalmatia was once famous were cut down for the Venetian shipyards or burned by pirates; while every attempt at replanting is frustrated by the shallowness of the soil, the drought and the multitude of goats that browse on the young trees.

Antiquities—To the foreign visitor Dalmatia is chiefly interesting as a treasury of art and antiquities. The gravemounds of Korčula, Hvar and Pelješac have yielded a few relics of prehistoric man, and the memory of the early Celtic conquerors and Greek settlers is preserved only in a few placenames; but the monuments left by the Romans are numerous and precious. They are chiefly confined to the cities; for the civilization of the country was always urban, just as its history is a record of isolated city-states rather than of a united nation. Beyond the walls of its larger towns, little was spared by the barbarian Goths, Avars and Slavs; and the battered fragments of Roman. work which mark the sites of Salona, (Solin) near Split, and of many other ancient cities, are of slight antiquarian interest and slighter artistic value. Among the monuments of the Roman period, by far the most noteworthy in Dalmatia, and, indeed, in the whole Balkan Peninsula, is the Palace of Diocletian at Split. Dalmatian architecture was Byzantine in its general character from the 6th century until the close of the 10th. The oldest memorials of this period are the vestiges of three basilicas, excavated in Salona, and dating from the first half of the 7th century at latest. Byzantine art, in the latter half of this period and the two succeeding centuries, continued to flourish in those cities which, like Zadar, gave their allegiance to Venice; just as, in the architecture of Trail and other cities dominated by Hungary, there are distinct traces of German influence. The belfry of S. Maria, at Zadar, erected in 1105, is first in a long list of Romanesque buildings. At Arbe (Rab) there is a beautiful Romanesque campanile which also belongs to the 12th century; but the finest example in this style is the cathedral of Trogir. The 14th century Dominican and Franciscan convents in Dubrovnik are also noteworthy. Romanesque lingered on in Dalmatia until it was displaced by Venetian Gothic in the early years of the 15th century. The influence of Venice was then at its height. Even in the hostile republic of Dubrovnik the Romanesque of the custom-house and Rectors’ palace is combined with Venetian Gothic, while the graceful balconies and ogee windows of the Prijeki closely follow their Venetian models. Gothic, however, which had been adopted very late, was abandoned very early; for in 1441 Giorgio Orsini of Zara, summoned from Venice to design the cathedral of Šibenik, brought with him the influence of the Italian Renaissance. The new forms which he introduced were eagerly imitated and developed by other architects, until the period of decadence—which virtually concludes the history of Dalmatian art—set in during the latter half of the 17th century. Special mention must be made of the carved woodwork, embroideries and plate preserved in many churches. The silver statuette and the reliquary of St Biagio at Dubrovnik, and the silver ark of St Simeon at Zadar, are fine specimens of Byzantine and Italian jewellers’ work, ranging in date from the 11th or 12th to the 17th century.

The name
"Dalmatia"

Today the name "Dalmatia" indicates a region that stretches along the edge of the easterncoast of the Adriatic Sea.

In older days it comprised the territories between that from the sea extended almost tothe middle of the Balkans Peninsula.
The"Dalmatia" geographic name can be found for the first time in the works of theGreek historian and geography scholar Strabon (60BC - 20 AD) :
"In the southern direction is Panonia, all the way to Dalmatia".

However, the Greek Polibio, even since the second century BC, without naming theregion, had called its inhabitants "Dalmateis" or "Delmateis". Polibio wrote:
"The Lissar and the Daorit populations had sent often, by mutual agreement, ambassadors to Rome,to state that Dalmatians were infesting not just their countryside but also the towns of Epezium (Spalato, today Split) and of Tragurium (Trau, today Trogir).
The Senate had decided that it was the right time to attack that nation because offended by both pride and fierceness of the Dalmatians and because there were other reasons to do so.
In the works of Latin authors the inhabitants of Dalmatia were called "Dalmatae" or "Delmatae"
and the region "Dalmatia" or "Delmatia".

Generally the latter version was preferred as a derivation from "Delminium" or "Delminum" (probably the present Zupanjac om Duvno) considered to be the ancient capital of the region according to what indicated by Strabon: "…there is also Andrezium,
a very strong castle, and Delminium, a large city that gave the name to the Dalmatians".

In antiquity the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea has been named after three populations.
Going from North to South: the Liburns, from Arsa river in Istria to the Tizio river
(today Cherca), the Dalmatians from the Cherca to the Naro (today Narenta/Neretva), the
Illirians, from the Narenta to the current borders of Albania.