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Virtual Kolan

Porodično stablo Kolana
Kolan genealogical tree

About Kolan:

Local tradition says Kolan is one of the oldest villages on the island of Pag. Positioned not on the coast, but inside the island, above the fertile valley (Kolanjsko polje), it homed mostly peasants and shepherds, not fishermen, as it is visible from small Kolan ethnographic collection (which is currently not available, since it was neglected, and waits for better days). Story is that village started around "Kastel", which was a fort with 5m high stone walls (remains of it are still visible behind the houses built around the location), probably for protection from pirates and Venetian galleys, which were always eager to get some captives for rowing. Story seems plausible, as this position is hidden, not visible from the sea, and if one walks just hundred meters away, a wide view to the sea opens. Another, more probable reason was that the "kastel" was a magazine or other hausing from which the owner of the fields, from the city of Pag, could oversee the workers in the fields. In any case, the first mentioning of the settlement is from more than 1000 years ago, in the land ownership documents for a local nobility in Pag. A cemetery with a chapel, in the same place where today is church in Kolan, existed at least since XV ct., under the patronage of St. Lucas, consecrated in A.D. 1410.

In the valley below the village are good wells of water, which, by means of a small aqueduct, once provided the water for ancient Kissa. Allegedly this was one of three cities named Kissa in the Mediterranean, mentioned by Plutarch in his "History", where he described how it was destroyed in an earthquake. I could not confirm this mentioning, and the whole story is rather dubious.

It seems, from informations in the church books and oral tradition, that Kolan was larger in 18th and 19th century than today. In any case, it was a large village, with peasants and shepherds all working for riches of Pag families, who made their fortune on salt from salt panes. In the twenties of XX century peasants could become a legal land owners (which they already used for generations, usually), and parcelling of the island started. That is the "secret" of the newer stone walls, as the rule has been accepted that every owner has to built ONE wall, the one which will stop the sheeps from the neighbour pasture to go to his one. Most of the longer walls seen today have been finished until the 1960s, as well as the water reservoirs ("lokve") in some pastures. The older walls are generally of a less regular shape.

My "theory" about the walls is more "romantic": the way for contraception. When somebody already had 4 or more children and food was always a problem, what a poor man could do in the early morning, when the will came to him and his wife? Run out to the pasture and do some meter or so of the wall!

Joking, sure, but nowadays a stone building or repair could indeed be taken as as meditative physical activity. There is a stone walls building association in Kolan and they actively participate in Croatian and Mediterranean events, preserving the ancient artizanship.

History is not straightforward: Kolan in the recent past (beginning of the 18th ct.) was not some ''idyllic'', backward place. In the fields below Kolan was a coal-mine since Napoleon time (his armies passed here, leaving a story about 'Mongol' warrior of French army who had a child with local woman, and the heritage would supposedly be still visible in the appearances of some of the descendants). A narrow-track railway (beg. of the XX ct.) and later, instead of it, a cable-rail, was built to the small nearby port Simuni. Even today it is possible to see some remains of this infrastructure (see Kolan coal-mine, railway and cable-rail). During the WWII, for a short time there was even a small colony of captives (under local Tito's partisans) working in the mine.

(Un)fortunately for Kolan, tourists come to Pag to enjoy the sea coast. Therefore, people mostly built houses-and appartments for renting-in Mandre, nearest coastal village, which is administratively part of Kolan. Mandre was established in 1930s by the government (then Kingdom of Yugoslavia) as a re-location of Kolan, to prevent spreading of malaria, which severely attacked areas near the wetlands along Dalmatia. Only a few households actually moved at that time from Kolan, and this was the start of Mandre.

Pag, the island and the city:

The island of Pag is the fifth biggest in the Adriatic sea. It is streched as a 65 km long, narrow piece of stone, with the maximum width of 5 km. It was one of the first islands where Slavic people settled - as it is closest to the firm land, channel Fortica (under the today's bridge) being only 100 m wide.

History of the island of Pag is long-some rests of after pre-Illyric inhabitants were found-but their history is not wel known. It is known the island was called Cissa or Kissa in ancient times, by the city Kissa (today Caska), which was the first important settlement on the island. It was allegedly ruined in an earthquake at the end of 4th ct, as already mentioned above. After the final ruining of Kissa in XIII ct., another settlement, old city of Pag, became more important. It was located where today is the "Old city" (=Stari Grad). In the XV ct. the city moved to the better, today's position, which has better harbour and more space. Famous Dalmatian sculptor and architect-Juraj Dalmatinac (who built Sibenik's cathedral) was the author of the city plan-4 quarters divided by straight lines, and some building ornaments. Today's cathedral, more ornamented copy of the church at the Stari Grad location, is the central object in the city.

Island of Pag was always divided between Rab and Zadar - even today this dividing line holds, as northern part of the island (with the city of Novalja) is part of the Gospic and Senj authority, and southern (with the city of Pag) is under Zadar authority. Kolan is close to the border line, but went rather under Pag, as its fields and pastures were traditionally in Pag city families possession. Since 2003, Kolan, together with Mandre and Kolanjski Gajac, is the newest independent organisational unit on the island (Općina Kolan).