PUČIŠĆA U STAROM AUSTRIJSKOM KATASTRU
THE TOWN OF PUČIŠĆA IN THE OLD AUSTRIAN LAND REGISTRY

Summary/Abstract: The name of the town of Pučišća derives from the Latin word puteus, denoting a potable water spring, which was located in the nearby area known as Soline. The largest towns on the island of Brač today are Supetar and Pučišća, the latter of which is located at the lower end of a deep bay which splits into two smaller bays - Pučiški dolac and Stipanska luka. It is generally believed that during the Middle Ages Pučiški dolac bay served as a port to Pražnice, a settlement in the island’s interior, while Stipanska luka was used as a port by the inhabitants of the Straževik settlement. After Dalmatia fell under Venetian rule in 1420, the people of Brač were finally relieved of the pirate attacks from the corsairs of the present-day town of Omiš, located on the mainland across the Brač channel. However, an even greater danger became an imminent threat – the Ottoman conquests and their attacks from the sea. It is for this very reason that Ciprijan Žuvetić decided in 1467 to erect a fort for the defense of his house in the port. Others followed in his footsteps - Mate Aquila and the families of Prodić, Mladinić, Pinešić, Andrijević- Ivellio, Davidović, Čipčić, and Bokanić built the total of 13 forts. Because it was such a fortified place, in 1600 Pučišće thus received the status of a fortification or castrum, castel. The rule of Austrian Emperor Franz I (1792-1835) during the first half of the 19th century has left a large mark on Dalmatia. Namely, the military and strategic interests of Austria have contributed to the reorganization of the State, that is, the transformation of former proprietary and fiscal relations. In order to introduce a general property tax, on December 23, 1817, Emperor Franz I issued a Patent for the Introduction of a Stable Cadaster which initiated the first official survey of lands in the Habsburg Monarchy.

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