LIGHTHOUSES -ST. JOHN OUT IN THE SEA

Motifs: lighthouses, photos by Andrija Carli The well-indented coastal line like the eastern side of the Adriatic, with numerous bays and coastal protrusions, with almost one thousand islands, small rocky isles and crags, with steep slopes of sheer rock and possible traps of dangerous shallow spots, all this demanded exceptional navigational skills. In the thousand-year-long history of Adriatic navigation, starting from the times of the Greeks and Illyrians, the Romans and the people living along the banks of the river Neretva, the Venetians and the people from Senj, all through to the late 19th century, it was quite usual to embark upon voyages during the day only, in full sunshine and it was only the easier or better-known parts of the route that could be covered at night, working out one’s course by watching the stars. The technical advancement and the need for a speedy and secure transport at the time of the Austrian rule of Dalmatia and Istria stimulated the construction of reliable strongholds in order to facilitate orientation in space. Our part of the Mediterranean was covered by a network of more than twenty night lighthouses, so that it became navigable even in aggravating circumstances during dark and stormy days. These lighthouses were built in specially exposed geographical spots, on sharp promontories and far-away open seas, waste, uninhabited islets, on otherwise inaccessible places and spaces that almost jealously protected their solitude, threatening chance travellers with winds and waves. Many of the lighthouses were therefore built as towers and fortifications, many of them shaped as temples or churches with proud bell-towers. It would definitely not be by chance that the ancient lighthouse on the island Rhodes had been considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Earth. It is equally not unusual that we experience their building as a pledge to Neptune, god of the sea, or as the expression of respect to powerful forces that rule the blue expanses. Indeed, with each of the lighthouses the elementary power of the sea gets tamed and the landscape becomes humanized, a defined human measure is imposed upon the hard-to-tame nature, an important landmark is placed in the field of vision of the seaman and the immenseness of the wide open space is relativized by the recognizable sign on the horizon. For a century and a half, approximately, the Adriatic lighthouses have regularly performed their function by giving direction to the navigation, enabling a dependable exchange of people and goods on the sea, saving at the same time many endangered lives. They continue flashing and blinking, even nowadays they gladly serve some skipper and sailor to make it easier to find his way in the space. Yet, nowadays lighthouses are more monuments of the exciting past than participants of the navigational orientation. However, our lighthouses, both individually and as a lighting archipelago, remain an undisputable aesthetic value of courteous ambience, in a certain way they are a heavenly projection as they represent the brilliant constellation of stars on the sea. Sveti Ivan na pučini [St. John out in the sea] This lighthouse on an islet of irregular shape built in the year 1853, with the surface of 70 x 50 metres, is situated in the middle of the western coast of the Istrian peninsula. The lighthouse tower is 23 metres in height and the accommodation quarters for the lighthouse keeper were built on one side of the tower. The sea depth round the island varies from ten to forty metres, and the wealth of the submarine life and luxuriant sea vegetation make it especially attractive and interesting for enthusiastic fans of diving. Enthusiastic devotees of quiet holidays and of Robinson Crusoe-like tourism vacations on this lighthouse will definitely make their summer days pleasurable and this will stimulate them to return to this untouched pearl of nature again. A legend linked to St. John’s lighthouse has it that a Venetian doge was navigating in the direction of Rovinj in rather unfavourable weather conditions. He and his crew spotted the dangerous cliffs of the island and just in time changed the navigation route. The doge made a vow to St. John to light a candle for him as high as a cathedral tower if he made it safe and sound to Rovinj. However, on the return voyage he regretted his vow. In the end, the doge returned to Venice without fulfilling his vow. Several months later he found himself in a strong storm and it was only then that he remembered his promise that he did not keep. However, this time he did not manage to repeat the promise because he disappeared together with the whole of his crew in the depth of the sea and the shipwrecked ship was thrown out onto the cliffs of St. John’s island.