Dalmatia: The Land Where East Meets West

Holbach Maude M.

London; New York, John Lane, The Bodley Head; John Lane Company, 1908, Biblioteca della Camera dei Deputati; British Library

Il viaggio di Maude M. Holbach e del marito Otto Holbach pone attenzione alla dimensione antropologica ampiamente presente nella descrizione delle popolazioni locali. Gli Holbach si recarono nei principali territori e città della Dalmazia: Zara, Sebenico, Spalato, Salona, Sette Castelli, Traù, Ragusa, Bocche di Cattaro; nelle isole di Curzola, Lesina e Lissa; infine ad Arbe. Ad accompagnare i richiami alle vicende storiche della regione, vi sono numerose testimonianze fotografiche di Otto Holbach dei paesaggi e degli abitanti dalmati.

Itinerari del libro di viaggio

"Zara - the Zadera of the ancients - is the portal by which you enter Dalmatia, after sailing many hours along a barren shore! This is no more Europe, no matter what the map may tell you! It is a terra incognita where, if you are not too luxur... leggi tutto

Zara

"Obrovazzo is only a village of five or six hundred inhabitants, but it promises to have an important future, for here begins the mountain road over the Velebit mountains into Croatia, and all the wine brought by ship from the islands is carried that... leggi tutto

Velebit

"The express steamers take only four and a half hour to reach Sebenico from Zara. Nature has hidden away the magnificent land-locked harbour of Sebenico so securely that it would be hard for an enemy to find the way in. There is but one entrance, thr... leggi tutto

Sebenico

"Unless you are a hardened traveller, inured to discomfort, you will do well to content yourself with a visit to the first falls above Scardona, which are truly magnificent, and the more impressive because of the arid wilderness you pass through to... leggi tutto

Cascate di Kerka

“From relics of the archaeological museum it is a relief to turn to the busy streets of Spalato, with their crowds of gaily dressed peasants, and to the sunny fruit market beneath the Venetian tower where the country folk display their wares ... leggi tutto

Spalato

"To appreciate Salona you must go there in thr proper spirit [...], you must go prepered to dismiss your carriage, if you have driven from Spalato, and spend half a day at least dreaming among the ruins. You can go back in the train, if you will, i... leggi tutto

Salona

"When you lift your eyes from Salona to the Mosor mountains, which shelter it from the north, they are irresistibly drawn to the fortress-crowned rock and village of Clissa, and you will be well repaid if you proceed thither either on foot or by carr... leggi tutto

Clissa

"There is no more smiling scenery in all Dalmatia, than that along the shores of the Riviera dei Castelli, which lies between Salona and Trau (p. 107). The road between Salona and Trau is very lovely, sometimes passing through vineyards and olive g... leggi tutto

Traù

"Ragusa is a dream city by the sea - that faraway point of Austrian territory which in common with all Dalmatian towns is far more akin to Italy than to its present rulers! (p. 128). Picture to yourself one of the walled Etrusca... leggi tutto

Ragusa

"When you enter the Bocche, you will fancy that a Norwegian fjord somehow lost its way at the creation of the world and strayed into Southern waters. The narrow entrance between the threatening forts - where the waves lash themselves in fury on the c... leggi tutto

Bocche di Cattaro

"The first stopping-place of the express boats is Castelnuovo, a most enchanting spot, which for picturesqueness and sheer beauty it would be hard to beat on the shores of the Adriatic. Medieval fortifications and walls showing the rents made by si... leggi tutto

Castelnuovo

"The first sight of Cattaro from the water is very impressive - its fortified walls, zigzagging up to the frowning fortress on a mighty rock above the town, kindle the imagination no less than another zigzag line of white behind it, winding like a ... leggi tutto

Cattaro

“Curzola was the Korkyra Nigra of the ancients, so called on account of its dark woods to distinguish it from the other Korkyra (Corfu). Is it one of the few places in Dalmatia where the forest still remains, which is doubtless one reason why it ... leggi tutto

Curzola

“On the rocky fastnesses above the little town of Lesina, two proud castles rise against the sky […]; so grey are these old forts, so grey the mountains, that they seem part of one another; but if you climb up to them in spring-time you find th... leggi tutto

Lesina

“I stood within the walls of Fort King George, and my fancy bridged the ninety years that lie between this and the days when George III was king - England a power in these seas - Lissa the Malta of the Adriatic. I thought how often English eyes h... leggi tutto

Lissa

“It was at Arbe that we bade good-bye to Dalmatia. Arbe the remote, though nearest of Dalmatian islands to the port of Fiume. For the fast steamers to Zara and beyond pass it by, though but a few miles from their course. Most travellers, if they ... leggi tutto

Arbe