Sumartin

History

Sumartin was established at the time of the Cretan War (1645–69), also known as the War of Candia, in 1646, when a group of Franciscan friars accompanied by a number of refugees reached the easternmost tip of the island of Brač by boats as they were fleeing from Makarska Riviera due to Ottoman raids. The newly formed village was established around the already existing abandoned small church of St. Martin which had been previously damaged but repaired by the refugees upon their arrival. As the settlement was growing in size, Franciscan friars decided to stay and began receiving more lands, encouraged by Venetian military officer Leonardo Foscolo who endowed them by a special document highlighting their merits. Meanwhile, the local population gained momentum in developing and expanding their settlement by cultivating surrounding fields and vineyards. The development of the settlement can be noticed in the church visitations which mention the following number of inhabitants of the settlement over the course of several decades: 104 in 1678, 200 in 1702, 300 in 1712, 352 in 1760, and finally 370 in 1764. Population continued to grow until 1784 when a plague struck the village, halving the number of inhabitants. Meanwhile, in 1738, the monastic choir in Sinj declared the monastic community of Sumartin as the real monastery.