Šušnjevica

History

Archeological evidence suggests that it was a populated place in prehistoric as well as Roman times. During the Middle Ages, it belonged to the lord of Kožljak. The earliest surviving written evidence of the place dates from 1340. During the 15th and 16th centuries, numerous Istro-Romanians presumably settled in the area. There are contradictory claims, however, that they came much earlier - specifically, during Roman times. In 1922 A.D., under the period of Italian rule, because of its Romanian language and the distinct origin of its population, it was made the center of a municipality. Its church of St. John the Baptist was built in 1838, replacing the older single-nave church. In the churchyard is a chapel dedicated to St. Sylvester, dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, in which the remains of frescoes and Glagolithic graphites can be seen. The inhabitants mainly lived from agriculture, and until the draining of Lake Čepić also from fishing.