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Where/What/Who is this?  004 Čuvarica Omiša

25/4/2020

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Protectress of Omiš

I've already told you approximately where this very beautiful sculpture is, but who is the subject? Why does she deserve a statue in her honour? Who was the sculptor?
​
Picture
Picture

And what is she looking at? Evo pogleda ....
​
Picture

Any idea? Check below ....

Aha! So this is who it is! ..... Mile Gojsalića

Where is this bronze life-sized statue?

First, some geography .... Our heroine was from the small village of Kostanje in the hills above Omiš at the mouth of the Cetina River.

Picture
Picture
The map on the left shows where Omiš is with respect to Split. The Cetina River runs through the magnificent Cetina Canyon (a popular destination for adventure-seeking tourists), and at Omiš runs into the Jadransko More (the Adriatic Sea).
​
On the right, we can see the village of Gata, which is quite close to Kostanje (not shown), and where the subject of this post stands. The zigzag road from Omiš to Gata indicates the steepness of the Mosor mountain range on which Gata (and Kostanje) is situated.
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Most of the area in the map on the right is a region called Poljica. The statue of Mile Gojsalića near Gata is at a lookout (vidikovac) overlooking this region that she saved from Turkish occupation in 1530.
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​
And who was Mile Gojsalića? How did she save Poljica?

According to an article in Wikipedia, Mile Gojsalića (formal name Mila) lived at the time when Ottoman armies were invading the Balkan peninsula. Ottoman commander Ahmed-pasha had concentrated a large army at a nearby camp, in preparation to conquer Poljica.

In order to infiltrate the Turkish camp, Mile Gojsalića offered herself to Ahmed-pasha. While the commander was sleeping, she used the opportunity to explode their cache of munitions, and killed numerous Turks, including the Ahmed-pasha himself. 

Surprised and disoriented, the Turkish soldiers where then defeated by the people of Poljica.

Such noble sacrifice, to say nothing of what she achieved, deserves the adulation given to her over the 500 years that  have since passed.


It is probable that over the intervening 500 years, the legend of Mile Gojsalića has become less definite. According to a personal blog (BBQboy and Spanky), fleeing from Turkish soldiers after committing her guerilla acts, she threw herself over the cliff overlooking the Cetina River mouth.

Other sources say that Gojsalića had been enslaved by Ahmed-pasha.


People think of her as still protecting Poljica after all these years. [Poljička Republika svoju neovisnost čuvala je još od 13. stoljeća.]

To this day, every year in Kostanje is a cultural event (Dan Mile Gojsalić) to celebrate and honour her deeds.

The famous author August Šenoa composed a poem dedicated to her. The entire poem can be found on a website of the news service Narod.HR (Click HERE). Following is an extract from that site. You might be able to relate it to the feats of Mile Gojsalića?
​
Picture
More recently, the Dalmatian composer Jakov Gotovac composed an opera to honour her (opera Mila Gojsalića). If you are interested, a YouTube video is available of its most famous aria, Oda Zemlji (Ode to the Land).

​
And the author of the sculpture?

If to this question you guessed Ivan Mestrović, there is a good chance that you would be correct. And indeed he is the sculptor. Do you know of any others of his works? They are all over the world.

Finally, here is a photo of the plaque at the base of the statue of Mile Gojsalića ...

Picture
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  • HOME
    • Navigation: A ROAD MAP
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  • LEARNING CROATIAN
    • CROATIAN: Posts 1 - 10 >
      • 001 Kosa, koza, koža
      • 002 Pronouncing 'au'
      • 003 Can language influence behaviour?
      • 004 First day of the week
      • 005 Do Croatians assign gender to objects?
      • 006 Za četiri dana, na dva dana
      • 007 My brain becomes full!
      • 008 Sretan rođendan ti
      • 009 Na kavu, po kavu, za kavu?
      • 010 Until you don't do it
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      • 011 Nazvati nekoga, telefonirati nekomu
      • 012 If she were a man ....
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      • 017 I felt like crying, I will feel like crying
    • DAKLE ŽELIŠ BITI KAO PRAVI HRVAT, JE L' DA? HOME >
      • 001 Ovako!
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      • 001 Crossword puzzle 1
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      • 006 Ja sam na Trgu bana Josipa Jelačića
      • 007 Going and coming: u-iz, but na-sa
      • 008 Sav - All, every
      • 009 Number of subjects and the verb 'biti'
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      • 011 Declension of place names
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      • 001 Dati - dativ
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      • 001 Questions that define the case of nouns
      • 002 All nouns have gender
      • 003 Nouns in the nominative case
      • 004 Nouns: Declension categories
      • 005 Declension of regular nouns
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    • SAYINGS: Posts 1 - 10 >
      • 001 Ne daj se!
      • 002 U tom grmu leži zec!
      • 003 Baš me briga!
      • 004 Mačji kašalj!
      • 005 Što je, tu je!
      • 006 Eto ti ga na!
      • 007 Na licu mjesta
      • 008 Sve si to ti kriv!
  • VOCAB
    • Vocabulary: POSTS 1 - 10 >
      • 001 Even dying is not easy!
      • 002 To laugh or to smile?
      • 003 Nahraniti, sahraniti .... schmahraniti
      • 004 Prefixes that modify verb meanings
      • 005 Prefixes on base verb stati
      • 006 Country names - noun or adjective?
      • 007 Names of towns: A grammatical nightmare
      • 008 Countries: What do we call their citizens?
      • 009 Baš
      • 010 What a joke! vic or šala?
    • Vocab THEMES: HOME >
      • 001 In the time of coronavirus
    • Što je korijen riječi?: HOME >
      • 001 Nadimak
      • 002 Zora, prozor, zoran, ….
  • STUFF
    • STUFF: Posts 1 - 10 >
      • 001 Bookara
      • 002 Crossies?
      • 003 Jučer ili sutra?
      • 004 Ućitelji
      • 005 Požuri polako
      • 006 Kakav stil!
      • 007 The people of Magorje
      • 008 Where did the "j" go?
      • 009 koliko je kiše 50 litara po kvadratom metru?
      • 010 The dark side of the moon
  • EXPERIENCES
    • EXPERIENCES: POSTS 1 - 10 HOME >
      • 001 Licitarska srca
      • 002 My Aussie accent
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      • 004 Buying fritule in Split
  • ABOUT CROATIA
    • Republika Hrvatska: HOME >
      • 001 Anthem: LIJEPA NAŠA
      • 002 Map of Croatia
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    • Where/What/Who is that? HOME >
      • Where/What/Who? Pages 1 - 10 >
        • 001 A girl and a bird
        • 002 His left foot
        • 003 A rebel
        • 004 Čuvarica Omiša
        • 005 Giorgio or Juraj?
        • 006 Tovar and friend
        • 007 Up on high
        • 008 On an island
        • 009 Water wonderland
    • REGIONS, CITIES, TOWNS: HOME >
      • ZAGREB: HOME >
        • 001 Zagreb cathedral
        • 002 Advent in Zagreb
        • 003 Interliber book fair
        • 004 On the tramvaj in Zagreb
      • Dalmacija: HOME >
        • BEING AND SPEAKING DALMATIAN: HOME >
          • 001 Molin?
          • 002 Eleven Dalmatian commandments
          • Dalmatinski rječnik HOME >
            • Keywords A - J
            • Keywords K - N
            • Keywords O - R
            • Keywords S - Ž
            • English to Dalmatian
      • Zagorje: HOME >
        • 001 Autumn tones
    • SPORT: HOME
    • CULTURE: HOME >
      • 001 A night at the ballet
  • TKO SAM JA?
    • Tko sam ja? Posts 1 - 10 >
      • 001 The way we spoke