These days, the central Bosnian town of Vitez, on the banks of the Lašva River, was marked by the anniversary of the first mention of its name, which dates back to 1380 in a charter of the rulers of the time – King Tvrtko and Grand Duke Hrvoje Hrvatinić. This was also the occasion for an exhibition of artistic miniatures from HRVOJ'S MISSAL, written in 1404/5 after his enthronement as the Herzeg of Split.
Cultural tourism, a form of selective tourism, has been attracting the attention of the public, including all stakeholders in the tourism industry, for several decades. Thus, the creators of tourist itineraries are rightly looking for new challenges for storytelling, or an interesting story that will interest the tourist public, both the receptive and emitting markets.
That is why these days, the Napredak House in Vitez na Lašva has been visited by Dalmatian tourist envoys united in the DELMATINCRO CLUSTER, looking for a link between Dalmatia and Bosnia, which were also connected by Illyrian tribes, followed by the Roman occupiers and other European powers of that time. From the seventh century, Croatian bans, dukes, and kings continued, one independently and one through other rulers until the beginning of the 12th century. After that, the powerful Venetians came onto the geopolitical scene, ruling the eastern Adriatic and Dalmatia from Venice, while the Ottoman Sultanate penetrated from the east.
A glimmer of hope was offered by the Bosnian-Hum rulers of the Kotromanić family, who ruled from the mid-14th to the mid-15th century, when they "enriched the courts of Europe with blue blood."
At the beginning of the 15th century, Dalmatia was ruled by Grand Duke Hrvoje Hrvatinić of the Vukčić family, as the first associate of King Tvrtko and a knight of Bosnia, and by title the HERCEG OF SPLIT. He also ruled the central Dalmatian islands, Zadar, Šibenik all the way to the Neretva and the border with the Republic of Dubrovnik, with whom they also cultivated good diplomatic and trade relations.
As he married into the ruling Nelipić family, who ruled the Cetina region all the way to Omiš, Hrvoje took over all the levers of power, but he was also known for his good relations with the Catholic Church and his encouragement of cultural and religious life.
Thus, for the church service and the church of St. Michael in Split (on Marjan Hill), he had the HRVOJEV MISSAL written, which he entrusted to the court writer Butko, who hired famous artists of the time to illustrate it with artistic illuminations. At the same time, he also took care of the Christian church service and, through the HVALOV ZBORNIK, he also pleased the Pataren who used the Bosančica.
Today, none of them are in the possession of the domiciled peoples, because the occupiers, first Hrvojev, took and exhibited in the Topkapi museum in Constantinople, while Hvalov is in Bologna, Italy.
But thanks to the resourcefulness of cultural and tourism workers who obtained copies, the cultural and tourism public has access to information, including insight into the content that was premiered in Vitez, followed by Split, other Dalmatian cities and even abroad.
This is how the newly founded DELMATINCRO CLUSTER will work for the benefit of tourists who, in this way, get to know the rich cultural heritage of the Dinaric Mountains and its inhabitants of the Dinarides.
