Sumartin (Croatian pronunciation:[sûmartin], Previously known as Sv. Martin) is a port village in Croatia on the island of Brač. It is the youngest village on the island of Brač and administratively belongs to Municipality of Selca. According to 2011 census, it has a population of 491.[3] Village was founded on 11 November 1646 - the feast day of Saint Martin - by the refugees from the Dalmatian coast and Bosnia and Herzegovina who fled from the Ottomans.[4] It is connected by the D113 highway and by ferry.
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 special document which highlights their merits. Meanwhile, 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 stroke the village halving the number of inhabitants.[6]
Meanwhile, in 1738 the monastic choir in Sinj declared monastic community of Sumartin as the real monastery.[5] This act influenced the further development of the newly formed village and the desires to build a large enough building which would serve as a monastery were growing bigger. The construction finally commenced in 1747 as the foundation of Franciscan friary was laid down by a famous Croatian poet fra Andrija Kačić Miošić. Monastery was erected at the same place where the small medieval church of St. Martin was located.[6] Since he was a monk himself, Andrija Kačić Miošić spent several years of his life in Sumartin (1745-1750).[7]
^Census of Population, Households and Dwellings 2011, First Results by Settlements. Zagreb: Državni zavod za statistiku Republike Hrvatske (Croatian bureau of statistics). 2011. p. 140.
^Koeffler, Matthias (2011). Dalmatien: Unterwegs zwischen Zadar und Dubrovnik. Berlin: Trescher Verlag. p. 226. ISBN978-3-89794-179-3. Sumartin ist ein kleiner verschlafener Fährhafen, in dem die Autofähren von Makarska anlegen. Vor den Türken Geflüchtete aus Bosnien gründeten den Ort am 11. November 1646 und benannten ihn nach dem heiligen Martin.
