Page 49 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol. 5(1) (2017)
P. 49
ia universitatis Apoxyomenos
49 – underwater cultural heritage and museum
in the service of the local community and tourism
Zrinka Ettinger Starčić, Lošinj Museum
Hrvoje Potrebica, University of Zagreb
Pred sedemnajstimi leti je bil na morskem dnu nedaleč od Lošinja odkrit bronast kip mladega atleta,
imenovan Apoxyomenos. Kip je takoj po odkritju presegel lasten kulturni in umetniški pomen ter pos-
tal predmet razprav o dediščini in potrebi po njenem ohranjanju. Ta lepa in do najmanjše podrobnosti
izdelana redka podvodna najdba je Hrvaško uvrstila na zemljevid svetovne dediščine; tudi večje države,
kjer se nahajajo najpomembnejša muzejska središča na svetu, ne premorejo tako izjemnega predmeta.
Ključne besede: Apoxyomenos, muzej, lokalna skupnost, kulturni turizem
Seventeen years ago, a bronze statue of a young athlete was discovered on the seabed near the island of
Lošinj. It was named Apoxyomenos. Immediately after it was discovered, the statue exceeded its cultur-
al and artistic importance and incited deliberations about heritage and the need to preserve it. The beau-
ty and portrayal of details of this unique and very rare artistic underwater find has put Croatia on the
world heritage map. There are nations much bigger than Croatia, and world famous museum centres,
that cannot boast an artefact as sensational as this one.
Keywords: Apoxyomenos, museum, local community, cultural tourism
The Adriatic is a marginal sea of the Med-
iterranean. In the past, it used to be de- preserved in works by Hellenic and Latin writ-
scribed as its largest bay, the Most Impor- ers (Pseudo-Scylax, Pseudo-Skymnus, Apolloni-
tant Sea or even the Great Sea1. The northern us of Rhodes, Strabo, Pliny)2.
Since ancient times, the islands of Cres and
Adriatic as a whole and, particularly, the islands Lošinj, with the surrounding islands and reefs,
of Cres and Lošinj, are places of many mytho- have been an unavoidable element of the naviga-
logical events, which are seen as the main stra- tion route leading through the northern Adriat-
tegic points of maritime trade routes. Because ic. This is partially caused by the indented coast-
of the amber trade, they are associated with the line and numerous protected and sheltered bays,
name of the Electrides, or Amber Islands, while but the main reason is the method of navigation.
the name of the Apsyrtides refers to the voyage Through history, navigation boils down to hu-
of the Argonauts and the tragic destiny of Ap- man instinct and the power of perception, re-
syrtus, son of King Aeetes of Colchis. The ear- spectively to the orientation toward points on
liest forms of the name of the island have been the mainland. The main problem of sailors at sea
was to determine the position and direction of
1 Mithad Kozličić, Historijska geografija istočnog Jadrana u starom vije-
ku (Split: Književni krug, 1990), 48-52; Martina Blečić Kavur, Pove- 2 Marin Zaninović, »Apsorus i Crexa na Jadranskom putu«. Senj-
zanost perspective. Osor u kulturnim kontaktima mlađeg željeznog doba/A ski zbornik: prilozi za geografiju, etnologiju, gospodarstvo, povijest i kultu-
Coherance of perspective. Osor in cultural contacts during the Late Iron Age ru 32/1 (2005), 5; Zrinka Ettinger Starčić, Underwater archaeological
(Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem, 2015), 11. sites of the Lošinj Archipelago (Mali Lošinj, 2013), 18.
doi: https://doi.org/10.26493/2350-5443.5(1)49-53
49 – underwater cultural heritage and museum
in the service of the local community and tourism
Zrinka Ettinger Starčić, Lošinj Museum
Hrvoje Potrebica, University of Zagreb
Pred sedemnajstimi leti je bil na morskem dnu nedaleč od Lošinja odkrit bronast kip mladega atleta,
imenovan Apoxyomenos. Kip je takoj po odkritju presegel lasten kulturni in umetniški pomen ter pos-
tal predmet razprav o dediščini in potrebi po njenem ohranjanju. Ta lepa in do najmanjše podrobnosti
izdelana redka podvodna najdba je Hrvaško uvrstila na zemljevid svetovne dediščine; tudi večje države,
kjer se nahajajo najpomembnejša muzejska središča na svetu, ne premorejo tako izjemnega predmeta.
Ključne besede: Apoxyomenos, muzej, lokalna skupnost, kulturni turizem
Seventeen years ago, a bronze statue of a young athlete was discovered on the seabed near the island of
Lošinj. It was named Apoxyomenos. Immediately after it was discovered, the statue exceeded its cultur-
al and artistic importance and incited deliberations about heritage and the need to preserve it. The beau-
ty and portrayal of details of this unique and very rare artistic underwater find has put Croatia on the
world heritage map. There are nations much bigger than Croatia, and world famous museum centres,
that cannot boast an artefact as sensational as this one.
Keywords: Apoxyomenos, museum, local community, cultural tourism
The Adriatic is a marginal sea of the Med-
iterranean. In the past, it used to be de- preserved in works by Hellenic and Latin writ-
scribed as its largest bay, the Most Impor- ers (Pseudo-Scylax, Pseudo-Skymnus, Apolloni-
tant Sea or even the Great Sea1. The northern us of Rhodes, Strabo, Pliny)2.
Since ancient times, the islands of Cres and
Adriatic as a whole and, particularly, the islands Lošinj, with the surrounding islands and reefs,
of Cres and Lošinj, are places of many mytho- have been an unavoidable element of the naviga-
logical events, which are seen as the main stra- tion route leading through the northern Adriat-
tegic points of maritime trade routes. Because ic. This is partially caused by the indented coast-
of the amber trade, they are associated with the line and numerous protected and sheltered bays,
name of the Electrides, or Amber Islands, while but the main reason is the method of navigation.
the name of the Apsyrtides refers to the voyage Through history, navigation boils down to hu-
of the Argonauts and the tragic destiny of Ap- man instinct and the power of perception, re-
syrtus, son of King Aeetes of Colchis. The ear- spectively to the orientation toward points on
liest forms of the name of the island have been the mainland. The main problem of sailors at sea
was to determine the position and direction of
1 Mithad Kozličić, Historijska geografija istočnog Jadrana u starom vije-
ku (Split: Književni krug, 1990), 48-52; Martina Blečić Kavur, Pove- 2 Marin Zaninović, »Apsorus i Crexa na Jadranskom putu«. Senj-
zanost perspective. Osor u kulturnim kontaktima mlađeg željeznog doba/A ski zbornik: prilozi za geografiju, etnologiju, gospodarstvo, povijest i kultu-
Coherance of perspective. Osor in cultural contacts during the Late Iron Age ru 32/1 (2005), 5; Zrinka Ettinger Starčić, Underwater archaeological
(Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem, 2015), 11. sites of the Lošinj Archipelago (Mali Lošinj, 2013), 18.
doi: https://doi.org/10.26493/2350-5443.5(1)49-53
