Page 124 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 13(2) (2025)

124 Figure 2: Present-day Settlements of Osor (a), Cres (b) and Beli (c) (Google Earth. Image © 2025 Airbus, elaborated by
Nives Doneus, 2025)

od (Mitis 1913a; Imamović 1975, 219–220). Apart on the architectural monuments (Mohorovičić
studia universitatis hereditati, letnik 13 (2025), številka 2 / volume 13 (2025), number 2
from the inscription from the time of Tiberius 1953). Excavations along the city wall conduct-
mentioned above (CIL III 3148 (10131)), only a ed in the 1970ies revealed its complex stratifica-
few other funerary inscriptions from secondary tion and the discovery of submerged moorings
sites in the vicinity of Beli are known and offer NE of the city gave first hints to a possible har-
concrete evidence of Roman settlement(s) until bour infrastructure (Faber 1982). In addition to
the middle of the 2nd century (Šarić 1982; Mar- questions of urban layout, architecture and ep-
getić 1984). igraphic monuments (Šarić 1982; Margetić 1984)
The same applies to inscriptions found in also the Roman military presence in Osor was
the area around the town of Cres. However, the discussed, with a focus on the interpretation of
location of Roman Crexi has been debated since a stela dedicated to a Roman naval officer (Kuri-
research on the archipelago began (Mitis 1913b, lić 2012; Šašel Kos 2017). Osor was also the fo-
100). The Roman town has either been searched cus of large-scale rescue excavations led by the
for in the area around the present-day town of Croatian Conservation Institute between 2022
Cres (Imamović 1975, 221–3; Ćus-Rukonić 1984, and 2025 that made a significant contribution
234–5) or it is believed to lie beneath the modern to the history of the town, particularly its Ro-
city (Stražičić 1980, 215; Ćus-Rukonić 2014, 22). man period (Baričević 2023). The rise of Chris-
This state of research is in strong contrast tianity and the emergence of new sacral archi-
to the studies that have been conducted in Osor. tecture in the late Antiquity (e.g. Turković and
The present archaeological data indicate that Maraković 2005) played a significant role in the
area of later Osor was inhabited already in the city and strengthened in this way its regional
Bronze Age (Blečić Kavur 2021; Blečić Kavur importance into the Middle Ages (Bully et al.
and Kavur 2025) and have acquired its future 2024).
significance with the largest still visible infra- Roman origin is assumed for some other
structure project – the erection of the city walls villages on the Cres-Lošinj archipelago as well
(Mohorovičić 1953; Faber 1982). In the 2nd cen- (Imamović 1975). The settlement pattern, on
tury BC, the region passed slowly under the Ro- Cres and smaller islands, includes also numer-
man influence (Blečić Kavur 2015, 217–33) and ous villae rusticae (Ćus-Rukonić 1982; Ćus-Ru-
later rule with Osor receiving consequently konić 2001). These have not yet been the subject
the status of a municipium, as indicated by the of large-scale, systematic research, but remains
available evidence (Starac 2000, 79–81). Dur- of Roman rural settlements have been recorded
ing the 1950ies, archaeological interest focused during research into late Antique and early me-