Neudorf/Novoselo History page
Translated short history of Novoselo
sent in by: Gerhard Pfaff
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Kurze Geschichte Neudorfs Novoselo is mentioned for the first time in the year 1554 with three (3) taxpaying households. In the year 1570 there are eleven (11) and in 1590 nine taxpaying households (in the Turkish taxlists). After the wars with the Turkish armies in 1699, Novoselo was called Puszta. In 1701 through 1709 in the area "west of Lorenze" it was still Puszta. There were however, seven (7) taxpaying households in the year 1715. The name of the place St. Lorenz is now called "Lorenzi" In 1731 Novoselo and the Puszta St. Lorenz (Lovrenz) belonged to the court chamberlain of Baron Johann Markus of Zuano or Zuana (Joana). He was also Kameral commissioner of Upper Hungary and had the task to settle the uninhabited areas of Hungary. Baron Johann Markus von Zuana allowed Swabian farmers to enlist, and settled them on his private property. He provided Novoselo with four (4) fairs every year and was landlord from 1731 until 1746. Novoselo later came into the possession of the count Palffy. Palffy sold St. Lorenz and Novoselo to the royal advice Csepeni Johann Adamovics. Adamovics sold the property to the royal advice Cseh. This family was owner until the 19 century. An emergency due to the epidemic in the year 1738 (the pestilence) was probably what caused occasional many inhabitants of Novoselo to move away. Also, a flood made the initial years more difficult for the settlers. A quotation from the church book: "In the year 1751 there was an inundation/overflow of the Danube river which increased up to the large pear tree against a place which was destined for the church, where the chapel stood. On the 3rd, 4th and the 5th of April the water level was on/at its highest stand. The whole village was underwater. April 4th was "Palm Sunday". The settlement became stabilized by the further influx from colonists, into the reign of Joseph II. The " flowering village", known/called by the elder generation, required the structure work of generations of its people/Inhabitants.
NOVO SELO, Island of Brac Description. Novo Selo, as stated by its name, is a young settlement. Not long ago, in these parts were set the shepherds’ gathering places. The one in Prodoli had 12 dwellers in 1912. Novo Selo is formed today of a few separated groups, which is seen in the names of these settlements Pod Selo (The Lower Village), Nad Selo (The Upper Village), Pijaca, Oklad, Vejalca, Lokvica etc. The village is set on the sunny side of the hill Glavica, near the pond that is already mentioned in the 13th century and which was an important object for the cattle-breeders and a necessary advantage for the development of the settlement itself. Novo Selo stretches along the road that connects Selca to Povlja. History. Not far from Novo Selo, above its most fertile
field of Vejak, there is a prehistoric fort Gracisce with traces of the
walls built out of irregulary cut and loose stone. On the southern slope
lies the medieval settlement of Podgracisce which is mentioned in the
oldest Brac chronicles from 1405. The Croatian settlement followed the
tradition of the century-long dwelling which is confirmed by numerous
archeological remains in the neighbouring bunje. Later on in the 16th
century and the 17th century, with the disappearance of the settlements on
the eastern side of the island, probably caused by epidemic diseases which
forced the villagers to move to the secluded hamlets and new settlements,
Podgracisce disappeared as well. From the historical sources of the 16th
century we learn that there were a few smaller shepherds’ hamlets and only
eight households in the nearby Selca. Name. The name Novo Selo (The New Village) is usally
given to the settlements created fairly quickly, near an older settlement.
Therefore the foundation of Novo Selo is connected to the emigrated
populace of the older Podgracisca. Monuments. The most valuable monuments in the community of Novo Selo are set in Bunje, at the southern foot of Gracisce, under the relics of a prehistoric fort. According to the archealogical discoveries there was also a pagan and an Early Christian, Roman, settlement on the estate of J. Bezmalinovic and A. Skrapac, there are the remains of a Roman estate building, and near the Roman well with a few tombs and sarcophagi, there are many parts of reliefs and pieces of broken columns. One column bears the figure of a goat (...et capris laudata Brattia, Pliny the Elder). This points to the preserved cult of the pagan god Silvan, the protector of cattle, for whom the sacrificial posts were built. Near the piscina there is still another formerly vaulted room, and from the estate objects the stone oil-vessels which belonged to the olive-press whose huge grind-stone is now kept in Bunje. Apart from the relics of the Roman walls, parts of mosaic were found, and pieces of cracked roofs and some antique ceramics were found in the surroundings. Two sarcophagi with engraved crosses and the Christian symbols alfa and omega on one acroterion, remind us to the Early Christian period.
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