Povijest Poljica

The Republic of  Poljica that had the natural border with the river Cetina was situated between two rivers- the river Cetina in the east and the river Žrnovnica in the west.

The Republic of Poljica was situated in the area of about 250 km² and it was devided into twelve villages, and in regard to the mountains one could distinguish Upper-, Middle- and Lower- Poljica. The largest part of  today’s area of the Republic Poljica belongs to the district Omiš, ant the other smaller part belongs to the district Dugi Rat.

The local authonomy in this area was connected with the statue book from the 15. century and with the  entactment of the common law, that is kept in the town museum in Omiš.

The statue book in Poljica is beside the statue book in Vinodol one of the oldest and the most important historical legal documents, that was written in the chakavian dialect. The fact that the national parliament was the most important corporation in Poljica is the evidence of the democracy and this parliament made the decisions directly in very important moments in the history. Beside this national parliament the local meeting of the noblemen and village headmen was also the supreme authority.

The village headman in Poljica was choosen at the foot of the hill Gradac in Gata, on the day of the Patron of Poljica ( St. Georg). The Grand duke was at the head of the Table in Poljica. There are a lot of monuments in this area: the late antique villae rusticae in the village Ostrvica, the rests of the early Christian church in Gata from Justinian’s time, the museum in Poljica and a few churches.