Gaspina Mill
Right in front of you stands Gašpina mlinica, which reveals how the city has developed since the 18th century, but also much more: here, on the banks of a river that has never dried up, stories of work, encounters and everyday life that are difficult to imagine today intertwine.
Mills on the Jadr were first mentioned as far back as 1069, in a grant from King Petar Krešimir IV, but Gašpina mlinica belongs to a more recent generation – it was built in the early 18th century, after the area was liberated from the Turks. The first written record of it dates back to 1711, and the ownership was taken over by the Kljaković Gašpić family, whose surname is still synonymous with this mill today.
Imagine a picture from the past: autumn is coming, and caravans of peasants from Zagora descend from Klis, boats from the islands of Čiovo, Brač, Šolta and Korčula dock along the Jadr shore, waiting their turn to grind grain. In Gašpina mill, the largest and most important on the river, as many as 15 mills operated simultaneously – a true small industry in the heart of Dalmatia. The Austrian cadastre from 1831 records seven Solin mills with a total of 51 mill wheels, and Gašpina was the most important among them.
The building complex consists of four stone single-storey houses in a row, with gable roofs made of stone slabs. The most widespread type of mill wheel in Dalmatia – horizontal, with stone wheels and wooden axles – was driven by water falling from a height of 2–3 meters through jaže (special grooves). Particularly interesting: ancient tombstones from Salona were used for the lintels, which testifies to the ingenuity and recycling of materials at that time.
However, Gašpina mill was not only used for grinding grain – in the 1930s, glass was also ground here, and life in the mill was the center of social events. Milling was a lucrative business for a long time, and only with the advent of electric mills and industrialization did the mill slowly lose its role. However, the mill operated until the 1960s.
After being left to the ravages of time for decades, Gašpina mill was renovated between 2002 and 2008, with special emphasis on the use of traditional materials such as lime mortar and stone aggregate, in order to restore its original splendor. Today, it is listed in the Register of Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Croatia as an example of a public building and an essential stop for every visitor to Solin.
Perhaps the most interesting fact: Gašpina mill is older than many countries in the world, including the USA and Australia – which is particularly fascinating to foreign tourists who visit it. Today, it is cared for by local families who want to convey to anyone who steps through its doors a life without televisions, cell phones, and the internet – a life in which news, stories, and friendships were created right here, with the sound of water and the smell of freshly ground flour.
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