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The Raša (, Italian: ) in Croatian Istria is a major river of
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
's
Istria County Istria County (; ; , "Istrian Region") is the westernmost Counties of Croatia, county of Croatia which includes the majority of the Istrian peninsula. Administrative centers in the county are Pazin, Pula and Poreč. Istria County has the larg ...
. It is long, and its basin covers an area of . Its mouth is in the long ria of Raša Bay (, formerly ), which is a drowned river valley scoured out when world sea levels fell, then drowned by the rising waters of the post-glacial era. The Raša rises in springs near Pićan and flows south through a steep-sided valley before opening into the head of the
Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...
. The river, although short in length, has an ancient history as a border.


Border river

By Roman times, the Arsia, as it was called in Latin, constituted the border between the Histri, who lived west of its banks, and the Liburni on the coast to the east, with the
Iapydes The Iapodes (or Iapydes, Japodes; ; ) were an ancient people who dwelt north of and inland from the Liburnians, off the Adriatic coast and eastwards of the Istrian peninsula. They occupied the interior of the country between the ''Colapis'' (Kupa ...
in the upcountry valley behind them. After the Romans conquered the fierce and piratical Histri in 177 BC, the Arsia formed the '' limes'' of Roman territory in coastal Istria for a generation, until the gap between the Arsia and the northernmost Roman outposts in Illyria was closed in 129; for long afterwards it divided
Italia Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
and its ''regio X'', from Illyricum, according to the divisions ratified by
Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...
. The 8th-century Irish monk and geographer Dicuil, following his late Latin sources for the geographical summary ''De mensura Orbis terrae'', gives the northeastern boundary of Italia as ''flumen Arsia''. The
Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...
Via Flavia, reaching from Tergeste (Trieste) into Istria came to an end at the crossing of the Arsia; beyond, it continued into
Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...
as a local road that linked to Via Gemina. In the early 10th century
Tomislav of Croatia Tomislav (, ) was the first king of Croatia. He became Duke of Croatia and was crowned king in 925, reigning until 928. During Tomislav's rule, Croatia forged an alliance with the Byzantine Empire against First Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria. Croati ...
ruled a state that ran from the Adriatic to the
Drava The Drava or Drave (, ; ; ; ; ), historically known as the Dravis or Dravus, is a river in southern Central Europe.
, and from the Raša, as it was now being called, to the
Drina The Drina ( sr-Cyrl, Дрина, ) is a long river in the Balkans, which forms a large portion of the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. It is the longest tributary of the Sava River and the longest karst river in the Dinaric Al ...
. In the 13th century, the territory on the east bank was administered by the counts of Gorizia, while that on the west was ruled by the patriarchs of Aquileia. After centuries of Venetian rule over all of Istria to the Raša, the Raša became the border between Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy and the
Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...
;Shepherd, William. ''Historical Atlas''. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1911: "Germany and Italy in 1806"
following Napoleon's downfall, Austria gained all of Istria and the river became the border between two Austrian provinces. The planned city of Raša (), on the tributary Krapanski Potok of the river in the inner part of the Raška Inlet, was constructed in 1936–1937 as ''Arsia'' on drained
wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...
to gain arable land for farming and to serve expanding coal mining operations, as part of Mussolini's urban colonization and Italianization of Istria. The village of Barban is the other major settlement near the river.


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rasa (River) Rivers of Croatia Landforms of Istria County Roman frontiers