2007

[Editor's note: we do not attest to the accuracy or completeness of these notes which are provided by the Croatian and Slovenian Postal authorities and other independent sources.] 

(SLO) FLOWERS OF SLOVENIA SERIES

• Datum izdaje/uporabe: January 1, 2007
• Risba: Julija Zornik
• Oblikovanje: Julija Zornik
• Motiv: Adulterated Spleenwort, Tommasini's Sandwort, Adriatic Lizard Orchid, Pasque Flower, Carniolan Primrose, Marsh Gladiolus, Dinaric Chickweed, Lilyleaf Ladybells , Bertoloni Columbine, Fen Orchid, Meadow Squill, Alpine Eryngo, Yellow Azalea, Zois' Bellflower, Yellow Lady's Slipper, Saw-wort (Serratula lycopifolia), Entire-petalled Gorse or Primorska Whin
• Tisk: Poštovní tiskarna Cenin, Praha
• Tehnika: 4-colour offset
• Pola: 50 stamps
• Papir: Tullis Russel fluo litho 100 g/m2
• Velikost: 26.50 x 37.30 mm

(SLO) NATIONAL COSTUME FROM SMLEDNIK (CARNIOLA)

• Datum izdaje/uporabe: January 24, 2007
• Oblikovanje: Studio Arnold + Vuga
• Motiv: National Costume from Smlednik
• Tisk: Poštovní tiskárna cenin Praha
• Tehnika: 4-colour offset
• Pola: 25 stamps
• Papir: Tullis Russel 100 g/m2 gumiran, Tullis Russel 100 g/m2 gummed
• Velikost: 37.30 x 53.00mm

• Data di emissione: Febbraio 10, 2007
• Valore: € 0,60
• Tiratura: tre milioni e cinquecentomila esemplari
• Vignetta: raffigura una famiglia di profughi in partenza e, sullo sfondo sovrapposti, il profilo della Regione Sardegna con indicata la città di Alghero, una cartolina d’epoca che raffigura la località di Fertilia e una cartina stilizzata della penisola d’Istria.
  Completano il francobollo la leggenda “60° ANNIVERSARIO DELLA BORGATA GIULIANA DI FERTILIA ALGHERO”, la scritta “ITALIA” e il valore “€ 0,60”
• Bozzettista: Anna Maria Maresca
• Stampa: Officina Carte Valori dell’Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato S.p.A., in rotocalcografia
• Colori: quattro più inchiostro interferenziale trasparente-oro
• Carta: fluorescente, non filigranata
• Formato carta: mm 40 x 30
• Formato stampa: mm 36 x 26
• Dentellatura: 13 x 13¼
• Foglio: cinquanta esemplari, valore “€ 30,00”

Emissione di un francobollo celebrativo del 60° anniversario della Borgata Giuliana di Fertilia, in Alghero

• Data di emissione:  marzo 16, 2007
• Valore: € 0,60
• Tiratura: tre milioni e cinquecentomila esemplari
• Vignetta: raffigura una veduta del Ponte di Rialto, il Canal Grande ed una caratteristica gondola veneziana con gondoliere.
  Completano il francobollo le leggende “PATRIMONIO MONDIALE” e “VENEZIA”, la scritta “ITALIA” e il valore “€ 0,60”.
• Bozzettista ed incisore: Antonio Ciaburro
• Stampa: Officina Carte Valori dell’Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato S.p.A., in calcografia
• Colori: monocromia
• Carta: fluorescente, non filigranata
• Formato carta: mm 48 x 40
• Formato stampa: mm 44 x 36
• Dentellatura: 13¼ x 13
• Foglio: venticinque esemplari, valore “€ 15,00”

Emissione di un francobollo ordinario appartenente alla serie tematica “Il patrimonio artistico e culturale italiano” dedicato ai siti UNESCO – Venezia

• Date of issue: March 15, 2007
• Value: 1,8 kn
• Author: Ana Žaja & Mario Petrak, designers, Zagreb
• Size: 35,5 x 29,82 mm
• Paper: white 102g, gummed
• Perforation: Comb,14
• Tehnique: Multicoloured Offsetprint
• Printed by: "Zrinski" - Čakovec
• Quantity: 200000

Lobster (Palinurus elephas Fabricius)

Lobsters belong to the family Palinuridae or spiny lobsters (from the genus Palinurus – long-tailed or spiny lobsters). They are distributed from Norway on the north, along the western coast of Ireland, the western and southern coast of the British Isles (to the north up to the Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands), to the south to the Azores, in the western Mediterranean and the Adriatic Sea and the Aegean Sea. They can be found in the open deep-sea rocky bottom in the circa-littoral and infra-littoral zone (below the sub-littoral zone of the tide) at the depths of 5 to 70 metres, but they could be found at greater depths, up to even 160 metres. It is known that they actively migrate in the course of the year into greater depths of the Atlantic to return to the shallower parts of the -coastal area. It has been recorded that they start for the deeper regions at the end of the year and return in spring, so it can be assumed that the migrations are linked to the temperature change of the sea. In females the migration is linked to the developmental cycle of the maturing of their eggs – the females return in spring to the shallow waters before the eggs start hatching. The fecundity of females depends on their size – larger females produce more eggs. The recorded values for the researched populations in the western Mediterranean range from 23,000 to 202,000 eggs. The spawning takes place from late summer to winter, depending on the geographical position of the population. Four weeks before the spawning a special molting takes place. When the female is ready for the spawning, it produces or sends special sounds called stridulation that attract the males. The male deposits spermatophores, small capsules of spermatozoa, below the sperm duct on the female. Ten days later the female casts out her eggs,”tearing” with the “pincers” of the fifth pair of her walking legs the spermatophore and thus facilitates impregnation. The incubation of eggs in the Atlantic population lasts about nine months, while in the Mediterranean it lasts only five months owing to the higher temperatures of the water. From the eggs larvae are hatched that live on plankton for 5 to 6 months. The larvae go through a metamorphosis in the course of which they molt, grow, change and slowly develop into adult lobsters. The body of adult lobsters is covered with a thick shell, an exoskeleton. The adult samples have the total length of between 40 to 50 cm, (maximal length up to 60 cm), and weigh between 6 to 8 kilos. The males are usually larger than the females. They do not grow continuously but through molting, which means when they lose their rigid shell and while their body is soft they grow in length and then their shell gets rigid again. The increase in length per molting comes up to between 2 to 14% of the lobster’s length. In older lobsters that have come close to their maximal length, the increase in length in the course of molting is slowing down. The increase also depends on the climate, i.e. the water temperature, so that specimens in warmer waters grow faster. Spiny lobsters are similar to the European lobster, (Homarus gammarus), but in contrast to them do not have claws, and their back antennae are very long, longer than their bodies. The shell is usually orange above, with darker long and strong thorns -rostella directed forward, while underneath it is light-coloured (white), but there are red-purple and brown specimens recorded as well. They walk along the sea bottom but can also swim.

They are omnivorous though their diet is mainly based on brown bullhead, mollusks (snails and shells), shrimp larvae, invertebrate, Pentapora fascialis and seaweed.

They are social animals, gathering in groups, but their mutual social contacts have so far not been sufficiently researched. They can often have Marifugia cavatica (featherhead), shells, Pentapora fascialis and Rayed Mediterranea limpet fastened onto them. The numerosity of the population has been significantly decreasing which becomes obvious from the data about the decreased fishing results and the average smaller length of the caught lobsters. The reasons for this are numerous, from excessive uncontrolled fishing out to the changes of the ecological conditions in their habitats.

• Date of issue: March 15, 2007
• Value: 2,3 kn
• Author: Ana Žaja & Mario Petrak, designers, Zagreb
• Size: 35,5 x 29,82 mm
• Paper: white 102g, gummed
• Perforation: Comb,14
• Tehnique: Multicoloured Offsetprint
• Printed by: "Zrinski" - Čakovec
• Quantity: 200000

Norway lobster, langoustine, often called scampi when eaten, belongs to the family Nephropidae – crawfish (infraorder Astacidea, suborder Reptantia – crawfish). The animal lives in the soft sediment of the Atlantic Ocean (from Iceland on the north to Portugal and Morocco on the south), the Mediterranean and Adriatic Sea. The densest populations in the Adriatic Sea have been recorded near the island Jabuka/Poma, in the Velebit channel, in the sea of the Kvarner Bay and in Kvarnerić. They live at the depth of between 200 to 800 metres but they can also be found in shallower parts; e.g. they have been recorded to have been found at the depths of less than 20 metres in the lakes linked to the sea, the Scottish Sea Lochs. They dig burrows in the muddy bottom where they live. The burrows are 10 cm in diameter, about one meter long and enter the muddy bottom some 20 to 30 centimetres. The lobsters stay in their burrows during the day, and at sunset they come out to find some prey, their food. At greater depths, with less light, the lobsters are active during the day as well. They do not migrate and show territorial behaviour, aggressively defending their burrows. They move along the bottom walking despite being good swimmers. Norway lobster are solitary predators feeding mostly on molluscs and other crabs, but they also eat dead animals. Though they live on their own, they sometimes share the same burrow with other crabs (scampi). The density of the population depends on the physical characteristics of the bottom (depending on whether it is suitable for digging burrows), on the climate (temperature of the water and the strength of the waves), fishing in a certain area, and the like. Except being predators regarding animals smaller than themselves, they also become the prey of many fish (e.g. cod, ray and catfish). The body of the Norway lobster is slim, orange-pink in colour, elongated and flat laterally. The head and thorax are fused into a non-segmented cephalothorax, while the abdomen consists of clearly segmented carapace ending with a fan-shaped tail that helps the lobster to swim. The first three pairs of legs bear claws. The first pair of claws is very narrow and elongated and has laterally placed longitudinal spiny ridges. Their eyes are large, black and placed on mobile stalks. Females grow to 17 cm in length and males up to 25 cm. Their growth is discontinued; in a range of molting when they lose their old carapace they grow in length while soft; their carapace hardens again. The increase per molting depends on many factors (water temperature, accessible food, density of population, age of the lobster), so it cannot be estimated with certainty how old the animal only is on the basis of its size; what is known is that larger individuals molt once a year and the smaller ones several times. It is known that they can even live up to the age of 15 years. They spawn once a year, usually in summer. Immediately before spawning they molt and the male impregnates the female while her exoskeleton is still soft after molting. After the eggs have been impregnated, the female carries them fastened to her swimmerets for 8 to 9 months and more or less hides in her burrow. It is a fact that out of the total number of eggs (about 1,000) larvae do not hatch from all of them; up to 32 to 51% of eggs get lost during the incubation period. The reasons are different: from badly fastened eggs to the swimmerets, the attacks of predators, disease, and the like. Larger females carry more eggs to the end of the incubation period, i.e. to the spring of the next year. Females that have not spawned have the capability to resorb their eggs into ovaries and thus recycle a great amount of nutrient matter and energy. It is also known that larger females produce more eggs so that their reproductive success is usually higher. The larvae hatch from April to June when the females leave their burrows. The larvae usually keep rather close to their parents’ populations.

In the Adriatic Sea the Norway lobsters’ larvae in the plankton have been recorded in late winter, from January to April. The Norway lobster can carry various epibiotic organisms on their bodies; it is interesting that in December 1995 the commensal Symbion pandora was discovered attached to the mouthparts of a Norway lobster’s legs. In later analyses it was found that it was the first and so far the only member of a new phylum in the animal kingdom called Cycliophora.

Ivana Maguire

• Date of issue: March 15, 2007
• Value: 2,8 kn
• Author: Ana Žaja & Mario Petrak, designers, Zagreb
• Size: 35,5 x 29,82 mm
• Paper: white 102g, gummed
• Perforation: Comb,14
• Tehnique: Multicoloured Offsetprint
• Printed by: "Zrinski" - Čakovec
• Quantity: 200000

The river crayfish is one of the four autochthonous species of freshwater decapodous crabs from the family Astacidae that lives in Croatian rivers and lakes. Its Latin name is Astacus astacus. This species is endangered by the great quantities of waste matter in water ecosystems, the regulation of water courses and the excessive uncontrolled fishing out. It is also endangered by foreign American crayfish species that were brought to Europe and that often carry the dangerous disease – crayfish plague. The imported foreign species are resistant to crayfish plague but, on the other hand, European species, among them the river crayfish, are susceptible to it and they perish in great numbers. Besides, the American species are more aggressive than the autochthonous European species, so that in fighting for space and food they oust the latter from their habitats. As they grow fast and multiply fast it is almost impossible to subject them to control. This is why the river crayfish in Croatia is to the full protected by law (the official bulletin Narodne novine, No. 70/05 and 7/06), which means that it fishing for them and disturbing them is forbidden, and any type of scientific research of the species demands a special permission issued by the Ministry of culture. It is also protected on the European level – on account of its being thinned out it has been proclaimed a rare and endangered species and listed in the IUCN ((International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) Red List of Threatened Species, as well as in the Appendix III of the Bern Convention, according to which its exploitation is under the strict supervision of individual states. Crayfish of this species rarely grow bigger than 15 cm in total length. On the back side the animal is usually dark brown (olive green to black, sometimes bluish or reddish), while the lower side is green-brown coloured. The surface of the body is covered by a strong “shell”, a carapace (exoskeleton), so that crayfish cannot grow continuously. In the warmer seasons of the year they molt – lose their old shell. While they are soft they grow in length and grow a new, strong exoskeleton, usually using minerals from the old shell by eating it. The top of their head is elongated into a beaklike rostrum, and their head and thorax are fused on the breast forming the so called cephalothorax with the abdomen adjoining it. As has already been mentioned, these crabs belong to the group of decapodous crabs, which means that they have five pairs of walking legs on the belly side, of which the first pair are big and wide pincers or claws called chelipeds with warty-surfaced chelae. The chelae of the male are always bigger than the ones of the females. On the belly side of the abdomen the crabs have swimmerets that, among other things, serve the females in carrying their eggs. Both the walking legs and the swimmerets will regenerate or re-grow if they are wounded or broken off. The river crayfish mature sexually in the 2nd to 3rd year of life. The mating takes place in autumn, and the females carry eggs under the abdomen on the swimmerets for eight to nine months. When they hatch, the juvenile crabs are about 12 mm long and are very similar to the adult crabs. The crayfish of this species are nocturnal and sedentary animals, living on the bottom, they are not territorial but show aggressive forms of behaviour in cases when the space becomes a limiting factor. It is well-known that this type of a small radius of movement is characteristic of animals adapted to a habitat. If moved to a new habitat animals are more movable – the radius of their movement is from 50 to 1,000 meters in the course of a week. They live in rivers and lakes with clayey and pebbly bottoms and along the coast among the water vegetation. In Croatia they are spread in the waters of the Sava and Drava river-basin, and they have also been brought into some rivers of the Adriatic river-system territory.

• Date of issue: March 20, 2007
• Value: 2,8 kn
• Author: Ana Žaja & Mario Petrak, designers, Zagreb
• Size: 35,5 x 25,56 mm
• Paper: white 102g, gummed
• Perforation: Comb,14
• Tehnique: Multicoloured Offsetprint
• Printed by: "Zrinski" - Čakovec
• Quantity: 200000

The Istrian ox, locally called Boškarin, belongs to the genus of primigenius bovine animals. In the osteological sense it is close to the genuine fossil genus Bos primigenius (Posavi et al.), 2003).

The origin of the Boškarin is not completely explained. There are several theories about the origin of the Istrian ox. Some consider that it arrived to our areas with the Roman legions, Avar hordes or that it had been in these areas from times immemorial. The answer to the question about the origin of the Istrian ox could be obtained from molecular genetics. By comparing the genetic record of the Boškarin with other breeds, their similarity could be determined, i.e. in what way they were related. Bulls of the Podolac breed participated in the creation of the present-day Istrian ox. In the crossbreeding there were also used bulls of the Italian genera Romagnola and Maremana, but in the first half of the 20th century it was decided that the basis of the selection should be the domestic breed.

In the course of several decades the Istrian ox was ousted from its long-term environment by mechanization and by other bovine breeds, so that it almost disappeared by the end of the 20th century. In 1989 the Istrian Cattle-breeders Association was established in Višnjan, and its members have been engaged in the preservation of this genuine breed of thoroughbred head of cattle which represents great support in the preservation of genuine breeds. The Istrian ox is bred in Istria, but several specimens can be found elsewhere in the northern Adriatic region. Nowadays the population of the Istrian ox under the selective coverage numbers 350 cows and 18 bulls (Annual report for the year 2005, HSC [Croatian Livestock Centre], 2006). Owing to this small number of animals great care has to be paid to the mating so that too extensive breeding within the kinship should be avoided.

The animals are primarily exploited for working and also used for producing milk and meat.

The Istrian ox is large-bodied with a heavy constitution and rough body. Its colour is dark grey to light grey with shades of darker pigment on the head, neck, shoulders and stomach. It has a heavy skeleton, better developed in the front part of the body. The head is relatively coarse, with dark pigmentation of the mucous membrane of the nostril plane, the mucous membrane of the palate and in the mouth there is a dark grey tongue. Its head is adorned with large horns, grey-yellowish at the root, and their tips are usually black. The horns are about 40 cm long with a span of more than one meter and their shape is very similar to a lyre. The mean height of the cow is 138 cm and the bull’s is 148 cm. The cows weigh 600 kilos on the average while bulls can weigh more than 1,000 kilos. Their legs are strong, with black and strong hoofs well adapted to moving through the karst region.

The animals are sedate, obedient and persevering in their work and are used for ploughing fields or as beasts of burden. They show great tenacity, modesty with regard to nutrition and are well adapted to the exploitation of the sparse Istrian pastures. The productive capacities of the Istrian ox are low. The cows give 1,000 liters milk on the average, when fed with a better quality food and through selection they can give up to 2,500 liters milk. Crossing with meat-giving breeds crossbreds could be created that are good for fattening which is a form of exploitation of this bovine breed for commercial purposes. The fact is that state incentives alone are not sufficient for the survival of this fine animal. Despite the work invested up to the present in the preservation of this genuine bovine breed, it still has the status of an endangered breed and according to the FAO classification it is on the verge of extinction.

See also: Fauna, Bovinae

(SLO) MINERALS - ARAGONITE

• Datum izdaje/uporabe: March 23, 2007
• Fotografija: Miran Udovč
• Oblikovanje: Matjaž Učakar
• Motiv: Aragonite
• Tisk: Poštovní tiskárna cenin, Praha
• Tehnika: 4-colour offset
• Pola: 10 stamps
• Papir: Tullis rusell
• Velikost: 37,30 x 26,50 mm

(SLO) ANIMALS – WWF – RED SQUIRREL -  SCIURUS VULGARIS LINNAEUS

• Datum izdaje/uporabe: March 23, 2007
• Risba: Jurij Mikuletič
• Oblikovanje: Jurij Mikuletič
• Motiv: Squirrel Couple, Squirrel with Her Young, Squirrel with Hazelnut; Red Squirrel
• Tisk: sheetlets : Poštovní tiskárna cenin, Praha, miniature sheets : Oriental Press, Bahrain
• Tehnika: 4-colour offset
• Pola: 10 stamps
• Blok: 8 stamps
• Papir: GSM 102 g/m2

(SLO) TOURISM - MT. MANGART AND CREEPING AVENS (GEUM REPTANS)

• Datum izdaje/uporabe: March 23, 2007
• Fotografija: M. Mejovšek
• Oblikovanje: Poanta
• Motiv: Mangart and Creeping Avens
• Tisk: Oriental Press, Bahrain
• Tehnika: 4-colour offset
• Pola: 25 stamps
• Papir: GSM 102 g/m2
• Velikost: 40.00 x 27.00 mm

• Date of issue: April 23, 2007
• Value: 5 kn
• Author: Hrvoje Šercar, painter and graphic designer, Zagreb
• Size: 29,82 x 48,28 mm
• Paper: white 102g, gummed
• Perforation: Comb,14
• Tehnique: Multicoloured Offsetprint
• Printed by: "Zrinski" - Čakovec
• Quantity: 200000

After graduating he taught at grammar schools in Zagreb and Osijek and at the Nautical School in Bakar. In 1892 he was appointed director of the Meteorological Observatory on Grič. In 1893 he was awarded the doctorate of philosophy at the Zagreb University. In 1910 he became titular associate university professor and taught subjects from the area of geophysics and astronomy at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb. In 1893 he was first made associate member and in 1898 full member of the Academy, then the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts. He retired in the year 1921.

At the beginning of his scientific work Andrija Mohorovičić became interested in meteorology and started working in this area. He directed his work into three areas – scientific explanation of specific meteorological phenomena, conducting the complete meteorological service of Croatia and Slavonia of that time and the spreading of the activities of the observatory onto other areas of geophysics, particularly on seismology. Out of the number of his meteorological works what should be particularly pointed out are his observations of clouds, the tornado near Novska and Čazma as well as observations of the climate of Zagreb.

At the turn of the 19th into the 20th century Mohorović’s scientific interest focused almost exclusively on problems of seismology, the area where he achieved world-wide recognition and fame. By the analysis of the earthquake in Pokupsko that took place on 8 October 1909, Mohorovičić particularly upgraded perceptions about the mechanisms of spreading (elastic) seismic waves of nearer earthquakes through the Earth’s interior. On this occasion he was the first in the world who, on the basis of the analysis of a seismogram, established the existence of the surface of velocity discontinuity of seismic waves that separate the crust of the Earth from its mantle. This surface of velocity was named Mohorovičić Discontinuity in his honour and its existence was soon confirmed on the whole Earth. This discovery is doubtlessly the most important scientific perception ever published in a Croatian journal.

In the procedure of discovering discontinuity Mohorovičić predicted that the velocity of seismic waves in the Earth’s crust gradually increases as waves enter greater depth. He expressed this hypothesis with an exponential function later named Mohorovičić’s law which is nowadays still applied. Mohorovičić equipped the Zagreb seismologic service at the beginning of the 20th century with the most recent seismographs which resulted in raising it to the level of the best equipped observatories in the world. By the acquisition of precise observatory clocks Mohorovičić established the Service of Exact Time in Croatia.

The general distinctive feature of Andrija Mohorovičić’s work is his critical attitude to work. He preferred to link his observations to theory but, on the other hand, never positioned theory before observation. His thoughts and ideas were truly visionary and came to be acknowledged many years later (the influence of the earthquake on the buildings’ behaviour, exploitation of the energy of north-eastern winds, models of the Earth and the atmosphere, deep-focus earthquakes, defence against hailstorms...).

In 1970, in honour of Mohorovičić, the crater with the diameter of 77 km on the dark side of the Moon was named after him. In 1996 the same happened with the asteroid No. 8422. In recent times his name is used for the discontinuity between the crust and mantle on the planet Mars. The Department of Geophysics, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb also bears his name and so do the gymnasium in Rijeka, the elementary school in Matulji and several streets in Croatian towns and cities. On the chain worn by the Rector of the University of Zagreb there is also the medallion with Mohorovičić’s image.

Andrija Mohorovičić belongs among the most eminent Croatian scientists of all times, and the world geophysicists unquestionably classify him among the outstanding great men of seismology of the 20th century.

See also: Prominent Istrians - Andrija Mohorovičić

(SLO) ANIMALS - DANUBE CLOUDED YELLOW - COLIAS MYRMIDONE (ESPER, 1780)

• Datum izdaje/uporabe:  May 25, 2007
• Vrsta: PZ
• Risba: Jurij Mikuletič
• Oblikovanje: Jurij Mikuletič
• Motiv: Danube Clouded Yellow
• Tisk: Oriental Press, Bahrain
• Tehnika: 4-colour
• Blok: 1 stamp
• Papir: GSM 102 g/m2
• Velikost: 27.00 x 40.00 mm

(SLO) ANIMALS - TIGER MOTH - CALLIMORPHA QUADRIPUNCTARIA (PODA, 1761)

• Datum izdaje/uporabe: May 25, 2007
• Vrsta: PZ
• Risba: Jurij Mikuletič
• Oblikovanje: Jurij Mikuletič
• Motiv: Tiger Moth
• Tisk: Oriental Press, Bahrain
• Tehnika: 4-colour
• Pola: 25 stamps
• Papir: GSM 102 g/m2
• Velikost: 40.00 x 27.00 mm

(SLO) ROAD VEHICLES - HORSE DRAWN BUGGY

• Datum izdaje/uporabee: May 25, 2007
• Risba: Jurij Mikuletič
• Oblikovanje: Jurij Mikuletič
• Motiv: Horse-drawn Buggy
• Tisk: Oriental Press, Bahrain
• Tehnika: 4-colour offset
• Pola: 25 stamps
• Papir: GSM 102 g/m2
• Velikost: 40.00 x 27.00 mm

• Data di emissione: 13 luglio 2007
• Valore: € 0,60
• Tiratura: tre milioni e cinquecentomila esemplari
• Vignetta: raffigura, in primo piano a sinistra, un ritratto di Primo Carnera e sullo sfondo è rappresentato il pugile durante un incontro di boxe. Completano il francobollo la leggenda “PRIMO CARNERA 1906 - 1967”, la scritta “ITALIA” ed il valore “€ 0,6O”
• Bozzettista: Gaetano Ieluzzo
• Stampa: Officina Carte Valori dell’Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato S.p.A., in rotocalcografia
• Colori: cinque più inchiostro interferenziale trasparente-oro
• Carta: fluorescente, non filigranata
• Formato carta: mm 40 x 30
• Formato stampa: mm 36 x 26
• Dentellatura: 13 x 13 ¼
• Foglio: cinquanta esemplari, valore “€ 30,00

HRV) ISTRIAN LIGHTHOUSES

The well-indented coastal line like the eastern side of the Adriatic, with numerous bays and coastal protrusions, with almost one thousand islands, small rocky isles and crags, with steep slopes of sheer rock and possible traps of dangerous shallow spots, all this demanded exceptional navigational skills. In the thousand-year-long history of Adriatic navigation, starting from the times of the Greeks and Illyrians, the Romans and the people living along the banks of the river Neretva, the Venetians and the people from Senj, all through to the late 19th century, it was quite usual to embark upon voyages during the day only, in full sunshine and it was only the easier or better-known parts of the route that could be covered at night, working out one’s course by watching the stars.

The technical advancement and the need for a speedy and secure transport at the time of the Austrian rule of Dalmatia and Istria stimulated the construction of reliable strongholds in order to facilitate orientation in space. Our part of the Mediterranean was covered by a network of more than twenty night lighthouses, so that it became navigable even in aggravating circumstances during dark and stormy days. These lighthouses were built in specially exposed geographical spots, on sharp promontories and far-away open seas, waste, uninhabited islets, on otherwise inaccessible places and spaces that almost jealously protected their solitude, threatening chance travellers with winds and waves.

Many of the lighthouses were therefore built as towers and fortifications, many of them shaped as temples or churches with proud bell-towers. It would definitely not be by chance that the ancient lighthouse on the island Rhodes had been considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Earth. It is equally not unusual that we experience their building as a pledge to Neptune, god of the sea, or as the expression of respect to powerful forces that rule the blue expanses. Indeed, with each of the lighthouses the elementary power of the sea gets tamed and the landscape becomes humanized, a defined human measure is imposed upon the hard-to-tame nature, an important landmark is placed in the field of vision of the seaman and the immenseness of the wide open space is relativized by the recognizable sign on the horizon.

For a century and a half, approximately, the Adriatic lighthouses have regularly performed their function by giving direction to the navigation, enabling a dependable exchange of people and goods on the sea, saving at the same time many endangered lives. They continue flashing and blinking, even nowadays they gladly serve some skipper and sailor to make it easier to find his way in the space. Yet, nowadays lighthouses are more monuments of the exciting past than participants of the navigational orientation. However, our lighthouses, both individually and as a lighting archipelago, remain an undisputable aesthetic value of courteous ambience, in a certain way they are a heavenly projection as they represent the brilliant constellation of stars on the sea.

SAVUDRIJA (SALVORE)

• Date of issue: September 13, 2007
• Value: 5 kn
• Author: Orsat Franković and Ivana Vučić, designers, Zagreb
• Size: 48,28 x 29,82 mm
• Paper: white 102g, gummed
• Perforation: Comb,14
• Tehnique: Multicoloured Offsetprint
• Printed by: "Zrinski" - Čakovec
• Quantity: 100000
• Motifs: lighthouses, photos by Andrija Carli

Savudrija is the oldest lighthouse in present-day Croatia. It was built in 1818 on the cape Bašanija near Savudrija [then Salvore, Austria-Hungary]. It is 36 metres high and was built according to the design of the architect Pietro Nobile from Trieste. It is situated in the vicinity of the Slovenian border, very near the well-known tennis centre of Umag which is only 9 km away. In 1821 a contract was signed with the eminent architect Matteo Pertsch for the building of an accommodation, a house with a spacious attic and yard as part of the already existing lighthouse.

The light signal of this lighthouse spreads to the distance of 17 nautical miles, i.e. the distance of 32 km. There is a picturesque Mediterranean garden with plants characteristic for this part of the Istrian peninsula between the lighthouse building and the sea. There is a story connected with this lighthouse concerning Count Metternich who built it for a beautiful Croatian noblewoman. He met her at the luxurious ball in Vienna and as he was overwhelmed by her beauty he had this lighthouse built where he wanted to start their life together. Unfortunately, on the day the lighthouse had been completed the young noblewoman’s life came to the end and after her death, overwhelmed by anguish and despair, the Count never revisited the lighthouse.

PORER (FARO DEL PROMONTORE)

• Date of issue: September 13, 2007
• Value: 5 kn
• Author: Orsat Franković and Ivana Vučić, designers, Zagreb
• Size: 48,28 x 29,82 mm
• Paper: white 102g, gummed
• Perforation: Comb,14
• Tehnique: Multicoloured Offsetprint
• Printed by: "Zrinski" - Čakovec
• Quantity: 100000

Situated a nautical mile southwest of the southern cape of Istria, Porer is actually a round-shaped rock 80 m in width, in the middle of which there is a rounded stone tower 35 m high that was built in 1833. From the tower, on the surface of 150 square metres, the accommodation quarters and out-houses are spread in all the four directions. The lighthouse was built to the design of the architects Pietro Nobile and Matteo Pertsch. This islet will definitely fascinate each and every enthusiastic devotee of a Robinson Crusoe-like holiday by its crystal-clear sea, unrepeatable sunsets and magnificent views toward the open sea. The submarine world round Porer, with its numerous submarine cliffs and shallow spots, is markedly rich due to the strong sea currents that surround the rock as well as due to the mixing of the colder and warmer strata of sea water.

SVETI IVAN NA PUČINI (SAN GIOVANNI)

• Date of issue: September 13,.2007
• Value: 5 kn
• Author: Orsat Franković and Ivana Vučić, designers, Zagreb
• Size: 48,28 x 29,82 mm
• Paper: white 102g, gummed
• Perforation:Comb,14
• Tehnique:Multicoloured Offsetprint
• Printed by:"Zrinski" - Čakovec
• Quantity:100000

The Croatian name of this lighthouse translates in English to "St. John out in the sea". This lighthouse on an islet of irregular shape built in the year 1853, with the surface of 70 x 50 metres, is situated in the middle of the western coast of the Istrian peninsula. The lighthouse tower is 23 metres in height and the accommodation quarters for the lighthouse keeper were built on one side of the tower. The sea depth round the island varies from ten to forty metres, and the wealth of the submarine life and luxuriant sea vegetation make it especially attractive and interesting for enthusiastic fans of diving. Enthusiastic devotees of quiet holidays and of Robinson Crusoe-like tourism vacations on this lighthouse will definitely make their summer days pleasurable and this will stimulate them to return to this untouched pearl of nature again. A legend linked to St. John’s lighthouse has it that a Venetian doge was navigating in the direction of Rovinj in rather unfavourable weather conditions. He and his crew spotted the dangerous cliffs of the island and just in time changed the navigation route. The doge made a vow to St. John to light a candle for him as high as a cathedral tower if he made it safe and sound to Rovinj. However, on the return voyage he regretted his vow. In the end, the doge returned to Venice without fulfilling his vow. Several months later he found himself in a strong storm and it was only then that he remembered his promise that he did not keep. However, this time he did not manage to repeat the promise because he disappeared together with the whole of his crew in the depth of the sea and the shipwrecked ship was thrown out onto the cliffs of St. John’s island.

See also: Lighthouses

• Data di emissione: 22 settembre 2007
• Valore: € 0,60
• Tiratura: tre milioni e cinquecentomila esemplari
• Vignetta: rappresenta, in un riquadro a sinistra, la testa di un asino; a destra e in basso sono raffigurate le sette razze italiane di asini tutelate, con le rispettive denominazioni: “ROMAGNOLO”, “MARTINA FRANCA”, “RAGUSANO”, ”AMIATA”, “PANTELLERIA”, “ SARDO” e “ ASINARA”. Completano il francobollo la leggenda “RAZZE ITALIANE DI ASINI TUTELATE”, la scritta “ITALIA” e il valore “€ 0,60”.
• Bozzettista: Anna Maria Maresca
• Stampa: Officina Carte Valori dell’Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato S.p.A., in rotocalcografia
• Colori: cinque più inchiostro interferenziale trasparente-oro
• Carta: fluorescente, non filigranata
• Formato carta: mm 40 x 48
• Formato stampa: mm 36 x 44
• Dentellatura: 13 x 13¼
• Dentellatura: venticinque esemplari, valore “€ 15,00”

(SLO) FLOWERING AQUATIC PLANTS

• Datum izdaje/uporabe: September 26, 2007
• Vrsta: PZ
• Fotografija: Blaž Šegula
• Oblikovanje: Tjaša Štempihar
• Motiv: White Water - Lily (Nymphaea)
• Tisk: Oriental Press, Bahrain
• Tehnika: 4-colour offset
• Papir: GSM 102 g/m2
• Velikost: stamp 40.00 x 27.00 mm, miniature sheet 60 x 70 mm

White water-lily (Nymphaea alba L.)

The white water-lily is a symbol of slowly running and stagnant waters. Not many people are aware that in Slovenia, it is a native plant known primarily as a decorative plant of artificial water objects. It attaches to silt with a strong rhizome and on the surface, it grows large, floating leaves with veins in a netlike structure. The flowers are also of considerable size, growing 10 to 15 centimeters in diameter, and the green sepals transform into numerous petals which form the water-lily’s main “ornament”. In the middle of the hermaphroditic flower, there are numerous yellow stamens and a pistil with an ovary. The ovary matures into a green fruit with multiple seeds. There are several kinds of species of water-lily, however, in Slovenia only the white water-lily can be found in nature. On the other hand, flower shops offer water-lilies of different colours of flowers, from pink and lilac to yellow. For this reason, the pressure on natural water-lily populations has been greatly reduced, as fanciers of water gardens and private ponds usually go for more lively specimens. Nevertheless, in Slovenia the white water-lily is a species in decline, a vulnerable species with falling numbers, especially along large rivers, such as the rivers Drava and Mura. It is also threatened by foreign herbivore fish.

• Date of issue: October 2,.2007
• Value: 2,7 kn
• Author: Hrvoje Šercar, painter and graphic designer, Zagreb
• Size: 29,82 x 48,28 mm
• Paper: white 102g, gummed
• Perforation: Comb,14
• Tehnique: Multicoloured Offsetprint
• Printed by: "Zrinski" - Čakovec
• Quantity: 2000000

Motif: Veprinac, from the book Croatian Littoral, 1891

Half a millennium of written statutory tradition of a medieval municipality that small Veprinac [in Istria] nowadays is, a municipality situated on the eastern slopes of the mountain range Učka, in the present times within reach of Rijeka, on the unruly hundred-year-long dividing line between the Venetian and Austro-Hungarian authority, a long period that would remind every civilized community of their own cilivilizational attainments and stimulate them to query whether their actual legal arrangement, particularly its application, were in harmony with the times we live in - the beginning of the third millennium.

In the archives of the HAZU [Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts], under the signature II d 123, together with some slightly younger preserved minutes of the Veprinac court of justice, there is preserved in its entirety this Croatian Statute, written on both pages on three paper leaves with the dimension of a larger quarter of the sheet, written in cursive, joint-up Glagolitic script, which was customary for the legal acts since the 14th century. The leaves, originally bound in the book of manuscripts called Quarto [kvadriga], are presently rather damaged by humidity, so that the text is sometimes hardly readable, and the paper has cracked, so that some smaller bits have ended being torn off in the course of time. Despite being damaged, the text was first copied in Latin characters in 1851 by the arduous promoter of the Glagolitic tradition, the Veprinac parish chaplain of that time, Jakov Volčić, a Slovene by nationality. It was first printed by the Russian historian of law, M. Vladimirsky-Budanov (in 1881, in the Cyrillic script on the basis of Volčić’s Latin copy), and then followed the Croatians F. Rački (1890) and R. Strohal (1910) and the Slovene M. Jasinski (1926). Writing about the Statute were O. Mandić (1955), trying to prove that the basic specimen to be copied of the Statute could be even older than the 14th century, and also the best-known law historian L. Margetić (in 1995 and 1997). The author of the most recent monograph, the photo-type edition, with the accompanying transcription and detailed language analysis is B. Kuzmić (2007).

The content of the Veprinac Statute encompasses the establishment of legal relations on the executive and penal, civil law level. The first one presupposes, for instance, the prescribing of the procedures of choosing the county prefect “for a year” as well as other functionaries in charge of municipal duties, the regulation of accepting foreign serfs on the area of the municipality, the distribution of authority to some craftsmen, defining the maximal price for trading of basic victuals (especially meat in public butchers’ shops), leasing municipal land into rent, rules about the every-year choice of county prefect, judge and captain (on Epiphany). In the frame of the second level, punishments have been established (mostly financial) for theft or burglary (from the house, the fenced-off or unfenced pasture-ground, by day, at night,...), break-ins, causing bodily harm or threats, offences (for instance, taking a woman’s kerchief off), felling trees (depending whether it has taken place in the wood, on its edge or outside it), watering cattle without permission, etc. The present dimension and importance of Veprinac of that time is especially proved by the statement that in the town you could be judged “for every word” (every case), because the jurisdiction was completely established and there was no need to go to the neighbouring Kastav in order to find satisfaction in being dealt justice.

In the final part, the judges Ivan and Pavao [John and Paul] testified to the fact that the Statute had an appropriate legal framework. Like any other legal document from the badly documented periods, the Veprinac Statute, too (like, among others the oldest Croatian legal document – the Vinodol Statute from the year 1288, preserved in the copy from the 16th century, also written in cursive Glagolitic script) is and excellent historic source for the study of the settlement’s everyday life, both in town and village. Besides mediating the level of the cultural arrangement of public life, we can learn about many things, like what situations were the source of clashes, what were the delicate issues, how clashes were tackled and solved, how moral misdemeanours were dealt with, inheriting, boundary lines, the prices of everyday items, enjoyment of rights to the land, breeding cattle, how agreements were implemented, what kind of and how much were the tithes to be paid to the landed gentry and the clergy, how much were the fees for certain services. It is interesting to see how the functioning of the judicial apparatus was secured – with regard to other segments of authority – how bearing evidence as a witness is regulated, financial reimbursement or fees for judges and the municipality, supervision of judicial proceedings, announcement of decisions of the judicial council which used to sit regularly, on a fortnightly basis, if necessary also more often, and it would solve four to five cases on each sitting, and the like.

The Statute was passed by the council in front of the parish church of that time, St. Anne’s, and it was made up of “senior men” some of whom were up to a hundred years old. The old age of the participants was the guarantee of reliability and seriousness of drawing up the legal document, its foundation on the tradition of many-hundred-year tradition that in some segments encroaches into the pre-Slavonic era of oral tradition of legal formulas. At the very beginning the person taking the minutes, the notary public [kanceler] would particularly point out that it renders the old legal regulations immortal, those “that were always abided by in this honoured town of Veprinac”. Along the margin of his Latin copy Jakov Volčić wrote the words that, regarding the huge amount of work and centuries-long already settled experience can be with good reason repeated today: “You have judged well and fair, you honoured old men!” In Veprinac, where almost 50% of the male population was literate in the 16th century, they used to write in the Glagolitic script up the 18th century.

Judging by many special features, the script of this and other Glagolitic written monuments from Veprinac can be differentiated from the script in other documents from the neighbouring areas (Kastav, Mošćenice, Istria, Vinodol). It is justified to suppose that in Veprinac there must have been their own scribe school active where liturgical books, literary works and legal documents used to be copied in the Glagolitic script. The Statute was written in a language close to the characteristic local Čakavian dialect where there prevails the ekavian reflex of the jat, with a considerable portion of ikavian features, though one should take into account – like in all legal Glagolitic texts – also with a mild influence of the Old Church Slavonic forms. Consequently, except for its significance as a historic source, the Veprinac Statute is an exceptionally important document of the Croatian language and script from the beginning of the 16th century.

• Date of issue: October 30, 2007
• Value: 2,8 kn
• Author: Hrvoje Šercar, painter and graphic designer, Zagreb
• Size: 25,56 x 35,5 mm
• Paper: white 102g, gummed
• Perforation: Comb,14
• Tehnique: Multicoloured Offsetprint
• Printed by: "Zrinski" - Čakovec
• Quantity: 2000000

Krk In the Bay of Kvarner, the wondrous corner of the Mediterranean, under the protection of ancient Europe, the island of Krk is situated onto which, in historical waves, various tribes and peoples used to come and leave and where, before three full centuries Krk was born, “the most splendid town of the Krk citizens” (splendissimae civitatis Curictarum). The natural base, geographic position, climatic characteristics, the rich world of plants and animals, all these were favourable prerequisites that enabled man to survive in this space. Living in the Mediterranean and medieval atmosphere, appreciating and respecting the human convictions, Krk has inherited all the values of these cultures, their spirituality and temper that have been settling for centuries. Numerous traces of the rich history of Krk can be found on the dry-stone walls, Roman mosaics, small Old-Croatian churches, Glagolitic monuments, altar reredos, and paintings of Venetian and Croatian master painters. Every people, every century left its trace, some mark of material culture and spiritual impact. Nowadays this adds to the immeasurable value that gives proof to all the coming generations about the attainments and falls of our ancestors, the permanent and passing, the spiritual and material, about the people and cultures. History teaches us that the town of Krk was founded at the end of the 10th century and the beginning of the 9th century B.C. by the lineage Curicta from the tribe of the Liburns. In the 1st century the town was a small Roman municipal town with all the characteristics of a Roman town. In the distant 7th and 8th centuries, the time of the mystical Middle Ages, it is the Slavs who arrived in these areas. In the atmosphere of the Mediterranean, the place of the permeation of various cultural influences, the Croats had begun their life in these areas and they ennobled their genuine strength and bravery with the Christian teaching and developed co-habitation with the indigenous people. The story of the past of the town of Krk takes us through the Byzantine, Frankish and Venetian rule and then, at the beginning of the 12th century the story of the princes of Krk started. Prince Doimo with his sons Bartol and Vitus started the saga about one of the most important noble family lineages of the Croatian past, about the family Frankopan, the title they received in Rome in the year 1430 from Pope Martin V. and the new coat of arms that gradually supplanted the first coat of arms with the hexagram star, the so called Krk stela. According to the legend, the princes of Krk called themselves Frangipani according to the brethren who doled out bread to the poor at a Roman square (from the Latin frangere panem – breaking up bread). The saga ended in the year 1671 in Wiener Neustadt with the execution of Fran Krsto Frankopan and Petar Zrinski. By this execution of the last male member of the Frankopans, their lineage was extinguished. Krk was the last of the Adriatic islands to be annexed to Venice. For almost three full centuries of the strange intermingling of the Serenissima, Venice, and Krk, this had left an abundance of traces. Interpreting its stormy and rich past, the town of Krk with its town centre is a living monument of culture and history. In its painstaking historical progress and growth, the town of Krk has been standing in the chosen place from times immemorial and is a proof of its permanent development. Reared in the cradle of civilization, Krk is by no means intoxicated by its past but by its personal desire for progress. Enriched by imaginativeness and wisdom of the times past, in harmony with the needs, intentions and inclinations of its population, Krk has become new, bigger, more modern, proving that it is ancient but at the same time a town very much alive. The story of the future of Krk has a contents as considerable as its past. The town of Krk is a treasury of special life qualities overfilled with charm, secrets and irresistible features, all of them proved by documents, works of art, archives, collections, churches, fortifications, streets and squares. Krk offers future and gives a gift of a spiritualized challenge of the past, it richly inspires spiritually and materially, wakes up in people something primordial, natural and yet above all human.

• Data di emissione: 10 dicembre 2007
• Valore: € 0,65
• Tiratura: tre milioni e cinquecentomila esemplari
• Vignetta: raffigura la facciata del Palazzo del Governatore nella città di Fiume, attuale sede del Museo marittimo e storico del litorale croato. Completano il francobollo la leggenda “FIUME – TERRA ORIENTALE GIÀ ITALIANA”, la scritta “ITALIA” ed il valore “€ 0,65”
• Bozzettista: Cristina Bruscaglia
• Stampa: Officina Carte Valori dell’Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato S.p.A., in rotocalcografia
• Colori: cinque più inchiostro interferenziale trasparente-oro
• Carta: fluorescente, non filigranata
• Formato carta: mm 40 x 30
• Formato stampa: mm 36 x 26
• Dentellatura: 13 x 13¼
• Foglio: cinquanta esemplari, valore “€ 32,50”

(Comunicato ufficiale di Poste Italiane)

Poste Italiane comunica l'emissione, per il giorno 30 ottobre 2007, di un francobollo ordinario dedicato alla città di Fiume quale "Terra orientale già italiana", nel valore di EUR 0,65.

Il francobollo è stampato dall'Officina Carte Valori dell'Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato S.p.A., in rotocalcografia, su carta fluorescente, non filigranata; formato carta: mm 40 x 30; formato stampa: mm 36 x 26; dentellatura: 13 x 13¼; colori: cinque più inchiostro interferenziale trasparente-oro; tiratura: tre milioni e cinquecentomila esemplari; foglio: cinquanta esemplari, valore "EUR 32,50".

La vignetta raffigura la facciata del Palazzo del Governatore nella città di Fiume, attuale sede del Museo marittimo e storico del litorale croato.

Completano il francobollo la leggenda "FIUME - TERRA ORIENTALE GIÀ ITALIANA", la scritta "ITALIA" e il valore "EUR 0,65".

Bozzettista: Cristina Bruscaglia.

A commento dell'emissione verrà posto in vendita il bollettino illustrativo con articolo a firma del Dott. Guido Brazzoduro, Presidente dell'Associazione Libero Comune di Fiume in Esilio, Padova.

Il Negozio "Spazio Filatelia" - Via Cordusio, 4 - Milano e l'Ufficio Postale di Trieste Centro utilizzeranno, il giorno di emissione, il rispettivo annullo speciale realizzato a cura della Filatelia di Poste Italiane; inoltre metteranno in vendita una cartolina raffigurante particolari contenuti nella vignetta del francobollo, al prezzo di EUR 0,52, oltre il valore facciale del francobollo.

La cartolina sarà posta in vendita o potrà essere prenotata presso tutti gli Sportelli Filatelici del territorio nazionale e i Negozi "Spazio Filatelia" di Roma, Milano e Venezia.

***

Bibliography:

• Croatian Post Inc. - Croatian Postage Stamps - English
• Post of Slovenia - English & Slovensko
• Poste Italiane, Filatelia - http://e-filatelia.poste.it/showCataloghiProdotti.asp?id_categoria_prodotto=281