In 1667 a calamity befell the city which for a brief space made the name of Ragusa ring throughout the civilised world. As I have said, the citizens had had a foretaste of it in the small earthquake shocks which from time to time occurred; the most formidable of them had been that of 1520. But the worst was now to come. On Wednesday, April 6, 1667, in the early morning, when most of the inhabitants had either just risen or were attending early Mass in the churches, “there came from below ground a horrible and dreadful earthquake, which in a few moments destroyed the Rector’s Palace, the Rector himself (Ghetaldi) being killed, and all the other palaces, churches, monasteries, and houses in the city, everything being subverted, and there was much loss of life; the havoc was increased by the huge rocks which fell from the mountains; thus the city became a heap of stones. At the same time, a wind having arisen, misfortune was heaped upon misfortune, and flames burst forth naturally from the timber fallen from the ruins into the kitchen fires; the fire lasted several days, causing much suffering to the few survivors of this horrible disaster. These are not more than 600, besides 25 nobles, and it was a sad sight to see these people, most of them injured, wandering about almost beside themselves with despair in the ruined streets, imploring pity and pardon from the Lord God for their sins. Moreover, the Castle rock was seen to burst open and close again twice, and the waters of the sea sank back four times. Even the wells dried up completely. The land fort remained untouched, the sea fort, the dogana (custom house), and the lazaret were partially damaged, but can be repaired in a short time. Many, moved by compassion at hearing the lamentable cries of those buried among the ruins, struggled to remove the rubbish of stones and timber with which they were covered, and found some still alive, although they had been three, four, and even five days in that terrible condition.”[475]
GARDEN NEAR RAGUSA
Another misfortune was added to these by the depredations of the neighbouring peasants and Morlachs who came pouring into the town, and it is said that even some of the citizens took part in the plunder, profiting by the wild confusion. According to Professor Gelcich, the fire was caused by incendiaries with the same purpose.[476] A large part of the Cathedral treasury was looted, and many of the sacred relics disappeared, although some of them were subsequently recovered. That the plundering was not more general was due to the efforts of two patriotic nobles, Biagio Caboga and Michele Bosdari, who armed bodies of their own peasantry and retainers, and kept watch over the ruined churches and public buildings. There was a regular battle between a few nobles and their suites and a horde of freebooters for the possession of the treasury. The latter were finally beaten off, and the State coffers and archives saved. The relics and the remains of the Cathedral treasure were removed to a chapel in the Dominican monastery, which was bricked up, only a barred window being left open so that the people might assure themselves of their existence and worship them.[477] The State treasure was removed to the Leverone fort, where the surviving nobles gathered together and constituted a provisional Government of twelve Senators. The situation appeared hopeless. “The city,” wrote the Abate Bosdari, “was so completely buried in the stones and rubbish of the ruined houses that every one gave up all idea of ever making it habitable again. The stench from the burnt or decaying corpses was so overpowering that it caused many people to suffer from nausea; and no one dared venture to the spot where he had lost his property, his relatives, and almost his own life, especially as other slight earthquake shocks were felt from time to time. Wherefore many of the most influential personages declared it to be necessary to change the site of the town, and they proposed that of Lapad as being the most convenient. This opinion was supported by the attractiveness of the position, its proximity to a harbour capable of sheltering many fleets, and the pure and more open air, and it would obviate the necessity of spending large sums in removing the rubbish.”[478]
Ragusa was not alone in her calamity; many places in the immediate neighbourhood had suffered considerably. The houses and churches of the Isola di Mezzo were all in ruins, as may be seen to this day, and many of the inhabitants were killed.[479] Stagno too was much damaged, and in the rest of Dalmatia the earthquake was equally severe. At Cattaro, according to Professor Gelcich, the ruin was even more widespread than at Ragusa itself.
In the meanwhile the news of this disaster had spread all over Europe, and help began to arrive from various quarters. The Empire, France, Spain, and several of the Italian States sent contributions in money, building materials, and men to help clear away the ruins. The Pope was the first in the field, and sent a body of troops to maintain order, and Giulio Cerruti, the engineer of Castel Sant’ Angelo.[480] The latter was sent to report on the advisability of transferring the population and the seat of the Government to Gravosa, but although he declared that that spot was very suitable, the majority of the survivors were still too much attached to their old home, ruined as it was, to desire to settle elsewhere. The proposal was dropped, and in fact, when the citizens came to take stock of the situation, they found that things were not quite so hopeless as they had at first appeared. Some five thousand people had been killed, but there must have been more survivors than the 625 mentioned by the anonymous author of the Relatione, if we accept Razzi’s estimate of the population at 30,000 in 1578. It may have decreased to some extent during the ensuing ninety years, but even in 1667 it must have been much more than 5600.[481] The damage done to the buildings was less than might have been expected. It is true that the Venetian Provveditore of Cattaro, who happened to be at Gravosa at the time, wrote that “with the exception of the public granary, the dogana, the fortifications, and the lazarets, all the buildings, both public and private, including the Palace, the churches, and the monasteries, were ruined and destroyed”; while Vitale Andriasci stated that “nothing of the city remained standing but the fortresses and the circuit of the walls, which were injured in many places, and a few dismantled houses.” But these writers were probably excited by the awful spectacle and fell into exaggeration. The Duomo was so greatly damaged that it was necessary to rebuild it from the foundations. The upper story of the Rector’s Palace was severely, but not hopelessly, injured. The church of San Biagio suffered considerably, but survived until destroyed by fire forty years later. The Dominican and Franciscan monasteries, including their towers, remained almost intact; while the Sponza, the clock-tower, the churches of St. Nicholas, the Ascension, St. Luke, the Saviour, the Annunciation, the granaries, the lazarets, &c., were in no worse condition. Of the private dwellings, those in the Stradone all fell down, and were rebuilt later; but many of those on the slopes of the Monte Sergio survived, as is proved by the numbers of fragments of Venetian Gothic which may be seen to this day. The general aspect of Ragusa is thus fortunately still what it was before the calamity.
The work of rebuilding the city on its ancient site was at once commenced, and the damages repaired. The Republic survived the earthquake for nearly 150 years more, and although it was not the Ragusa of the sixteenth century, it enjoyed intervals of revived prosperity, and even of political importance, from time to time. But the days for city-republics were gone for ever, and the existence of Ragusa during the eighteenth century can only be regarded as a relic of the past.