1837 Austrian map of Konavle

Here is an interesting exercise that will show you what Konavle looked like in 1837.

In 1837, the Austrian government sent out teams of surveyors to map the property in what is today Croatia. The purpose was for tax assessment. Five or six copies of these maps were made, and today they can be found in several Croatian archives but, interestingly, not in the Dubrovnik archive. The copy shown below was probably from the main Croatian archive in Zagreb.

To see these maps, go to Arcanum maps:

https://maps.arcanum.com/en/

Click on “Cadastral maps” (far right).

In the search box, enter “konavle”. The blue marker on the resulting map is in the middle of Konavle.

To get to the middle of Konavle, search for “gruda”. You can zoom in and out with the scroll wheel. It’s surprising how close you can get.

Click on “Full screen” if you like. To exit “Full screen,” press “esc”.

Today, Bačev Do and Tušiči (Tussich on the map) are part of Gruda and they all blend together into one village. But in 1837 Gruda proper was smaller than either of those hamlets, judging by the number of houses in each.

The houses on the map are shown as small pink rectangles with small, one or two digit numbers in them or next to them. The numbers correspond to the names of the owners of the houses but the legend showing these names was not scanned and is not available from this website (we asked).

Meanings of the various colors of land parcels is not explained (pink, green, light green, gray, light yellow). But possibilities are -> forest, arable for crops, pasturage, etc. The roads are long and narrow and colored tan or light brown.

Note that you can search for other village names but you must spell them the way they are spelled today. If you search for “grudda,” as is shown on the map, you will not find it. You must search for “gruda” instead. But it is not necessary to use Croatian letters or capital letters. For example, “mocici” will find the village of Močići in Konavle.

1837 Austrian map of Gruda.