Dugi
Rat, Zlatna Punta, Zlatni Rat ? The town of
Bol, on the southern coast of the island of Brač,
is renowned for its popular pebble beach on both sides of the
tongue-like peninsula, Zlatni Rat. (The name has been
translated by some tourist agencies as Golden Cape and Golden
Horn, but a toponym should not be translated.) It is a typical
spit, a deposition type coastal promontory, with very fine pebbles
that visibly shift on the tip (recurve) of the peninsula with sea
currents and waves, a unique sight. Pine trees that grow down the
middle of Zlatni rat and crystalline sea around it make the
beach truly memorable. |

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Until
recently I did not question the origin of the toponym Zlatni rat.
Then, in the Toponimija hrvatskoga jadranskog pros-tora (Toponymy of
the Croatian Adriatic area, 2005) by Petar Šimunović, I’ve noticed
that the author, while comment-ing on some meaningless toponyms
introduced by tourist business, gives Zlatni Rat as an example.
However, he did not mention the older name, so I’ve reached for the
oldest source at hand, Enciklopedija Jugoslavije (Encyclopedia
Yugoslavica). And yes, on a map in Vol. 4 (1960), Zlatni Rat appears
under the name Dugi Rat (Long Cape). Well, besides tourism, I
can see another reason to abandon name Dugi Rat: the same toponym
exist on the central Dalmatian coast, one which is known as a heavy
industrialized area (and there are some dirty ecological jokes on
the subject).
Interestingly
enough, in Vol. 1 (1955) of Enciklopedija Jugoslavije, in the text
on the town of Bol, the cited name is Zlatna Punta, not Dugi
Rat; "punta"
in everyday Dalmatian terminology points to any promontory, including
artificially built pier. So, the map on the left, although published
in 1960, must be older. |