Here's one of the few windows that breaks St. Stephan's ashlar wall. Construction started in 1604 and continued for over a century. The Venetians fought with the Byzantine empire, Hungary, and Croatia from the 12th century until 1409 when they more-or-less settled the matter. In fact, when Venice began to dominate the Dalmatian coast, these islands in the center of the then-known world had had over 30 changes of control including Greeks, Romans, Tatars, Croats, Serbia, and the Byzantine Empire. Nice of the Greeks to introduce history here, but it's hard to keep up with it all.For nearly 4 centuries under Venetian rule, the island prospered economically, even if it occasionally rebelled politically. The Hapsburgs ended the Venetian Republic in 1797 followed a decade later by Napoleon and his crew. Then came the dogs breakfast of rulers that ended in Yugoslavia. Except, of course, it didn't end in Yugoslavia. Today the island is back as part of Croatia.

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