A prominent monument of the Tisjana promenade
At the beginning of the 19th century, the mayor and prominent resident of Tisno, Petar Katunarić, built a baroque palace in the center of the town right on the waterfront. The position of the palace is such that it was then, as it is today, a prominent monument of the Tisno promenade, where one's eyes inevitably fall upon arriving at the island of Murter. This powerful building, on the first floor, has as its central focus a balcony with an ornamental cast-iron railing facing the sea.
DNUS CUSTODIAT INTROITUM, EX EXITUM TUUM
On the entrance door of the building there is a Latin inscription "DNUS CUSTODIAT INTROITUM, ET EXITUM TUUM" (The Lord guards your entrance and exit), while in the vestibule on the right side of the entrance above the tap from the well that used to be there is written "PURIFICATAM CONSERVO, ET RESTITUO PLUVIAM" (I preserve and return the purified rain).
Katunarić thoughtfully set the location of the balcony. The story goes, Petar and his wife could not have children, so he decided to build a balcony from which every morning he could see the men and women of Tisno, whom he loved so much, as if they were his own children. Throughout his life, he helped his community with humanitarian work, whether it was by donating money for the treatment of the sick or by building communal infrastructure. He can be thanked for the construction of the road to Murter and Betina, as well as the road to the nearby towns of Velim and Tribun. He also donated several hundred plants for the park in Zadar, for which the Zadar Government expressed its thanks and satisfaction for his commendable work.
ADMINISTRATIVE CENTER OF TISNOGA
It is interesting that Katunarić was the main financier of the works in Tisno. The gold medal presented by the Austro-Hungarian king and emperor Ferdinand I speaks about the kind of man he was, as evidenced by an article written in the magazine Gazzetta di Zara from December 14, 1835. Katunarić's Palace has stood upright and proud for several centuries as a reminder of Petar Katunarić's life and contribution to his town.
Today, the palace is the administrative center of Tisno - it houses the offices of the Municipality of Tisno and the Municipal Court, post office, library, music rooms and FINA.
Sources:
Josip Ćuzela, Ivo Šprljan (2019) Otok Murter: pogled na baštinu. Općina Tisno.
Branko Pavlov (2021) Tisno i Tišnjani kroz stoljeća.
