The Importance of the Islands of Ilovik and St. Peter (Sv. Petar) on the Seafaring Route along the Eastern Adriatic Coast in the Light of Recent Research

Otoci Ilovik i Sv. Petar bili su u antičkom razdoblju važne točke na plovnom putu duž istočne obale Jadrana što dokazuju i starija podmorska istraživanja, osobito antičkog brodoloma u blizini Ilovika, ali i noviji nalaz brončane skulpture Apoksiomena. Tijekom svibnja 2009. godine vodila su se istraživanja kasnoantičke crkve na položaju Sv. Andrija (Sićadrija) na otoku Iloviku koja su dodatno potvrdila značaj tog prostora za pomorsku plovidbu. Osobito se ističe nalaz fragmentiranog nadgrobnog spomenika koji je sekundarno upotrijebljen prilikom izgradnje ove kasnoantičke crkve. U radu se osobita pažnja posvećuje upravo ovom nalazu te se analiziraju njegov epigrafski značaj i podrijetlo. S obzirom na to da je prilikom rekognosciranja Sv. Petra utvrđena veća količina antičkog materijala uz obalu kao i prisutnost mogućih antičkih zidova postavlja se pitanje važnosti otoka Sv. Petra u tom razdoblju kao i povezanost s trgovačkim centrima duž istočne obale Jadrana. Također se razmatraju potencijalni plovidbeni pravci koji su mogli prolaziti kanalom između Ilovika i Sv. Petra, a sukladno tome i razvoj ovih dvaju otoka tijekom antike i ranog srednjeg vijeka.The islands of Ilovik and St. Peter (Sv. Petar) held the important position on the seafaring route along the eastern Adriatic coast during the ancient Roman period, which was proven by older underwater research, especially by the ancient shipwreck near the island of Ilovik, but also by the more recent find of a bronze sculpture of Apoxyomenos. The excavations on the site of a church from the late antiquity period, which were conducted in May of 2009 at the position of St. Andrew (Sv. Andrija), also called Sićadrija, on the island of Ilovik, proved the importance of that area for the navigation routes as well. The discovery of the fragmented Roman tombstone, which was re-used as a secondary building-material during the construction of this late-antiquity church, is especially important. Considering that during a field-survey a greater quantity of Roman tiles and other pottery sherds as well as few walls were found on the shore of the island of Sv. Petar, a question of importance of the island of Sv. Petar during the Roman period and its connection with trade centers on the eastern Adriatic coast has also been considered. Furthermore, the potential seafaring routes, which might have passed through the channel between islands of Ilovik and Sv. Petar, are discussed here, as well as the development of these two islands during the Roman and early mediaeval periods