GOdine 2000. The Croatian State Archives and the State Archives in Pazin launched a project to scan archival material for the Croatian part of Istria from the Catasto Franceschino fund, the so-called Franciscan Cadastre (1818-1840), which is located in the State Archives in Trieste. Maps and related studies were created by the first systematic cadastral survey of the countries of the Habsburg Monarchy, which included the Austrian Littoral, which included Istria.
See more in: Mirela Slukan Altić: KATASTAR ISTRE (1817-1960) Inventory, Croatian State Archives, Zagreb, 2001.
The research of the cadastral archival material for the territory of the Republic of Croatia carried out by the Croatian State Archives during 1998 found that the largest part of the cadastral material for the area of Istria created in the period from 1818 to 1840 is located in the State Archives in Trieste (Archivio di Stato di Trieste). This is the material of the so-called Franciscan cadastre created by the first systematic cadastral survey of the countries of the Habsburg Monarchy, which also included the Austrian Littoral, which included part of today’s Croatian territory – Istria. The survey produced abundant documentation of the highest state value, and for the purpose of storing it, immediately after the survey, special archives were established in each country for the storage of cadastres (called folder archives). For the area of the Austrian Littoral, the archive was founded on February 21, 1824, with headquarters in Trieste.
Pursuant to the Treaty of Peace between the FNRJ and Italy of 10 February 1947. (Article 1 of Annex XIV) and the Regulation on the ratification of the agreement between the FNRJ and Italy (Articles 2 and 6), the Republic of Italy undertook to return as soon as possible all archival material relating to Croatian territory which has state-law, cultural or historical value. Since the archival material is a cadastre, the material of the highest state value is specifically mentioned in the list of material subject to the Treaty, and Italy was obliged to return the said material to the Republic of Croatia. In 1954, part of the cartographic material that was added to the Archive of Maps for Dalmatia was returned from Trieste, with which today the Archive of Maps for Istria and Dalmatia is stored in the form of a deposit in the State Archives in Split. However, most of the Istrian cadastre is still located in Trieste.
The studies shall contain: Description of the boundaries of the cadastral municipality (Descrizione confini), Register of parcels of buildings and land (Protocolli particelle fondi ed edifici con fogli intercalari), Alphabetico dei proprietari dei fondi ed edifici), Economic description of the municipality (Operati d’estimo), and Citizens’ complaints and responses to complaints (Reclami). After an insight into the Catasto Franceschino fund, we made a list of the total cadastral material created in the period between 1818 and 1840 relating to the Croatian territory.
Part of the mentioned material in digital form can be used in the DAPA Reading Room, and you can view the entire material online on the official website of the State Archives in Trieste by clicking on the link below.
