July 9, 1409: what a beautiful date, one of those easy to remember in school, it begins and ends with the number 9. Why does it sound familiar? I was wandering around Venice some time ago, I was finally exploring the city sestiere by sestiere, one at a time. I was in that of San Polo, when at a certain point I happened upon Campo San Silvestro… a first flash, then, raising my eyes to the side of the church of the same name, the second flash or rather full awareness: the plaque affixed there by the Dalmatian Society of National History in 2003 commemorates an important birthday of our city, the day in which Ladislaus of Anjou, king of Hungary and Naples, ceded to Venice for 100.000 ducats the rights to Zara and Dalmatia. From that day on, we too, previously rebellious and jealous of our municipal independence, became part of the Venetian koinè, our golden age, celebrated every year until Napoleon's betrayal in 1797.

But on that tombstone our “Three Lions” still remind us who we were, who we are…

You with me, me with you

“On 9 July 1409, the act of cession to the Venetian Republic by the Kingdom of Hungary was signed in this church
of the rights to ZARA and DALMATIA, consolidating the ancient ties between Dalmatia and Venice that were destined to last for centuries.
The Dalmatian Society of National History poses 29 – 11 – 2013”

Adriana Ivanov Danieli
Source: Italian Dalmatians – 09/07/2022