Sanitary cordon

Abstract

One of the primary goals of the Venetians in the 18th century was to maintain trade with Turkish markets; economic and political interests stretched out to the Middle East and the "Gulf" (the Adriatic Sea). The developments of health institutions, sanitary measures, epidemic diseases and epidemic prevention are closely connected with the development of maritime affairs sea-borne trade and economic development in general. Even before the 18th century, the Boka Kotorska Bay developed maritime affairs, preconditioned by the existence and development of health institutions. The goals of the latter were to promote a health culture and to assure free development of naval and trade activities. Infectious diseases were the main risk posed to mariners and maritime affairs; therefore, a number of legal activities were applied in order to prevent epidemics and protect the local population. Based on the rich archival materials, this paper attempts to discuss the work of health committees, quarantine hospitals (for people and merchandise), and regulations and measures administrated by the Health Civic Authorities of Venice in order to prevent epidemics and to include the total population in the process of the health culture.