Geological issues in Alberto Fortis’ Viaggio in Dalmazia (1774)

The Italian abbot Alberto Fortis (1741–1803), educated in geology, petrology, mineralogy, and palaeontology by eminent 18th-century naturalists, performed several extensive explorations in Istria and Dalmatia – provinces of the former Venetian Republic, now the littoral part of Croatia. Notes from some of these journeys, collected in 1774 in the book Viaggio in Dalmazia, encompass observations of almost all aspects of social and physical features of Dalmatian people and land. From a geological point of view, Fortis’ remarks generally correspond to recent studies, with some exceptions in palaeontological and petrological issues. His understanding of natural processes, mainly in karstology and hydrology, is mostly surprisingly good. Besides, he addressed critics to previous writers, whose theories, influenced by older authorities, had been taken for granted instead of being re-examined by field explorations. His unjustly neglected work was the first extensive and comprehensive study of this part of Europe, little known in the then scientific community.