Fonds HR-DADU-44 - Dogana; Doana; Dohana (Main customs house)

Identity area

Reference code

HR-DADU-44

Title

Dogana; Doana; Dohana (Main customs house)

Date(s)

  • 13th century - 19th century (Creation)

Level of description

Fonds

Extent and medium

72 volumes; 2 linear metres; textual records

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

Archival history

The Main Customs House operated according to the provisions of the Customs Statute of the Dubrovnik Republic from 1277, according to the amendments that were made later as well as according to the provisions of the Senate. The Main Customs House was managed by four customs officers (divonieri) elected from the nobility, who used to be first elected by the Minor Council and later by the Major Council. Prior to its being in the Sponza Palace (which was built in 1522), the Main Customs House had been placed in another building at the same location. The Sponza Palace also provided space for different warehouses for storage of merchandise and for a mint. This institution in Sponza was the main and the only customs office in the Republic until the collapse of the Republic in 1808. Its officials were in charge to collect import, export and transit customs duties, excise duties on domestic wine, oil, fresh and salted meat, tobacco customs duties, real estate, and boat trading fees, as well as to collect duties on deposits in Italian banks, income tax on houses owned by Dubrovnik residents abroad, or duties on ships, etc. Since 1521, another very important duty of customs officers was also to manage the affairs of the city mint and since 1662, customs officers were even allowed to give short-term loans to merchants. The so-called gümrük officers, who oversaw the payment of flat rate of customs duties that had to be paid by the Ragusans to the Ottomans, also operated within the Main Customs House.

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

The fonds has been linked to the archive since its inception. In times of the Dubrovnik Republic, the books of the fonds were stored in the Sponza Palace, where the state customs, called the Main Customs Building, was located. The archival material was relocated to the Rector’s Palace by 1891, when the archives were consolidated and were made available to researchers. The archive in the Rector's Palace has been functioning as an independent institution since 1920, and it was relocated in 1952 to the Sponza Palace, where it is still located today.

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

The fonds consists of two series Dogana (HR-DADU-44.1) and Giumruch (HR-DADU-44.2).

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

The fonds is fully accessible to researchers in accordance with the Ordinance on the work in the reading room of the State Archives in Dubrovnik and the Law on Archival Materials and Archives NN 61/18 (Pravilnik o radu u čitaonici Državnog arhiva u Dubrovniku and Zakon o arhivskom gradivu i arhivima NN 61/18).

Conditions governing reproduction

Taking photographs and scanning are allowed, for a fee.

Language of material

  • Italian

Script of material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Paper. The archival material is well preserved.

Finding aids

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

State Archives in Dubrovnik

Existence and location of copies

The fonds has been completely transferred to microfilms, but the microfilms are not available to the users of State Archives in Dubrovnik.

Related units of description

Related descriptions

Notes area

Alternative identifier(s)

Old reference code

Fonds of the Dubrovnik Republic and the territory of the former Republic under the French Administration, series 35 and 42

Access points

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Name access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Rules and/or conventions used

Descriptions of fonds, series and sub-series are made according to the ISAD (G) standard (general international standard archival description).

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation revision deletion

2021

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

Sources

Archivist's note

Description prepared by Vesna Miović (Fonds, Series, Subseries) Croatia [The Institute for Historical Sciences in Dubrovnik, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (CASA)] Translation to English by Zrinka Friganović Sain

Accession area

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