CROATIA TO DISPLAY "GAJETA FALKUSA" AT EXHIBITION IN LISBON

ZAGREB, Sept 21 (Hina) - Croatia is to attend an international exhibition taking place in Lisbon in 1998 and will present its oldest ship-building and maritime heritage - gajeta Falkusa. Falkusa will be displayed at the world Ship Festival. Gajeta, a type of small ship, whose name "Falkusa" was given to it by Dalmatian fishermen, is the best examined ship of the Croatian ship-building and maritime heritage. It has one sail and four to six oars, it is nine to twelve metres long and has a motor these days. Falkusa is to sail to Lisbon, recalling the accomplishments of Croatian fishermen who had, at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, fished and processed fish in Lagos, La Coruna, Vigo, on the Atlantic shores of Portugal and Spain. Falkusa goes back to the past millennium, and Dalmatian ship- builders have adapted the ship to conditions of fishing and sailing on distant Adriatic islands. "In the past millennium, gajeta Falkusa caught more pilchards than any other ship in the Adriatic," the organisers said. Fishermen from the island of Vis acquired experience on this fishing boat, and became pioneers of fishing and fishing industry on the American Pacific shore. The boat greeted Pope Alexandar III on the Croatian island of Palagruza in 1177, and led a convoy of his galleys to Komiza on the island of Vis. The small ship secured a millennium-long presence of Croatian fishermen on Palagruza, enabling the island, only 27 miles from the Italian shore, to remain Croatian. On the day of St. Nicholas, protector of sailors, 6 December 1997, an EXPO representative from Lisbon will set fire to a sacrifice-ship in front of the Komiza church, for the protection of all sailors and ships. With an urn of ashes from the burnt ship, Falkusa will sail along the shores of Croatia, Italy, France, Spain and Portugal. Falkusa is expected to sail into the world exhibit on 12 June 1998. As part of the Lisbon festival of ships, the gajeta Falkusa's crew will display the sailing and rowing tradition of fishermen from the Adriatic. (hina) lm 271524 MET sep 97