In the village of Sv. Martin (St Martin) in Podstrana, the first Croatian international peace treaty was signed in 839 by the Croatian Duke Mislav and the Venetian Doge Pietro Tradonico. This treaty acknowledged the superiority of the Croatian fleet and regulated the movement of Venetian vessels through Croatian seas. This deed is held to be the first independent action made by a Croatian ruler.
There is a great likelihood that the layers of earth in St Martin could be hiding the foundations of an early Christian funerary basilica that was razed during the wave of rampages in the early 7th century. The worldly and sacred dignity of the village was restored by the Croatian Duke Mislav in the mid-9th century.
As the Venetian chronicles familiar to us by their transcriptions from the 11th century state, he made peace with Doge Pietro Tradonico in 839 in Sancti Martini curtis, meaning the Castle of St Martin. This act is witness not only to the superiority of the Croatian fleet, but is also valuable as the first historically documented independent action of a Croatian ruler.
The church dedicated to St Martin, built by Duke Mislav or someone who preceded him, is mentioned in multiple later sources and on the list of churches in the Archdiocese of Split in the early 18th century, but was razed in 1882 due to its ramshackle condition. Immediately after, a new church was built at a slightly westward location. It preserves a statue of the saint, ordered after the construction of the church, and an octagonal stone font from the old church.
The funerary piety of the Roman Petuntium also remained preserved in St Marin – some of the most illustrious individuals of Podstrana (like the priest Petar Car) were buried at the St Martin graveyard, which was always mentioned together with the church.
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