Institute for Monument Protection from Split delivered in 1992 to Regional Museum in Kaštela the findings discovered in 1974/1975 during archeological research around the church of St. Juraj od Raduna in Kaštel Stari. It was the beginning of medieval collection which was fulfilled by its own research in Bijaći – Stombrate. Croatians have been populating this area from the 7th century changing its ethnic and cultural picture for Kaštela’s Bay and also for the whole Dalmatia. Salona was destroyed, Siculi was deserted and forgotten, Epetij closed. Only Trogir and Split are sustained, that is, the Diocletian’s Palace. Croatia is being developed in the hinterland of the ancient towns.
In the 9 centura in the area of previous Salona’s field, one of the state’s center was established – The Klis Parish, county or, as Byzantine emperor the writer the Constantine Porphyrogenitus called it the Parathalassisa – having its headquarters in Bijaći and Klis.
Croatian peasants, drawn to fertile Salona’s field, populate the slopes of Trećanica, Kozjak and Mosor, creating in this way the chain of their settlements – villages. Those Croatian villages operated under social relations attributed to free peasant communities, although the archeological findings from the toms reveal that the process of social differentiation started rather early. The sources which are archeologically confirmed or those from oral tradition of today’s people from Kaštela provide us with names of those pre-Kaštela, old Croatian villages from west to east: Babe, Bijaći (chirch of St. Marta), Žestinj-Miran (church of St. Juraj of Žestinja), Špiljan (church of Our Lady of Stomorija), Radun, Šušnjari (church of St. Juraj of Raduna or Podmorja or Šušnjara), Ostrog (church of St. Lovre), Lažani (church of St. Mihovil), Kruševik (church of St. Martin), Kozice (church of St. Kuzma and Damjan), Putalj (church of St. Juraj).
Villages at the foot of Kozjak lived through the whole Middle Ages, until the 15th century when Turkish attacks and conquest grew stronger. New life begins, new urban communities – Kaštela. Residents did not forget their origins thus they proudly point out the old freedoms and continue some traditions. So even today they pilgrim to Our Lady of Stomorija, to St. John of Biranj, the old-village spring blessing of fields ends at St. Juraj of Raduna and so on.
