Vis

Vis , Gr. Issa, Ital. Lissa, island (1991 pop. 4,338), 35 sq mi (91 sq km), Croatia, off the Dalmatian coast in the Adriatic. A popular resort, its chief industries are fishing, citrus farming, and wine making. Its chief town, also named Vis, is a picturesque village on the north coast. Ancient Issa was a Greek colony from the 4th cent. BC and later prospered under the Romans. From 996 to 1797 it was a Venetian possession, and in the Napoleonic Wars (1803-15) it changed hands among the Austrians, the French, and the British. From the Congress of Vienna (1815) until 1918 the island belonged to Hungary. Two important naval battles occurred off Vis: in 1811, the British won a victory over the French, and in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 the Austrians under Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff thoroughly defeated the Italian fleet. There are many ancient remains on the island, notably Roman baths, mosaic pavements, and several old Roman Catholic and Orthodox Eastern churches.

Vis is one of the Dalmatian Islands off the Yugoslav coast. It became an Allied stronghold, and a base for Tito and the partisans after the Germans, at the end of 1943, had overrun the Italian garrisons on most of the other islands and occupied the Yugoslav coastline. By May 1944, when German pressure forced Tito to make his HQ on the island for five months, the forces there included a British commando brigade, artillery units, elements of the Long Range Desert Group, the Raiding Support Regiment, and an Office of Strategic Services detachment. Aided by MTBs, these raided nearby German garrisons and ran supplies to the partisans on the mainland. See also Balkan Air Force.

Vis, Croatia Issa, Lissa An island and town founded by the Greeks in 390 bc. According to legend, it is named after Issa, a girl from Lesbos loved by Apollo.