Ivo Visin was a naval captain and explorer, who was praised in Yugoslavia as the first South Slav that circumnavigated the globe. He was the sixth man after Magellan who managed to fulfill this task, given to him by the Austrian court. Under the Habsburg flag, he left Antwerp in 1852, sailed by the dangerous Cape Horn and returned to Trieste in 1859. He was born in 1806 in Prčanj, which was at that time under Napoleon occupation. He studied in the local naval school and passed his captain exam in Trieste. After years of saving and hard work, he decided to place an order for his first ship, and that is how "Splendido" became the ship that will be used for the famous 100.000-mile trip. During the seven years of the expedition, he visited San Francisco, Honolulu, Hong Kong... He spent most of the time in the South Chinese Sea, he faced mutinies and often had to change the entire crew.
Ivo Visin House in Prčanj
On his return to the Empire, he was greeted as a hero, he was awarded the status of the honorary citizen of Trieste and was decorated by the Emperor himself, awarded with the highest imperial decorations and the Merito Naval flag that is kept in the Church of Our Lady in Prčanj still today.
The initiative on naming the Port of Kotor after the great captain is still pending at the local and national administration.
