Smecchia


Smecchia is an aristocratic family of Serbo-Croatian origins. The vernacular is Smeća or Smekja.
Petar Smekja brought about the economic prosperity of the family, following his famous merchant undertaking when he established a trading route between Venice and the Baltic countries in his ship “Leon Koronato” in 1746. In 1748, he became a “Konte”, while in 1779 the family acquired the status of Kotor nobility.
A branch of the Smecchia family was notable in Perast, Boka Kotorska, Venetian Republic. The Smekja palace is the biggest of all palaces in Perast. The three-story edifice with belvedere was entirely built of stone brought from the island of Korcula. A terraced porch stretches along the whole length of the first floor, while the second and third floors are decorated with balustraded balconies. Above the entrance is the coat-of-arms of the casada Cizmaj – two crossed branches with five feathers on each one.
The earliest mention of the Smecchia family in Boka Kotorska is in a 1325 document. The Perast manuscript was discovered in the house of the Smecchia family in Perast.