Ovaj rad prikazuje hodočašća i hodočasnike koji su s hrvatske obale putovali u Loreto i Asiz u 18. stoljeću. Na temelju 16.000 dokumenata Hrvatskih pomorskih regesta 18. stoljeća / Regesti marittimi croati del Settecento I-III, analizira se podrijetlo putnika, njihova brojnost i organiziranost u skupinama, vrijeme provedeno na hodočašću te godišnja doba i brodovi kojima su putovali. Posebna će se pozornost usmjeriti na male poduzetnike, kapetane i parune, Hrvate i Talijane, koji su ta hodočašća omogućili. Prva su dva sveska pomorskih regesta objavljena u Padovi (1985. i 1993.) a treći, koji je autorica ovog rada uredila za tiskanje, objavljen je prošle godine kao edicija Filozofskoga fakulteta Sveučilišta u Splitu (2017.). Dokumenti koji se odnose na hodočašća izdvojeni su i obrađeni računalnim programom koji omogućuje bržu analitiku i daljnji rad. Opisuje se tako priprema hodočasnika na jedan važan put, koji od osobne odluke postaje koralnim činom šire zajednice koja putuje i moli. Analizi vrela i obradi teme, uz klasičan historiografski pristup, kao i uzimanje u obzir postignuća socijalne, demografske i pomorske povijesti, prilazi se također sa stajališta antropologije svetoga, koja još od pretpovijesti upućuje na izvore i srž potrage za svetim i božanstvenim. Svako se vjersko iskustvo događa u određenom kulturnom i povijesnom okružju: ne može ga se svesti isključivo na povijesnu, društvenu ili psihološku dimenziju te unaprijed isključiti bilo koju transcendentalnu perspektivu. Povjesničar se ne smije povući pred tim iskustvima, nego treba jasno definirati ulogu čovjeka koji je utkan u samo izvorište vjerskoga fenomena. Dokumenti nisu samo zapisi ulaska i izlaska brodova iz luka, prijevoza robe, plaćenih taksi ili putovanja ljudi, oni nam govore o iskonskoj ljudskoj potrebi za nadnaravnim, koja se ne zadovoljava molitvom u zajednici u kojoj pojedinci žive i rade, nego se očituje i u spremnosti te odvažnosti na veliko putovanje, često neugodno i nesigurno, kako bi u hodu prema Nepoznatome spoznali ne samo vlastitu vjeru, nego u susretu s ljudima druge obale podijelili kulturnu, društvenu, vjersku i, dakako, ekonomsku koinè Mare Nostruma. Pronađena su ukupno 303 hodočašća prema Loretu i Asizu, koja svjedoče o 2.513 hodočasnika, raspoređenih ponajviše u velikim i organiziranim skupinama do čak 80-ero ljudi, a putovali su s istočne obale Jadrana – sa sjevera iz Umaga sve do juga iz Boke kotorske – prema tim starim i hrvatskim vjernicima dobro poznatim svetištima. Nad svima se ističu Lošinjani jer su svoju vjernost Majci Božjoj iskazali u 75 zabilježenih putovanja brojkom od 1.132 hodočasnika koji su kretali s toga velikoga kvarnerskog otoka. Novosti koje ovaj rad donosi su: - analiza 16.000 hrvatskih pomorskih vrela, od kojih je 4.000 tek objavljenih. Radi se o još neobrađenim dokumentima u hrvatskoj historiografiji, što nam donosi golemu bazu podataka te omogućuje potpuno nove uvide ne samo u povijest hrvatskog 18. stoljeća na Jadranu nego specifično i u hodočašća kao konstitutivan element hrvatske opće povijesti; - hermeneutika antropologije svetoga u povijesnoj analizi hodočašća; - uporaba računalnog pomagala (softvera) koji digitalizirane dokumente čita kao riječi (OCRira) te omogućuje spremanje u Excel, gdje se rezultati mogu usustaviti te sinoptički analizirati – što je u slučaju tako velikog broja dokumenata vrijedno metodološko rješenje i za buduća slična opsežna istraživanja., This dissertation describes pilgrimages and pilgrims who traveled from the Croatian coast to Loreto and Assisi in the 18th century. The origin of passengers, their number and organization into groups, the time they spent on the pilgrimage, as well as the seasons and vessels they traveled on have been analyzed based on 16,000 documents of the Croatian Maritime Regesta of the 18th century / Regesti marittimi croati del Settecento I-III. Particular attention will also be given to small entrepreneurs, captains and shipowners, Croats and Italians, who have made these pilgrimages possible. The first two volumes of the maritime regesta were published in Padua (1985 and 1993), while the third one, that the author of this work had edited for print, was issued last year as an edition of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Split (2017). The documents pertaining to pilgrimages have been singled out and processed using a computer program that provides for faster analytics and facilitates further work. The dissertation describes the pilgrims' preparation for such an important journey, which transforms from a personal decision into a choral act of a broader community that travels and prays. In addition to the classical historiographic approach and consideration given to the achievements of social, demographic and maritime history, the analysis of sources and coverage of the topic are also approached from the point of view of anthropology of the sacred, which indicates the sources and essence of the quest for the sacred and the divine since prehistoric times. A religious experience happens in a certain cultural and historical environment: one cannot reduce it solely to the historical, social or psychological dimension, or rule out in advance any transcendental perspective. A historian must not withdraw before those experiences but rather define clearly the role of man woven into the very source of the religious phenomenon. The documents are not mere records of the arrivals and departures of vessels from ports, of the transport of goods, paid taxes and people’s journeys. They testify to the primordial human need for the supernatural, which does not settle merely for prayer in the community in which one lives and works, but is rather manifested in the readiness and boldness to embark on a long journey, often uncomfortable and unsafe, in order not only to realize in the walk towards the Unknown one's own faith, but also to share in meeting people from the other coast the cultural, social, religious and, naturally, economic koinè of Mare Nostrum. A total of 303 pilgrimages to Loreto and Assisi have been found, attesting to 2,513 pilgrims travelling, mostly in large and organized groups of up to 80 people, from the east coast of the Adriatic - from Umag in the north to Boka Kotorska in the south - to these old and to Croatian believers well-known sanctuaries. At the forefront were the residents of Lošinj, who had demonstrated their loyalty to the Mother of God in 75 recorded journeys with 1,132 pilgrims setting off from that great Kvarner island. The novelties presented in this dissertation are three-fold: - Analysis of 16,000 Croatian maritime sources of which 4,000 have just been published. These are as of yet unprocessed documents in the Croatian historiography, providing us with a huge database and enabling us to gain completely new insights not just into the history of the Croatian 18th century in the Adriatic, but specifically into pilgrimages as a constitutive element of general Croatian history; - Hermeneutics of the anthropology of the sacred in the historical analysis of pilgrimages; - Use of computer software that reads digitalized documents like words (OCR) and enables saving them as Excel documents in which results can be systematized and synoptically analyzed – which in the case of such a large number of documents is also a valid methodological solution for similar and further extensive research.