In old
topography, the toponym Morlachia was given great importance on maps, sometimes being placed at the same "level" or at a superior one than regions such as
Bosnia or
Croatia. This can be explained by the important geographical position Morlachia had, being located between the
Ottoman Empire, the
Republic of Venice and the
Habsburg monarchy and its realms from the 16th to the 19th century. However, following the demise of Ottoman power in the region and the
fall of the Republic of Venice in the latter century, Morlachia lost relevance and the
Morlachs of the region became impoverished and eventually
assimilated into the local Slavic populations.
Alberto Fortis's 1774
travel book Viaggio in Dalmazia ("Journey to Dalmatia") described Morlachia and the Morlachs, who as he stated, called themselves "
Vlachs". This book achieved great popularity in Western Europe and started a whole literary movement known as
Morlachism, based on the depiction of the Morlachs by foreign writers. Other regions in the area were also known as Morlachia. One example was the Istrian Morlachia (), a name given to a region of
Istria formerly populated by Morlachs during the 16th century as a consequence of a colonization program by the Republic of Venice. Another example is a region around
Imotski identified as Morlachia during the 15th century. ==References==