Land of a thousand islands...

Croatia is indeed a land of a thousand islands! It has more than a thousand of them and every one of them is different. To be more precise, there are 1185 of them, located along 1.777 km of the Adriatic coast. Many are inhabited, but each and every one is exceptional, with its own story and destiny. Every trip to the Adriatic coast islands is a journey into the unknown, always different and breathtaking.

Fourteen islands of Brijuni are situated along the coast, seven kilometers between Pula and Rovinj. It is truly a small paradise full of true harmony of flora and fauna, historical monuments and modern hotels.

Krk is an island of idyllic nature , a peaceful oasis far away from the everyday world. It has a small airport and is divided from the mainland by the sea, but connected to it by a bridge. Krk is surrounded by islands Plavnik, Kormat, Galun, Prvicand Zec - special tourist destinations offering nature untouched by man. For those interested in excitement, the destinations such as the island towns of Baska, Malinska, Omisalj, Njivice, Krk and Punat, are the places needed to be visited.

Cres and Losinj were once connected by a channel dug up by the Romans, but are now apart. The town of Cres, is the center of the island. The town is full of historical monuments. The climate of Losinj is pleasant, what's more it has lots of woods, so it is both a holiday and health resort.

Susak is one of the rare islands created from sand. There are 20 million square meters of sand, which gives a specific flavor to the wine produced on Susak.

The next island of The Kvarner is Rab which in 1889, the local council proclaimed a bathing-place and health resort. The British King, Edward VIII especially encouraged tourism on Rab when he stayed there with his great love, the American Wallis Simpson. They say that he was the first to go swimming without any clothes and that this is how nudism was founded on Rab. Rab is one of the islands richest in forests with as many as three hundred springs of water.

Pag is an island full of olive groves, rich in sea salt, famous for its lace, cheese a world known delicacy, sheep's milk, live oil. Moving along to the islands Olib, Silba, Premuda, Vir, Dugi Otok, Lovrada and Pasman, you notice immediately that you have left the every day problems and bounds of society far behind you. The untouched nature lies in front of you. These islands will energize and enrich you, become your dream, with eyes wide open.

The island Ugljan is the 'suburban area' and a garden that lies in front of Zadar. There are more than 100.000 olive trees on this island, after which it got its name. The nearby Pasman island is actually a twin brother of Ugljan. They are equally beautiful and covered with silvery green olive groves. Iz is the island situated between Ugljan and Dugi Otok. It is just as famous for what it does and doesn't have - it has rich Mediterranean vegetation and doesn't have any cars!

Dugi Otok offers rest in preserved nature of an area of 114 square kilometers. The town of Telascica, situated there, is the biggest natural harbor of all the Adriatic islands, a nature park and a habitat for mouflon. Its rich woodsy northwestern coast is full of wide coves and a beautiful beach with a 41-meter high lighthouse. It's interesting that while the lighthouse was being built in 1949, approximately 100.000 yolks were added to the plaster, which prevented the sun and the sea from ruining its beauty!

According to the legend, Kornati labyrinth of sea passages and islands were created from the many rock cliffs that God had left over after he had finished making the World. He threw them into the sea, turned around and concluded that no other repairs were necessary. The infamous George Bernard Shaw said of this group of the most indented islands of the Adriatic and the Mediterranean that consist of 140 islands, islets and reefs: 'The God wanted to crown his work, so on the last day, from his tears, the stars and their breath he created Kornati." The islands are rich in fish and are often the destination of sport fishermen. Kornati are especially interesting for navigators.

Another picturesque island is 18 square kilometers large island of Murter, connected to the mainland by a bridge only 12 meters long. This is an island of fishermen, olive growers and ship builders with the towns of Tisno, Hramina, Betina and Jezera. The island Zlarin, southwest of Sibenik, was famous for coral and sponge harvesting in the 15th century.

Brac is the highest and by size the third island in the Adriatic. Covered with pine woods, vineyards and olive groves, it's world known for its stone, which has been used in the construction of many important buildings (e.g. The White House in Washington DC). The beautiful beach Zlatni rat is located in Bol, which is the biggest tourist town on the southern part of the island. The beach is located on a cape covered in pebbles which moves, depending on the wind and waves from one side to another. This is the only beach that changes its form day to day. There are also many other beaches and resorts on Brac - Postire, Milna, Supetar...

Hvar is the longest island of the Adriatic. This is an island of vineyards, olive groves and lavender. The island is surrounded by crystal cobalt sea, many springs of water and the largest number of sunny hours. The many stone houses along both coasts, which are connected by small bridges, achieve the harmonious unity of Stari Grad on Hvar. Hvar is an exceptional island, a pleasant winter and summer resort, with a mild climate and exuberant subtropical vegetation.

Far from the mainland and its worries is the island Vis, rich in palm trees, known for its fishermen, sailors, beautiful nature and diverse tourist offer. The Vis archipelago includes the islands Svetac (Sveti Andrija), Jabuka, Brusnik and the islands of Palagruza.

Although it's formally known as a peninsula, Peljesac is indeed like an island, separated from Korcula by a narrow channel. Ston and Mali Ston are picturesque towns that were the most important towns (after Dubrovnik) in the Dubrovnik Republic.

They say that Korcula is an island with the most legends and monuments and along with Lokrum and Mljet the Croatian island most covered with forests. Towards the end of the 13 th century near Korcula there was a naval battle between Venice and Genoa. Marco Polo, the famous traveler and travel book writer (who was born on Korcula) was on the side of the Venetians.

Far away out in the open sea is the island Lastovo of an area of 50 square kilometers, with an indented pebble coast with sandy beaches and a few islands on the west and east coast. The houses on Lastovo are built one above the other one: each one is entitled to its own share in the sun, air and the view.

Alongside Peljesac is the woodsy island of Mljet of an area of 100 square kilometers. Because of its thick alpine and stone pine, Karst caves, two picturesque lakes connected by the sea, many sandy and pebble beaches, many fishing-grounds rich in fish and lobsters, the western part of the island has been proclaimed a national park.

Not many people can determine the color of the Adriatic sea. Sometimes it's dark blue, sometimes greenish-blue. The fact is that the sea, depending on the time of day and the angle of the sun's rays overflows into a thousands nuances. However, it is always beautiful and unique.

Adriatic sea

The Adriatic sea's name origin is the name of an ancient port. It spreads from the Balkan to the Apennine peninsula. The Croatian part is the east coast, which extends from Prevlaka in the south to cape Savudrija in the west, including all islands, islets and cliffs along the coast, as well as the archipelago of Palagruza. The number of islands, islets and cliffs is more than 1700. Therefore, it's a unique area in Europe for cruising with yachts, motor boats, speedboats, also for enjoying the underwater world.

Natural heritage

Here I will present only a few of many Croatian national parks and parks of nature, in short. In the following articles I will be writing about each of them.

Vransko lake
Vransko lake is a lake and cryptodepression in Ravni Kotari, NE of Pakostane, near Zadar; the area spreads across 30.1 sq km (13.6 km long and up to 2.2 km wide, with depth up to 3.9 m).

Velebit
Almost 2,000 km2 long, the Velebit Nature Park is the largest protected area of Croatia, larger than all other protected areas taken together.

Plitvice lakes
Plitvice Lakes were declared a National Park in 1949, and is regarded as one of the most beautiful natural sites in Europe.

Historical facts and cultural heritage

Croatia is unique for its crystal clear and clean blue sea, as well as for a thousand years of cultural differences. These cultures have often replaced each other. The Adriatic Sea is a deep gulf in the Mediterranean, cut into the Continent of Europe, and creating most economical trade route between Europe and the East. It is also the cradle of ancient civilizations, inhabited as early as the beginning of the early Stone Age, with most of the accessible islands also inhabited (Hvar, Palagruza etc.).

Croatian coast with its numerous bays, inlets and coves, is a significant mercantile and nautical route. Archaeological findings prove that in the 6th century BC, the ancient Greeks had commerce with the Illyrians by means of the sea, and that they founded their colonies there (Pharos, today’s Starigrad, on the islands of Hvar and Issa – or Vis).

Later, the Romans built palaces and summer residences along the coast. There are also many underwater findings between Pula and Cavtat, which show that Romans spent much of their time on the sea as well. Such findings are mainly amphorae, which were used for storing everything from wine to wheat, oils and perfumes. The remains of Antique ships and their cargoes are literally everywhere. One of the most precious findings are remains of pythos or dolias, large pottery vessels which were used to transport bulk cargo (wheat, etc). One such site is near Cavtat, while another is near Murter.

A new era dawned with the arrival of the Slavs, a period characterized by constant struggle for supremacy and by defence against diverse enemies. Dubrovnik, eminent in its position as a republic, played a leading role in culture and trade. A 17th-century shipwreck bears witness to those times - a galley which sailed from Venice carrying muran glass, window glass, and other valuable objects, and was fitted with cannons. But during a storm it sank near the island of Olipe, off the coast of Dubrovnik.

In the 18th century, Napoleon ruled for a short period of time, after which he was replaced by the Austrian monarchy. During the next hundred years, Italy and Austria fought each other for supremacy of the east coast, culminating in the battle of Vis in 1866. The Austrian fleet, led by Admiral Tegetthoff, who commanded the battleship Erzherzog Ferdinand Max, was opposed by Admiral Persano, commander of the Italian fleet. In the battle, Persano, on his flag ship on his flag ship the battleship Re d’Italia, was roundly trounced by Tegetthoff, and the Italian fleet withdrew in defeat.

Testimony to those glorious times can be found not only on the mainland, but also under the sea in the shape of shipwrecks and remains of the detritus of great ships. The period of Austro- Hungarian rule commenced thereafter. Ports were built and fortified, trade and shipbuilding flourished. During the two World Wars, the Adriatic was one of the more important areas of battle, and there are many shipwrecks dating from those periods. Near Pula, for example, which at the time was a strategically vital naval harbour, twenty shipwrecks have been located, including a number of submarines, destroyers, and torpedo-boats The Adriatic Sea has always been an important maritime route between East and West, which can still be seen today because of the numerous relics, which remind us that the past should never be forgotten, but rather used as a lesson for the future.

General information about Croatia

Croatia spreads from far eastern parts of the Alps to the to the Panonian lowlands and banks of the Danube in the east. Croatian central part is covered by mountain Dinara, and the southern region spreads to the Adriatic Sea coast.

Croatian mainland covers over 56,500 km2 with the territorial sea of over 21,000 km2, with population of 4,437,460 inhabitants. National minorities are Serbs, Slovenes, Hungarians, Bosnians, Italians, Czechs and others.

Croatia is a multi-party parliamentary republic, capital is Zagreb with 779,145 inhabitants - the economic, traffic, cultural and academic centre of the country.

The coast is one of the most beautiful in the world, and Croatia is only recently being discovered by the tourist media all over the globe. The coast is 5,835 km long, of which 4,058 km comprise a coastline of islands, solitary rocks and reefs that count 1,185 and make Croatia the country with the largest number of islands in the world. The largest islands are Krk and Cres; there are 50 inhabited islands. The highest peak is Dinara at 1,831 meters above the sea level.

Croatia has two climate zones - temperate continental climate (locally also mountainous climate) in the continental part of the country, and pleasant Mediterranean climate along the coast. Overwhelming number of sunny days, dry and hot summers, mild and humid winters are the characteristics of Croatian climate.

Croatian currency is kuna, which consists of 100 lipa. Foreign currencies can be exchanged in banks, exchange offices and travel agencies, and cheques can be cashed in every bank.