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Croatia May - November 2021

Don’t Just Visit Croatia, Live it!

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Zagreb Card24 98 kn

It also includes discounts at more than 55 locations such as museums, galleries, restaurants, shops, and others. From now on, Zagreb Card can be purchased online, at the Visitor Centre on Zagreb`s main square and at Franjo Tuđman Airport.

Zagreb Card72 135 kn

Photo: J. Duval

Advantages of Zagreb Card: — Unlimited access to public transportation —Free admission to city attractions

Free admission to the Museum of the City of Zagreb, the Museum of Arts and Crafts, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Museum of Broken Relationships and the Zagreb ZOO. For more information, visit our website at www.zagrebcard.com

Contents

75 Also in this issue

Zagreb in Transition

The capital city of Croatia is definitely going through big changes

What to see and do in Karlovac

Karlovac lays on 4 rivers, half an hour from the capital, and offers many opportunities for a good vacation

Five New Faces in Croatian Culture

Meet some new contributors

History Talk: Master Meštrović

Do you know who Ivan Meštrović is? He’s been a major topic in Chicago lately

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10 Authentic Cultural Food Experiences

We are sure you’ve never seen these dishes on the menu

Zen Nature Trips

If you only see these three places in Croatia, you will have amazing experiences to remember

Dalmatian paradise 6 places that are perfect for a total getaway

Foreword ON THE COVER Publisher Plava Ponistra d.o.o., Zagreb ISSN 1333-2732 Company Office & Accounts Croatia In Your Pocket, Paška 37 Zagreb, Croatia www.inyourpocket.com Accounting Management Mi-ni d.o.o. Editorial Editor Višnja Arambašić Contributors Nataly Anderson-Marinović, Ivana Kovačić, Jonathan Bousfield, Lee Murphy Assistant Editor Kristina Štimac, Maja Vidović Sales Kristijan Vukičević, Kristina Štimac, Višnja Arambašić zagreb@inyourpocket.com Design Moontage, Ivana Mihoković Photography Zagreb In Your Pocket team unless otherwise stated Cover Marin Magaš If you have any comments or questions feel free to contact us: zagreb@inyourpocket.com

Zapuntel is a village on the island of Molat, a beautiful island in the Zadar archipelago surrounded by abundant greenery of island plants and crystal clear sea. Photo by Marin Magaš

Croatia In Your Pocket

Copyright notice Text, maps and photos copyright Plava ponistra d.o.o. Maps copyright cartographer. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, except brief extracts for the purpose of review, without written permission from the publisher and copyright owner. The brand name In Your Pocket is used under license from UAB In Your Pocket (Bernardinu 9-4, Vilnius, Lithuania tel. (+370-5) 212 29 76). Zagreb (Croatia) In Your Pocket is not responsible for any information which might change after publication. Please check with the event organisers if in doubt.

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5 Must-Have Croatian Moments

Photo by Boris Kačan

5 Must-Have Croatian Moments So what exactly does Croatia have to offer? The answer is a lot. Far too much to put in one magazine. And certainly far too much to put in this introduction. Putting together a list of highlights is a difficult if not impossible task. Here are just five themes that make the place special; and as soon as you have spent any length of time there yourselves, you will no doubt come up with ideas of your own. facebook.com/CroatiaInYourPocket

May - November 2021

5 Must-Have Croatian Moments Islands Croatia’s coastal waters are scattered with islands (do we really have to mention that there are over 1000 of them?), each of which is a world in its own right. Many of them boast busy little towns, fertile fields covered in vineyards, and an array of halfhidden beaches and intimate coves. Others are little more than scraps of rock. Each of the inhabited islands has its own character, expressed through folk traditions, food specialities and very often a local dialect as well. All of them are surrounded by some of the clearest waters in Europe, and come with a chorus of singing crickets to soothe you into lotus-eating mood.

Croatia In Your Pocket

Photo by National Park Kornati Archives

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5 Must-Have Croatian Moments Water, woods and green spaces Croatia is a nature-lovers paradise, with huge areas of the country made up of unspoiled natural wilderness. A never-ending chain of majestic mountains runs all the way down the coast, flanked by starkly beautiful plateaus of glittering green Mediterranean maquis. Set amidst the porous limestone karst are sparkling lakes shrouded by emerald forests prowled by bears and wolves. Further inland, great rivers such as the Sava, Drava and Danube water the great plains and dense forests of eastern Croatia, fringed by wetland areas rich in birds, fish and frogs. Whether you are into hiking, biking, wild river swimming or simply communing with nature, Croatia has it all. Roški slap, Photo by National Park Krka Archives Dances from island of Susak, Photo by Lado Archives

History and heritage Numerous civilizations have left their mark on a region that has been a crossroads of human exchange since the earliest times. This is the country where the Vučedol culture engraved star calendars on their ceramic pots over 4000 years ago; Illyrian tribes constructed hilltop forts; and Roman Emperor Diocletian famously built a retirement palace that still survives today. Croatia’s churches, palaces and fortresses provide visitors with a living, three-dimensional encyclopedia of the best in Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque art. Traditions are jealously guarded; each region has its own folk costumes, songs and dances. With a new generation of museums showing Croatia’s culture off in modern, multi-media style, there has never been a better time to explore it.

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5 Must-Have Croatian Moments Food The soul of a nation can be found in its food, and the Croatian diet is as varied as any n Europe. On the coast. fresh seafood is plucked from the velvety waters of the Adriatic; while further inland, paprika spice is added to rich stews; or the aromatic smoke of a thousand barbeques rises into the air on summer afternoons. Food is something that should be savoured and enjoyed rather than rushed; and working one’s way through the regional delicacies makes Croatia a real gourmet’s delight. And wherever you end up, you’re likely to be eating foodstuffs that haven’t travelled all that far. The Croatian food chain still confers pride of place to local markets, family farms, or the fishing boat that has just landed. Photo by Kulenarnica

Continent and coast Croatia is often described as the place where the Central European and Mediterranean worlds meet, a cliché that is for once borne out by geographical realities. Being able to sample life on both sides of the divide is one of the things that makes the country so unique. The sun-kissed coastal strip with its olives, palms and stone-built houses is very different to the green hills and onion-domed churches of the north and east. Zagreb, with its roots in CentralEuropean history, is very different to the bustle of the coastal cities, where thronging markets, medieval alleys and ferry-filled ports provide a true Mediterranean experience. PaklenicaNational Park, Photo by Aleksandar Gospić 10 Croatia In Your Pocket

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Central Croatia

Denis Stošić, Aquatika Archives

Central Croatia Croatia’s capital Zagreb is an elegant and easy-going city, boasting a host of historical attractions and an addictive outdoor café-life. The surrounding area consists of rolling hills, cute market towns and vine-covered slopes. facebook.com/CroatiaInYourPocket

May - November 2021

Central Croatia

The Street Triptych project: this summer the streets of Zagreb will be painted with street art. To find them, just follow on Instagram @ulicnitriptih 12 Croatia In Your Pocket

croatia.inyourpocket.com Photo by Ulični triptih Archives

Central Croatia zagreb

Zagreb in Transition

The old heart of Zagreb, Gornji grad, is a charming mix of historic buildings, churches and baroque palaces in the peaceful surrounding with almost no traffic. Don’t miss the landmark of the city - the colourful roof of St Mark’s Church framed by the Parliament and the Government buildings. Mind the midday cannon blast from the Lotrščak tower, a tradition that stretches back for over a century. A medieval Stone Gate, today a pilgrimage place, tells us a story of the raging fire and the Gate’s miraculous survival in the 18th century. It’s a short walk from here to the neighbouring hill of Kaptol and the soaring towers of the Zagreb Cathedral, and then onto Dolac farmers market with fresh produce from the surrounding villages. Nicknamed “the belly of Zagreb” this lively open-air market is dotted with red umbrellas protecting its vendors from the sun and rain all year round. Stroll down the steps and you’re on Trg bana Jelačića, Zagreb’s central square. For shopping, continue down Ilica street, a busy shopping mecca with artisan workshops and boutiques. Take a coffee break on Tkalčićeva street, also known as a street of cafes. Croatians are very big on coffee culture and Tkalčićeva street, lined up with outdoor terraces on both sides, is the perfect example. Downtown area boasts a Green Horseshoe – a line of eight landscaped parks-squares in the centre of Zagreb. Zrinjevac Park, being one of them, is flanked by the elegant buildings and 150-years old plane trees. The city’s largest park is Maksimir which is a 20 min tram ride from the Central square. Here you can enjoy many hiking paths and promenades, boat rides and a special attraction – a City Zoo. Top your city break with a tasty meal at one of city’s numerous restaurants varying from hearty continental to light Mediterranean dishes.

It has been something of an eventful year in the Croatian capital, what with pandemic lockdowns, earthquakes, and much talk about what the future holds for a changing city. Some things have changed in Zagreb, some things have kept on going: here are our reflections on five contemporary phenomena affecting the face of the city.

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Outdoor exhibitions Museum and gallery closures due to Covid-19 restrictions and earthquake damage meant that more art took place on the streets than behind closed doors. There has also been a renewed focus on outdoor exhibitions in general, and the way in which the city itself can function as a cultural space. Initiatives such as Street Triptych, which invites street artists to cover vacant spaces in the city centre, have signalled a new appreciation of street murals and the people who paint them. Among key cultural institutions, the Art Pavilion has responded to the need for post-earthquake repairs by organizing sculpture exhibitions outside the gallery. From April 2021 exhibitions have been taking place on the café-lined Cvijetni trg, right in the middle of the city-centre pedestrian precinct, thanks to solar-powered panels that are able to display work in a way that is far better than simply putting posters on open-air display boards. With initial exhibitions devoted to landscapes and cultures of particular regions or countries, it’s almost like an outdoor illustrated encyclopedia: a great place to enjoy great photography and learn something at the same time. Parks are the new promenades Zagrebians have always been fond of parklife – and there’s no doubt that the events of the last year have made the city’s green spaces more important. Not only were they a place to escape the physical restrictions of lockdowns or fears of tremors – they were also the perfect places in which to soothe way the stress of being an urban dweller in an age when urban life suddenly became more complicated. Maksimir, the vast expanse of landscaped lawns, lakes and woodland 3km east of the centre, is now more popular than ever. The same can be said of Bundek, the lakeside park south of the river; the walking and cycling tracks along the Sava river embankment; or the slopes of Medvednica, the mountain that looms above the city to the north. Indeed if someone without prior knowledge of Zagreb was to start writing a guidebook to the city from scratch in 2021, they would probably start with the parks rather than the museums and the churches; it’s in the parks that the life and soul of the city is to be found. May - November 2021

Central Croatia Zagreb has a new-old art museum Despite being stacked full of nineteenth- and twentieth-century masterpieces, Zagreb’s Modern Gallery was always misunderstood, overshadowed in the public mind by other art collections in the city. People knew it was an art gallery, but didn’t realize how crucial a component of the nation’s artistic heritage it actually was. A subtle change of name and a significant rehang of the contents has sharpened the picture. Now rebranded as the National Museum of Modern Art, it serves as the perfect showcase for Croatia’s emergence as a cultural power, and makes for essential viewing for anyone intending to visit the (somewhat better known) Museum of Contemporary Art on the south side of the river.

Jarun Lake, Photo by Mateo Vrbnjak

Relax, this is Croatia Croatia’s much vaunted coffee-drinking culture has, in a way, come to the nation’s rescue. Throughout much of the pandemic period café terraces have been open, even if the interiors have not. Morning coffees have become even more important daily rituals, to be appreciated and savoured in quiet defiance of bad news elsewhere. During strict lockdown periods residents bought takeaway coffees from vending machines or places that were permitted to sell hot drinks, and collected, discreetly, on the streets where they would normally sit at a café table. Zagreb was actually a comforting place to be throughout much of 2020, an outdoor city that took things in its stride. Welcome to the Swamp All levels of Zagreb cultural life have suffered enormously as a result of covid-19 and the earthquake, However one alternative club has continued to provide its regular public with a cultural diet throughout all stages of the pandemic, while scrupulously adhering to any regulations imposed. Currently celebrating its 22nd year in operation, Močvara (The Swamp) navigated the first lockdown by broadcasting (via its social media pages) concerts performed by the city’s indie musicians in their own homes. After the tentative re-openings of late spring 2020, the club organized concerts, film nights and other cultural events by strictly controlling numbers and insisting on advance reservations. The club kept going through the winter of 2020-21 by constantly revising its seating policies in line with the latest regulations. Through improvisational agility and the understanding of its fans, Močvara ensured a measure of continuity in a sphere of culture that has always been in Zagreb’s blood.

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Central Croatia Photo by Mali Zagreb Archives

Zagreb Top Sights Mirogoj Cemetery Situated on the slopes of the Medvednica mountain, it is one of the most beautiful cemeteries in Europe. Limegreen cupolas top the wall that surrounds the memorial park. Mirogoj is not only a burial place but also a beautiful park and open art gallery. Not far from the present mortuary, in the period between 1852 and 1895 there stood the summer house of the Illyrian leader, Ljudevit Gaj. After his death the municipality bought the complete estate and constructed the central Zagreb cemetery upon it. The well-known architect Herman Bollé designed the shape of the cemetery, applying a monumental composition of arcades, pavilions and domes, intermingled with rich vegetation, and adding a gallery of sculptures by Croatian sculptors. Getting There Bus N°106 from the Cathedral to Mirogoj takes 15min. You can also take tram N°14 from the main square heading east (to Mihaljevac) and get out at the fourth stop (Gupčeva zvijezda). Nikola Šubić Zrinski Square The combination of the outdoor gazebo, expertly manicured lawn, flowers, enormous trees, fountains and statues make this sucker a brilliant place to take a load off. This is the park closest to Trg bana Josipa Jelačića and you’ll be thrilled to see that its also a make-out point: local lovers show-off their most complex and passionate manoeuvres free of charge in this baby.

mali zagreb

Mali Zagreb is a series of miniature installations within the city of Zagreb. The author of the project is Filip Filković Philatz. Unexpected joy for big and small ‘people’

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May - November 2021

Central Croatia St Mark’s Church The spectrum of colours displayed on the roof beautifully depicts the Croatian, Dalmatian and Slavonian coats-of-arms and also the Zagreb city emblem and provides for quite a lasting visual. Due to various natural disasters it has received a ton of reconstruction and not a whole lot remains of the original 14th century building. Inside, highlights include two works by Ivan Meštrović, Croatia’s most famous sculptor, and frescoes by artist Jozo Kljaković. Stone Gate This archway was one of the four original entries into the walled Gornji grad of the feudal period. In 1731 a terrible fire destroyed much of the town, and legend has it that a vision of the Virgin Mary could be seen in the burnt ash that remained in this entry. It was reconstructed in 1760 and hasn’t been touched since. Today you’ll find ladies praying in the church pews, black-soot ceilings and candles glowing as a testament to a people and their faith.

The Cathedral of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary A wonder of neo-Gothic artistry, the impressive and sharp looking towers stand out from nearly anywhere you are in the entire city. Though it’s in an evidently permanent state of reconstruction, it’s undeniably overwhelming and will push you to ponder those larger things we can see you’ve been avoiding. Go ahead and wander inside but don’t forget to turn the mobile off. A brief history: 1093 - founded; 1242 - the initial Romanesque construction is finished. In the next 21 years it’s heavily damaged in various sieges by the Tatars; 1624 - a series of sweeping fires practically destroys it; 1645 - another wave of fires picks up where the last left off. It’s reconstructed; 1880 - sustains serious damage during an earthquake. A 12-year restoration takes place, at which time the neo-Gothic bell towers are raised skyward; 1990 - exterior renovations set in motion to battle against the effects of time. Zagreb Cathedral is currently closed due to damage caused by the earthquake which hit the Zagreb area on 22 March 2020. At the moment you can only view it from the outside.

Tkalčićeva street, Photo by Sanjin Kaštelan, Zagreb Tourist Board Archives 16 Croatia In Your Pocket

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Central Croatia

The most popular local dessert, Samoborska kremšnita, is now legally protected as an autochthonous Croatian brand. The original recipe was created in the 1920s by confectioner Đuro Lukačić. People are still waiting in line to try it

Zagreb around

Hrvatsko Zagorje

In the hills embracing Zagreb from the north and the gentler plains to the south, the city seems a world away. The picturesque town of Samobor, with its pretty square and a long history of craftsmanship, lures you with its famous samoborska kremšnita - the best custard cake in Croatia, accompanied with bermet - a sweet aperitif wine stemming from Napoleon times. The Samobor Nature Park and the nearby Plešivica hills offer great wine routes to explore amid spectacular scenery covered in forest and vineyards. The region, including the nearby Žumberak hills is popular with the hikers. Also, west of Zagreb there’s some great fishing spots near the village of Sveta Nedelja. Crna Mlaka bird reserve is a stone throw from the town of Jastrebarsko. At Zaprešić you’ll enjoy the stroll around the typical 19th century feudal estate once owned by a famous Jelačić family that produced the most notable viceroy in the Croatian history. To the south of Zagreb lies Velika Gorica – the biggest city of the county with wooden manor houses and charming wooden churches scattered all around. Close-by are the remains of the Roman settlement - Andautonia. To the east, the hills around Sveti Ivan Zelina attract visitors with its scenic roads and the award-winning wines.

Zagorje is a historic region of rolling hills dotted with castles and mansions, traditional rural architecture, spas and farmsteads serving delicious local food. Its central town, Krapina, has a fine square and a highly significant finding of Neanderthal remains. The award-winning Krapina Neanderthal Museum offers multimedia and interactive exhibits that gives us a vivid insight into the lives of our ancestors. Fast forward a few millennia and visit a mighty Veliki Tabor castle, the best example of medieval fortification in this part of Croatia. On a nearby hill visit a picturesque farmstead Grešna gorica and try some of the local specialties: Zagorje štrukli – a specialty of the region composed of dough and fresh cottage cheese which can be either boiled or baked, roasted duck with mlinci - a homemade pasta dish, rich Zagorje soup with mushrooms, bacon and potatoes. If you have some room left, try their delicious strudels made from cherries, plums or apples. Kumrovec open-air museum is only 20 minutes away and is a definite must. Beautifully restored village with traditional wooden houses show you what the life looked like 150 years ago. Kumrovec was also a birthplace of the controversial communist leader Josip Broz Tito and his family house has been well preserved. At the nearby Klanjec there’s a gallery representing magnificent works by a Croatian sculptor Antun Augustinčić. Further east, a well-frequented pilgrimage spot, Marija Bistrica, boast a beautiful neo-gothic church and is the most important Marijan shrine in Croatia. Choose a spa resort to your taste: try Tuheljske Toplice, Krapinske Toplice or Stubičke Toplice. Some of them stem from the Roman times.

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May - November 2021

Central Croatia

Zagorje EDEN Destinations Just north of Zagreb, on the other side of the Medvednica mountain, lies a pristine green region with rich cultural and historical heritage. It is crisscrossed with rivers and streams, crowned by picturesque hills, and has many traditional wine cellars and beautiful vistas. Here you can experience the authentic country life undisturbed by the usual city chaos, hustle and bustle. Zagorje region is the traditional part of Croatia where many of the customs are preserved; where the food is of superb quality and completely organic. It is a magical place that alleviates tension and stress, a place where one can relax and recharge batteries. So, what is it that attracts us to Zagorje? Besides the highest concentration of castles in Croatia and a number of great wine cellars, Zagorje abounds in Thermal Spas and Wellness. Some of these thermal springs have been in use since the Roman times. The healing powers of the spas are believed to cure or ameliorate the symptoms of many ailments, thanks to their unique mineral content. The three top ones listed below are proud owners of the European Des18 Croatia In Your Pocket

tination of Exellance title and are recognized as EDEN destinations. Terme tuhelj, Krapinske toplice or Stubičke toplice all provide wellness retreats with healing properties of their own springs. There are numerous accommodation options in the area, ranging from modern apartments or houses near the tourist centers, to households in secluded areas amidst the beautiful natural surroundings, serving as a perfect escape from the city hustle and bustle. You may also look up the exclusive Terme Tuhelj Glamping Village. Tuheljske Toplice (thermal spas) The Water Planet of Terme Tuhelj is the largest swimming pool complex in Croatia with many water attractions. Accommodation is offered in a 4-star Hotel Well that comprises spacious rooms, a sauna & jacuzzi and an amazing Aqua Park surrounded by a lush landscape of rolling hills. Krapinske Toplice (thermal spas) Krapinske Toplice with its wellknown thermal spas is nestled in a beautiful valley, close to the Slove-

Biser Zagorja Archives

nian border. It is popular because of its numerous health care facilities with water rich in calcium and magnesium content, that treats everything from spine conditions to diabetes and heart disease. It has a new Aquae Vivae water park, a spa centre with saunas, and a restaurant. You can stay at the Hotel Villa Magdalena, the first exclusive, small four-star hotel boasting luxury units in Zagorje. Stubičke Toplice (thermal spas) The first spa resort dates back to 1811 when the Bishop of Zagreb, Maksimilian Vrhovac, financed the construction of the building in Stubičke Toplice with an indoor swimming pool which was later named after him, “Maksimilianeum”. Today it is a prominent spa and rehabilitation centre, equipped with modern medical equipment for providing quality physiotherapy services and medical rehabilitation. The accommodation facilities include the Special Hospital with three interconnected facilities and a capacity of 267 beds and the hotel Matija Gubec 2* with an indoor pool and a restaurant serving local specialties. croatia.inyourpocket.com

Central Croatia Međimurje

Karlovac

Međimurje is Croatia’s northernmost county, the mystic ‘island’ between the rivers Mura and Drava. Its capital, Čakovec, once the seat of the Zrinski counts, today is a town of parks and flowers exploding in May with a colourful carpet of peonies. Don’t miss out on Čakovec Castle and the Međimurje Museum housed in the Zrinski Palace. Out of town, seek out the last surviving mill from 1902, visit the nearby Miller’s House converted into a museum and walk down the educational Miller’s path that meanders a couple of kilometers along another of the Mura’s striking creations - an oxbow lake. The Međimurje region is known for excellent wines, and there are ample wine routes to explore. Look out for pušipel, a noted local wine only made in Međimurje. There’s also a route showcasing traditional crafts. After exploring, take a break at Sveti Martin Spa Resort by the river Mura. Međimurje cuisine is a world unto itself. Made with local, fresh-off-the-farm ingredients, Međimurje most renowned dishes date back to the 17th century. Definitely try turoš – a cheese with paprika, pretepena juha – thick cream soup, meso z tiblice – cooked cured meat from the wooden barrel, ćurke – white and black sausages. For dessert, dig into the mouth-watering međimurska gibanica, a layer cake made from apples, poppy seeds, walnuts and cream cheese.

All major roads in Croatia pass through Karlovac, especially if you’re on your way to the coast. We warmly recommend to make a stop here and explore the city and its surroundings. Karlovac was founded in 1579 as Karlstadt, an important fortress protecting the Austrian Empire against the Ottoman attacks. The fortress was built in a defensive star shape and the oldest parts of the city lie within. On the old main Square, you’ll find the Church of the Holy Trinity, a Franciscan monastery and the Municipal museum. Karlovac lies on four beautiful rivers, popular for swimming, rafting, canoeing and fishing, and one of Croatia’s best beers, Karlovačko pivo, is brewed here. As of 2016 Karlovac has a unique Freshwater Aquarium situated on the right bank of the Korana river. The Aquatika represents flora and fauna of Croatia’s rivers and lakes with around hundred freshwater fish species, including twenty endemic ones. Only 4 km from the centre of Karlovac, in Turanj, there is another place of interest – the Museum of the Homeland War. Turanj was a strategically important point in the city’s defence and today it serves as a permanent memorial to the War in the 90s. The Museum’s display is presented in a modern and interactive way, with 350 original artifacts, more than three hours of multimedia content, video presentations, animations and films. There is plenty to see in Karlovac’s surrounding – don’t miss the hilltop castle at Ozalj, and Rastoke, a charming traditional village dominated by watermills and waterfalls, a fantastic natural spa that will delight every visitor.

varaždin Varaždin, dating back to the 12th century, was once home to the region’s wealthiest nobles, landowners and artisans, especially in the late 1700s when the city flourished and served as the capital of Croatia. Within and outside Croatia’s borders, Varaždin is well known for its beautifully preserved baroque historic core which hosts the Baroque evenings - a popular annual event. It is a city rich in monuments and art heritage - churches, museums and monasteries… plenty for the avid culture vulture. A walk down the City’s streets will further reveal numerous palaces, villas and one of the oldest city halls in Europe. The gothic-renaissance fortress of the Old Town of Varaždin dominates the center, while on the outskirts you’ll find the Varaždin Cemetery with fantastic landscape architecture that counts among the nicest in Europe. Don’t miss out on the Museum of Bugs – a great fun for the little ones too. Varaždin’s everyday life is best experienced at the City market, known as ‘Varaždinski plac’. Out of town, Lepoglava is known for its beautiful church and delicate bobbin lace; Ludbreg, with its Shrine of the Holy Blood of Christ is a major pilgrimage place, while the fairy-tale Trakošćan castle with its forest-park and a lake is one of the most romantic places in Croatia. Round up your day with traditional local comforts such as sauerkraut, game dishes, cottage cheese with sour cream, pumpkin seed oil, buckwheat mash and žganica – fiery plum brandy. facebook.com/CroatiaInYourPocket

Mrežnica, Photo by Saša Žic

May - November 2021

Central Croatia What to see and do in Karlovac It may be true that all roads lead to Rome, but if you ask a Croatian, all roads also go through Karlovac. Discover the life of the town on four rivers with some of the most amazing parks in Croatia. Karlovac Star, Photo by Karlovac Tourist Board Archives

KARLOVAC MUSTS Dubovac Castle The Dubovac Castle is one of the best-preserved and most beautiful monuments of medieval architecture in Croatia. Built on a prehistoric hill above the river Kupa, it was named after the dubs, the oaks growing on the surrounding slopes. The castle changed hands many times throughout history and its current appearance is the result of a comprehensive restoration carried out during the mid-twentieth century. Within the castle you will come across a museum and a nice cosy restaurant with a touch of Medieval times. www.visitkarlovac.hr/stari-grad-dubovac The Star The most interesting feature of Karlovac is its star formation, designed for purposes of defense in keeping out the troublesome Turks. This sixpointed star formed an interestingly different type of fortress, one based on ditches and a moat.The charming little streets of the Old Town will take you to the central square of Ban Jelačić with recognizable city land20 Croatia In Your Pocket

marks - the Catholic church of the Holy Trinity with the adjacent Franciscan monastery and the Orthodox church of St Nicholas. The monastery houses a museum with an impressive collection of sacrosanct art accumulated by the Franciscans who once had an important educational role in Karlovac. www.visitkarlovac.hr/zvijezda The Museum Experience The museum is situated in the oldest Karlovac mansion, a former Frankopan residence. It was founded at the very beginning of the 20th century, as a place to preserve the town’s memories and items of historical values. Collection comprises seven departments. The museum takes care of the collections and exhibition spaces in four more locations, the Vjekoslav Karas Gallery, the Branič Tower at the Dubovac Castle, the Ribar family house in Vukmanić, Firefighting Museum, Franciscan Museum and the Homeland War Museum in Turanj. visitkarlovac.hr/the-townmuseum

RELAXATION SPOTS Karlovac parks A local historian once described Karlovac as ‘a town within a park‘, which is definitely an impression a visitor gets on arrival.If you take a walk down the Grand Promenade (Šetalište dr. Franje Tuđmana), with a five-fold alley, you will come across the charming 19th century Katzler Pavilion which marks the beginning of the promenade. This small green wooden house can best be described as ‘the smallest multicultural hub in the world’. Katzler Pavilion is a unique souvenir shop with handicrafts and souvenirs made by Karlovac artists, craftsmen and designers. The shop is run by a descendent of the Katzler family that ran the florist shop in the same Pavilion more than hundred years ago. Don’t miss out on the Vrbanić Gardens, the most famous horticultural monument in Karlovac, opened to the public in 1896. It was designed as a small open-air botanic garden between the Korana river and the croatia.inyourpocket.com

Central Croatia Karlovac old town, and was divided into three parts, an English part of the park, a central part laid out in French style, and a third part made of coniferous spruces and firs. Today this is a popular recreational area on the Korana river bank and a favourite gathering place for locals, as well as visitors. www.visitkarlovac.hr/parkovi-i-perivoji Karlovac rivers Karlovac is a town of waters. It lies on four rivers, Kupa, Korana, Dobra and Mrežnica, with (www.visitkarlovac.hr/cetiri-rijeke) all the fish, frogs and mermaids. Everything in this town is connected to these four rivers, the freshwater aquarium, the romantic walks along the banks, the drinking water and, most importantly, beer. The most popular river when it comes to swimming and other summer joys is the Korana river which flows right through the town’s center. Korana springs at Plitvice Lakes National Park, then flows through the canyon with many waterfalls and cascades and becomes tranquil in Karlovac, which makes it very popular for water sports and activities.

Korana also boasts a beautiful new promenade, very popular with the locals. Don’t miss out on the Aquatika, the only freshwater aquarium in Croatia, situated on the right bank of the Korana river. For more detailed information, visite page 22.

Land agencies offer great kayak and rafting trips as well as other adrenaline activities such as cycling, hiking etc.

CITY ADVENTURES The grain boat The grain boat ‘Zora’ is a replica of the boats that used to ply the Kupa river in the 18th century. This unique European attraction is going to take you back in time, show you how grain was transported by boats, along the Kupa and the Sava rivers. It is one of the three types of river boats of the Karlovac boatmen’s guild, the most prosperous town guild of the 19th century.

DON’T MISS OUT ON Karlovac free city tours Soak up Karlovac with an experienced local guide. Dive into the past with Maria Theresa, the last Holy Roman Empress and the first Empress of Austria, or join the world-famous scientist Nikola Tesla on his stroll through Karlovac, a city where he spent his formative years and finished a high school education. Enjoy the feeling of the living history as you walk in the footsteps of the historic people. All tours are free of charge; duration: 90 minutes. Info at www.visitkarlovac.hr/the-grain-boat

Swimming, kayaking, rafting, cycling There is a multitude of swimming spots to dip into and let’s face it, Karlovac and its county is the ideal location for such an activity. Action lovers will have a truly enjoyable experience by trying rafting or canoeing on a thrilling downstream ride. Kamat and Croatia Open

Karlovac - City of beer The town on the four riversunofficially has its fifth river- the beer river! Beer is one of the trademarks of the Karlovac region, boasting three centuries of the brewing tradition, Beer dishes are a special feature of Karlovac restaurants and local beer is the star of the show at the Karlovac summer beer festival.

Photo by Karlovac Tourist Board Archives

Korana River, Photo by Karlovac Tourist Board Archives

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Korzo, Photo by Dinko Neskusil, Karlovac Tourist Board Archives

Franciscan Museum, Photo by Karlovac Tourist Board Archives

May - November 2021

Central Croatia

Photo by Denis Stošić, Aquatika Archives

Aquatika About Croatia is one of the European countries with the richest river flora and fauna, while the city of Karlovac, famous for its four rivers – Kupa, Korana, Mrežnica and Dobra, is a perfect place to present the freshwater natural wealth. The beautiful modern aquarium is devoted to local freshwater life, enabling us to get to know our fishy friends better and understand just how rich in beauty and biodiversity the rivers, lakes and ponds are. The Aquatika opened in 2016 on the right bank of the Korana River. The complex was designed to display the course of a karst river and its various habitats. The design was based on the idea of dividing the river course into its upper, middle and lower sections. The structure is dug into the ground, and its exterior sides covered in an earthen embankment. The inspiration for the architecture was the historical town centre: the Karlovac starshaped town, surrounded by earthen defensive embankments. Dive below the surface Aquatika spreads over 3.000 square meters that follow the course of a typical karst river, starting from the source in the square, and then descending to the basement floor with 22 Croatia In Your Pocket

cave and swamp habitats. Throughout the journey, visitors can see more than 100 species of fish and as many as 40 endemic species distributed in 25 aquariums. The display offers a detailed, interesting, instructive, and exciting insight into the wonderful freshwater world. Visitors can thus experience the whole river course, from its source to its mouth, walking first through the Upper Course, then continue through the Middle Course and finally reach the Lower Course of the river, each with its specific habitat and fish species. Other habitats The aquarium also comprises the cave system habitat with endemic fish species while the largest habitat in Aquatika presents the migratory fish species from the sturgeon family. You will also be acquainted with standing waters habitat, and another one that contains fish species which are not native to Croatia. The final habitat of the aquarium is dedicated to the karst phenomenon, explaining the creation of travertine waterfalls and the importance of conserving them. The Souvenir Shop The souvenir shop at the end of the exhibition area, offers authentic

souvenirs from the Karlovac region, handmade by local suppliers in limited editions exclusively for the aquarium. Local artists, potters, photographs, designers, craftsmen and artisans have all offered their most creative works for the aquarium visitors. Aquatika Surrounding Aquatika is located in the vicinity of the Natura 2000 area. It is an ecological network made up of areas across the European Union inhabited by animal and plant species that are endangered, vulnerable or on the verge of extinction for various reasons. Therefore, the European Union has formed the ecological network Natura 2000, and all members of the European Union are obliged to protect such endangered habitats and animal species. About 20% of the EU’s territory is included in this ecological network, making it the largest conservation system in the world. As part of the project ‘Encounter with the river’, a pedestrian and bicycle path and a lookout were built along the Korana river, which are part of the outdoor interpretation center, and are located in the immediate vicinity of Aquatika. croatia.inyourpocket.com

Central Croatia

Zelina, Photo by Mario Hlača, Zagreb County Tourist Board Archives

Sabljaci Lake, Ogulin Tourist Board Archives

Zagreb Picnic, Photo by Marija Gašparović, Zagreb Tourist Board Archives

Cerovski peak,Vukomeričke gorice Photo by M.Žilec, Zagreb County Tourist Board Archives

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Central Croatia

Inside Tips Eugen Kvaternik Square in Bjelovar Bjelovar looks very much an Austro-Hungarian era town and nowhere more so than in the town’s central square, which features a park, a music pavilion, Cathedral, and other public buildings built in imperial fashion. View from Bilogora The mountain lodge Kamenitovac on Bilogora is 242 metres above sea level and with it being along the Mačjak forest you can be assured of views that will amaze even the most cynical tourist. Lonjsko polje Nature Park Largest protected wetland in the Danube basin and is a sanctuary for birds especially the well-known European Stork Village, Čigoć. Đurđevački pijesci East of Đurđevac is a protected area known as the Croatian Sahara, where the Đurđevac’s sands developed by amassing sediment from glaciers.

24 Croatia In Your Pocket

Ludbreg- Centre of the World In order to discover why exactly Ludbreg is the centre of the world you will need to visit and learn for yourself the miracles and legends associated with this place. Whilst there why not try the local podravina wine on the Ludbreg wine trail? Daruvar - The City of Orchids Fans of flora and fauna ought to visit Julijev Park which rejuvenates the city and is filled with vast types of orchids depending on the season. Do not miss the Castle of Count Jankovich located in the centre itself. Mill on the Mura This is a one-of-a-kind wooden mill in Žabnik near Sveti Martin na Muri. It has an arranged educational Mill trail with lots of fascinating information. Old- timer Museum In Selnica there is a unique collection of about one hundred old vehicles, but also weapons and other associated items. There are also replicas of old trade workshops and used tools.

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Art & Culture

Ivan Kožarić, Photo by Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb Archives

Art & Culture With so many archeological discoveries, art treasures, galleries and museums, culture is an inspirational part of the Croatian experience. New ways are constantly being found of sharing it with visitors, with street artists taking to the open air, and a new breed of multimedia attractions bringing heritage bang up to date. facebook.com/CroatiaInYourPocket

May - November 2021

Art & Culture

Sinjska Alka Museum, Photo by Sinj Tourist Board Archives

The Dutch House, Photo by Sisak City Museum Archives

10 Amazing Museums Croatia’s rich cultural legacy has always been a prime pillar of the country’s tourist appeal. And with the rise of a new generation of state-of-the-art museums, there has never been a more exciting time to explore it. Read on to discover ten outstanding locations that bring the nation’s heritage to life. The Museum of the Apoxyomenos (Muzej Apoksiomena), Mali Lošinj Visiting a museum built around a single historical artifact can seem like a risky enterprise: can one work of art really be worth all that fuss, not to mention the relatively high price of the entrance ticket? In the case of Veli Lošinj’s Museum of the Apoxyomenos, the answer is a resounding yes. The display centres on an extraordinarily graceful GraecoRoman statue of an athlete in the act of cleaning his skin (the Greek term Apoxyomenos means, roughly, “man scraping himself clean”). It was discovered on the seabed near the nearby islet of Orulje by a Belgian recreational diver in 1996. Following years of painstaking restoration it was shown off in the museums of the world before finally coming home to this purpose-built museum on the island where it was found. The display tells the story of the statue’s journey in a sequence of imaginatively designed rooms full of audio-visual content, before revealing the statue itself in a pod-like chamber on the top floor. Consisting of a 21stcentury exhibition space inserted inside the shell of a 19thcentury palace, the museum is in itself a talking point, and may indeed be the ultimate metaphor for Adriatic culture – where it came from, and where it might be going next. www.muzejapoksiomena.hr 26 Croatia In Your Pocket

Krapina Neanderthal Museum (Muzej krapinskih neandertalaca), Krapina Edged out by Homo sapiens, the Neanderthals died out some 40,000 years ago. However there is, the scientists say, a bit of Neanderthal DNA in us all. Best place to meet these distant ancestors is at the Krapina Neanderthal Museum, located in a green vale just outside Krapina, capital of the Zagorje region just north of Zagreb. Consisting of a concrete barrel lurching dramatically out of a hillside, the museum celebrates the discovery of Neanderthal remains on this very site by paleontologist Dragutin Gorjanović Kramberger in 1899. Rather than simply displaying a load of old bones, however, the museum presents an audiovisual display devoted to the progress of life on earth and the emergence of the first hominids. The museum culminates in a disarmingly lifelike family group of waxwork Neanderthals, showing that, far from being the primitive cave dwellers of popular imagination, they knew how to fashion tools, weave clothes and carry out basic medical procedures. As a well-thought-out, supremely educative presentation of how evolution is believed to have worked, it is a pretty unique institution, and one that is likely to work its fascination on visitors of all ages and interests. www.mkn.mhz.hr croatia.inyourpocket.com

Art & Culture Museum of the Vučedol Culture (Muzej vučedolske culture), Vukovar The Danube-riverbank town of Vukovar is one of the rising destinations of Croatian tourism, and this dramatically situated museum is one of the main reasons why. Jutting out of a hillside at Vučedol just southeast of town, the museum occupies one of southeastern Europe’s richest archeological sites. The discovery of brightly decorated pottery and other artefacts dating to the third millennium BC at this site led to adoption of the term Vučedol Culture to describe the civilization taking shape at that period. A settled community of farmers and copper-smelters, the Vučedol folk produced pottery decorated with highly distinctive geometric patterns and pictograms. Many of the pictograms are thought to refer to star constellations and their relationship to the changing agricultural seasons. Featuring replicas of Vučedol clothing, a mock-up of a Vučedol-era house, and computer-animated glimpses of how the local settlement looked, the museum takes us right into the heart of life as it might have been lived, 5000 years before our time. www.vucedol.hr Museum of the Homeland War (Muzej domovinskog rata), Turanj, Karlovac The mid-Croatian town of Karlovac was on the front line during the Homeland War of 1991-95 and it is fitting that this national museum devoted to the conflict is located here. More precisely, it lies just off the main road to the Plitvice Lakes in the suburb of Turanj, the place where the main enemy advance was repulsed. The display is housed in an imaginatively renovated nineteenth-century barracks, first built by the Austrians and then pressed into service in 1991 by Karlovac’s Croatian defenders, who ironically dubbed the place ‘Hotel California’. Encased in a glass shell, the barracks contains a modern multi-media display detailing the military operations that took place here together with an account of what life was like for the local civilian population. Alongside a wealth of military hardware inside the museum there is a stirring display of artillery pieces, aircraft and armoured cars on the lawn outside. www.gmk.hr Museum of the Sinj Alka (Muzej Sinjske Alke), Sinj A museum devoted to a sporting event might at first glance seem to be a bit too specialized to be deserving of general fascination – unless the event in question happens to be the Alka, the annual test of horsemanship that takes over the inland Dalmatian town of Sinj every August. A surviving example of the knightly horse-games that date back to the distant Mediterranean past, the Alka brings together compelling themes of local identity, heritage and history – indeed it is through the Alka, more than anything else, that one might begin to understand the history and culture of this part of Croatia. The contest involves riders taking turns to charge on locally-reared horses towards a ringed metal target hanging from a wooden gantry, which they tempt to spear with their long lances. A supreme test of skill and poise for both horse and rider, it is held in celebration of facebook.com/CroatiaInYourPocket

Photo by Bosnić & Dorotić, Apoksiomen Museum Archives

May - November 2021

Art & Culture a victory over the Ottomans in 1715, when the people of Sinj finally repulsed an enemy attack on August 15, the holy day associated with the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. The museum captures the drama and significance of the event with a dazzling display of riders’ costumes and an engrossing account of the Alka’s historical origins. After a visit here you’ll probably be itching to get saddled up yourself. www.alka.hr Rijeka City Museum (Muzej grada Rijeke), Rijeka The port city of Rijeka’s transformation into a post-industrial cultural mecca took another step forward with the opening of the City Museum’s brand-new permanent exhibition. The collection’s new home is the lovingly restored late-Baroque building known as the Šećerana or “sugar palace”, thanks to its former status as the administration building of a sugar refinery. It’s with this museum that Rijeka finally gets to tell its fascinating story; a story based on themes of industry, technology and popular culture. We get to see the history of the torpedo, the technological wonder perfected by Austro-English engineer Robert Whitehead and subsequently sold to navies around the world; as well as re-visiting the punk and new-wave traditions that made Rijeka a unique island of alternative culture in the late twentieth century. All of the things, in other words, that make a great city tick. www.muzej-rijeka.hr Narona Archeological Museum (Arheološki muzej Narona), Vid, Metković Set amidst the rushes and irrigation channels of the Neretva delta, the hillside village of Vid is home to one of Croatia’s most exciting archeological finds. It was here that firstcentury-BC Roman market town of Narona was unearthed, together with a wealth of artefacts offering revealing insights into the everyday life of the period. Opened in 2007, the museum takes the form of a swish modern pavilion built right above the archeological site itself. Inside, steel and glass walkways allow visitors to look at the excavations from above. One undoubted highlight is the Augusteum, a temple to the Emperor Augustus flanked by 14 statues thought to depict members of the ruling family. www.a-m-narona.hr

Barban Multimedia Centre (Multimedijalni centar Barban), Barban Sinj is not the only place to have preserved an ancient contest for horse and rider. The Istrian village of Barban still celebrates its equine traditions with the annual Trka na prstenac or “Race for the Ring”, in which locals and their steeds attempt to spear a specially-designed ring on the end of a long lance. The age-old ritual is celebrated in this brand-new multimedia Visitors’ Centre, where video films and 3-D technology help you to “experience” the race yourself. Entrance to the display is through a dramatic tunnel of lighted hoops; elsewhere costumes, photographs and local artefacts help bring out a sense of place. www.barban.hr/centar-za-posjetitelje-barban Virovitica Town Museum (Gradski muzej Virovitica), Virovitica The recently revamped Virovitica Town Museum is a great example of how to make a regional collection into something that captivates and involves a wider audience, showing off periods of history that we can all relate to while devoting equal attention to the customs, costumes and crafts associated with the place itself. A lot of the museum’s success is due to the presentation, with a visually involving approach enhanced by dramatic lighting. The museum is housed in the Pejačević Palace, a beautifully-restored latebaroque mansion bequeathed to the town by Habsburgera aristocracy. Hitherto somewhat removed from the main tourists routes, this museum will hopefully ensure that Virovitica will be getting more attention from visitors in future. www.gmvt.com.hr The Dutch House (Holandska kuća), Sisak Your first reaction might be what is a Dutch House doing in Sisak? This spectacularly restored nineteenth-century grain warehouse got its name because of its appearance; with its stepped façade, it looks jut like something that you would expect to see hovering above a canal in the Low Countries. Inside is a multi-media display dedicated to Sisak’s industrial heritage of oil refining and metalworking, and an art gallery with regular contemporary art exhibitions. One unique feature of the museum – indeed a must for all fans of vintage technology – is the Velimir Kraker collection of old gramophones and radios. www.hoku.hr

Photo by Narona Archaeological Museum Archives 28 Croatia In Your Pocket

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Art & Culture

Ivan Kožarić, Photo by Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb Archives

Kožarić 100 Last November the Croatian art world was shaken by the death of Ivan Kožarić (1921-2020), a sculptor whose mercurial imagination has left a profound mark on Zagreb’s streets, and has in some way become one of the city’s main trademarks. His death was not exactly unexpected. Kožarić was after all 99 years old. However it was widely assumed that this endlessly inventive, playful and eternally young artists would, if not exactly keep on going for ever, at least make his century. It is in recognition of his towering presence that both Rijeka’s Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMSU) and Zagreb’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MSU) will be hosting major retrospectives devoted to Kožarić in the summer and autumn of 2021. Although primarily celebrated as a sculptor, Kožarić was the total artist, a man who was just as creative with pencil and paper as he was with hot metal and hard stone. Few artists represent the course of culture over the entire twentieth century as much as Kožarić, although he never belonged to a movement. Rather like the (otherwise totally different) artist and provocateur Damien Hirst, Kožarić embodied various identities over the course of one career, and never stuck to doing the things that had made him famous in the first place. He was more concerned with the ambiguities of art, and what it meant to actually make it, than programmatic theories about the direction in which art was supposed to move. Born in Petrinja in 1921 and educated at Zagreb’s Academy of Fine Arts, Kožarić’s career was shaped by a culturally turbulent century. Studying under the mentorship of monufacebook.com/CroatiaInYourPocket

mental sculptor Antun Augustinčić (famous for his portraits of Tito), most of his early work was figurative, although he was always interested in the avant-garde, and a scholarship to study in Paris in 1959-60 opened his eyes to new tendencies in post-war art. Kožarić took advantage of the growing liberalization of Yugoslav communism to embark on a boldly experimental course in the 1960s, and was a founder member of Gorgona, the group that saw all media as suitable for artistic creation and which emphasized the role of art as a gesture, an ironic statement, or an ambiguous intervention in daily life: all of the things which nowadays seem to constitute the accepted role of the contemporary artist, but which were considered fairly provocative at the time. Gorgona cherished the idea of “anti-art”, cultivating a healthy disregard for convention rather than laying down new rules of their own. Gradually Kožarić became a leading player in Yugoslavia’s cultural team. His sculptures and installations represented his homeland at Biennales at Venice in 1976, and Sao Paolo in 1979. Kožarić’s sculptures feel just as much at home in pubic space as they do in a gallery. Arguably his most famous work is the Prizemljeno Sunce or Grounded Sun, the metal sphere that rests in the heart of downtown Zagreb’s pedestrian precinct, half-way along café-lined Bogovićeva. Much mocked by cynics back in the day, this shiny ball has since become a much-loved landmark. The fact that it inevitably gets covered with graffiti (and is periodically cleaned) arguably enhances its urban role, as if it is an interactive work of art-tainment. Almost as popular is Kožarić’s statue of Antun Gustav Matoš, whose metallic form sits crossMay - November 2021

Art & Culture legged on a silvery bench on Strossmayerove šetalište in Zagreb’s Upper Town. With people queuing up to sit next to the poet and take selfies, the monument has arguably become the single most instagrammable spot in the capital. Elsewhere in Zagreb, the spindly five-pronged creation that is Kožarić’s Ruka (“Hand”) emerges from the green summit of the River Sava embankment, a popular walking and cycling spot that is speckled with outdoor sculptures. Looking like a cross between a harp and a kitchen utensil, this enigmatic piece of metal is a typical example of the sculptor’s playful spirit. Kožarić was also responsible for Hodač (The Walker), the lanky tubular figure that strides purposefully across the western end of the Korzo, the pedestrianized main street of Adriatic port city Rijeka. First planted here in 2010, this twometre-high piece of aluminium has become an emblem of the city and a firm favourite among Rijeka’s promenading crowds. Kožarić exhibited his entire studio in a solo show in Zagreb in 1993; the studio went to Kassel in Germany in 2002 where it formed part of the contemporary art biennale known as Documenta. The studio was then purchased lock stock and barrel by the city of Zagreb in 2007 so that it could be displayed permanently as an art installation. Comprising rows of sculpted heads, and bits of found materials, the studio has been one of the highlights of Zagreb’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MSU) ever since it first opened in 2009. The central role accorded to the Kožarić studio almost has the value of a manifesto, declaring the museum’s commitment to the playful, inventive, endlessly questing nature of the artist himself. Indeed Kožarić’s taste for mischief always delighted the art audience. One of his most famous later pieces involved a row of gold-painted phalluses balancing on chunky pairs of testicles. Many of Kožarić’s works possess a Sphinx-like quality that invites the viewer to guess at the many stories they might be telling. One of his best-known interventions in public space (and indeed the last major work he completed) was the Stog sijena (“Haystack”), a temporary sculpture (which consisted, as you might have guessed, of a stack of hay) placed just off Rijeka’s Korzo in the lead-up to the city’s stint as European Capital of Culture in early 2020. When the haystack was burned down by a vandal several days after its installation, the organizers simply made a new one. The fact that the haystack engendered such a philistine reaction was for many people proof of the work’s power to provoke, and proof of Kožarić’s enduring relevance as an artist.

Ivan Kožarić, Photo by Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb Archives 30 Croatia In Your Pocket

The Ivan Kožarić centennial exhibition To Fly off Into the Ether or to Stay on Earth (Odletjeti u eter ili ostati na zemjlji) will be displayed at Rijeka’s MMSU (www.mmsu.hr) in spring 2021 before moving to Zagreb’s MSU (www.msu. hr) in June. In view of pandemic restrictions and potential postponements, visitors should check the relevant websites for precise dates and times. croatia.inyourpocket.com

Art & Culture

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May - November 2021

Art & Culture 5 New Faces in Croatian Culture The Croatian creative scene is a constant ferment of new voices and new talents. Here is our pick of five names to watch in 2021.

Lorna

Dalibor

Ivan

Lana

Photography: Lorna Kijurko Ljubljana-born, Rovinj-raised photographer Lorna Kijurko has been turning a lot of heads with her fresh take on the art of the nude. Working primarily in black and white, she has carved out a unique aesthetic niche since her first solo exhibition “Liveliness” in 2016. The Živost series has since assumed canonical proportions with its intimate, atmospheric and empowering images of female nudes – lying on beaches, running between tall wild grasses, or caught in almost candid-camera style in various locations. Revised and expanded, Živost was given a reprise in Zagreb’s Lauba Gallery in 2020; and all of a sudden Lorna Kijurko was someone the nation’s lifestyle magazines couldn’t get enough of. As she told one interviewer, “for me the nude is not about taking clothes off, its about opening the soul”. Increasingly in demand as a portrait and fashion photographer, and with an already much-hailed portfolio of travel photographs taken during trips to India, one suspects that there is much more to come from Kijurko in the future.

Liveliness, Lorna Kijurko

Animated Film: Dalibor Barić Croatia has been known for its outstanding tradition in animated film ever since Zagreb’s Dušan Vukotić won an Oscar for his film The Surrogate in 1962. Breaking into the long list for best animated feature in 2021’s Oscars was Zagreb-based film-maker Dalibor Barić, whose tortuouslytitled Accidental Luxuriance of the Translucent Watery Rebus (Slučajna raskoš prozirnog vodenog rebusa), offered a seductive mixture of dystopian sci-fi and brooding philosophical drama. Premiered at the Annecy Film Festival last year, the film takes a critical look at corporate power and the all-seeing eye of contemporary technology. Rendered in a vivid style that blends lurid comic-strip aesthetics with photomontage, it looks like a cross between an Adam Curtis documentary and a woozy dream, and is a long way from the cartoon adventures of a Disney or a Pixar. As well as writing and directing a string of animated films over the last ten years, Barić has also directed videos and authored comic strips. Future-angst and techno-terror have always been among his main concerns, as evidenced by his highly admired shorts Unknown Energies, Unidentified Emotions; and Amnesiac on the Beach. Totally original and slightly mad, Barić is very much a name to watch.

Dalibor Barić, Rebus 36

32 Croatia In Your Pocket

Domagoj & Hrvoje

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Art & Culture Jazz: Ivan Kapec A long-serving pillar of Zagreb’s jazz and experimental scenes, guitarist and composer Ivan Kapec scooped up the critical plaudits in 2020 with his fifth, self-released album Crta (“The Line”). Recorded together with Mario Bočić (saxophone), Šimun Matišić (vibraphone), Ivar Roban Križić (double bass) and Borko Rupena (drums), it is an eclectic, multifaceted album of many moods and colours. The quintet moves effortlessly from melodic and silky to meditative and melancholy, and can suddenly shift gear to hit a percussive groove or explode into bonkers modern-jazz soloing. The unusual combination of Kapec’s baritone guitar and the other instruments (saxophone and vibraphone especially) gives the album a distinctive tone, occupying a niche between post-rock and the theme music to a hauntingly beautiful art movie. A prolific figure with a huge track record of solo work and collaborative projects behind him, Kapec looks set to be a central figure in Croatian jazz for the foreseeable future. Contemporary Art: Lana Stojićević One of the most thrilling Croatian artists to emerge in recent years is the Šibenik-born Lana Stojićević. Her photographs directan ambiguous and unsettling gaze towards an Adriatic coast that we normally associate with happy beach holidays. Nominated for the prestigious Radoslav Putar art prize in 2021, Stojićević has become celebrated for a series of works that provide oblique commentary on the uncontrolled growth of vacation houses along the shore. In her 2018 series Fasada she photographed herself wearing an outlandish pink costume made in imitation of a coastal holiday villa. It continued a theme visited in earlier projects Villa Rosa and Parcela, in which modern apartment developments were reimagined as models, toys or cakes.Stojićević has already been feted by the foreign media for Sunny Side, an arresting series of photographs involving the futuristic swimming pool of the Hotel Zora in Primošten. Using both the real pool and models of it reconstructed to look like a flying saucer,Stojićević’s photographssuggest a sci-fi scenario that plays eloquently on the modernist aspects of the Adriatic landscape. Sustainable Fashion: Domagoj & Hrvoje Boljar: Miret Based in Duga Resa near Karlovac, brothers Domagoj and Hrvoje Boljar have garnered global media attention for their ecological sneaker brand Miret, picking up a prestigious gong at the 2020 International Design Awards on the way. With a solid background in shoe production thanks to their entrepreneur father Josip, the brothers developed the idea of an environmentally-friendly tennis shoe that would be suitable for natural composting once its wearable life was over. It took them over six years of research to put their shoes into production - the result is a sneaker made of 97% natural materials and in possession of all the relevant eco-certificates. These shoes are more than just a worthy exercise in sustainability – they are also comfortable to wear and stylish to look at, coming in a creative range of styles and hues. Miret’s shoes are not cheap, but the winning combination of good design and good intentions more than justifies the outlay. Check out www.miret.co for full details. facebook.com/CroatiaInYourPocket

Ivan Kapec, Photo by Vesna Zednik

Sunny Side, Lana Stojičević

Erilo Limestone, Photo by Miret

May - November 2021

Art & Culture 5 Croatian Books You Must Read in 2021 There’s a bumper crop of Croatian books due out in 2021. Part of this glut is thanks to the launch of Sandorf Passage, a US-based imprint committed to publishing the best literature from southeastern Europe. Here is our guide to five books to look out for. Miroslav Krleža. Journey to Russia (Sandorf Passage; trans Will Firth) It may be almost a hundred years old, but this book by one of Croatia’s greatest writers has definitely been worth waiting for. Miroslav Krleža’s account of a trip to Bolshevik Russia undertaken in the 1920s is nothing short of a modern travel classic. Krleža was himself a communist and had a rather rosy-spectacled view of what Leninism meant in practice. However his book’s vivid, frequently critical descriptions of life in Russia under the new regime are both evocatively rendered and full of insight. The description of the journey itself, undertaken by rail across a Europe emerging cautiously from a period of war and revolution, is an exhilarating ride in itself. Above all it is a book filled with anxious Wanderlust; reading it in the midst of a pandemic will soon have you yearning to jump on a longdistance train. Ivana Bodrožić. We Trade Our Night For Someone Else’s Day (Seven Stories Press; trans. Ellen-Elias Bursać) The eastern Croatian town of Vukovar is the setting for this gripping noir thriller, a place scarred by war and held in limbo by the failure of post-war politicians to offer a future. As well as a gripping who-and-why-dunnit, the novel is also a subtly feminist text; the main protagonists are women and the challenges they face provide critical reflections on the enduring patriarchal nature of Croatian politics. Bodrožić’s taste for social criticism and her thinly-disguised references to real existing controversies is cloaked in deft plotting and page-turning suspense. A book for the beach, certainly, but a thought-provoking one at that. Bekim Sejranović. From Nowhere to Nowhere (Sandorf Passage; trans. Will Firth) The Croatian-Bosnian-Norwegian novelist Bekim Sejranović sadly passed away aged 48, just before this, the English translation of his autobiographical debut novel, was released. Bosnian-born Sejranović spent his formative years in the Croatian city of Rijeka before the dissolution of Yugoslavia left him without papers. Asylum in Scandinavia was offered, and he took it in order to escape an uncertain future. This tale of Yugoslav background, Norwegian exile and alcohol-fuelled nights is told with self-deprecating wit and earthy humour. However Norway doesn’t feel like home, the narrator 34 Croatia In Your Pocket

spends a lot of time shuttling between jobs, countries and partners, without being sure of where he really belongs. Sejranović’s account of the tribulations of the migrant generation is both searingly personal and beautifully told. Robert Perišić. Horror And Huge Expenses (Sandorf Passage; due in autumn 2021;trans. Will Firth) Split raised, Zagreb-based Perišić is one of Croatia’s best contemporary writers, having already garnered critical acclaim for the English translations of his full-length novels No Signal Area and Our Man In Iraq. This, a short-story collection first published in 2002, achieved cult status in Croatia due to its portrayal of a post-war generation negotiating the trials and pitfalls of young adult life in a transitional society. What makes the book relevant twenty years later is the fact that Croatia has not necessarily moved on that much in the intervening period. Financial crisis and covid-19 have kept the millennial generation in suspended animation. Perišić has a great ear for dialogue and captures perfectly the banter of the coffee bars and shopping malls that make up the Croatian scene. And when it comes to conjuring the undercurrents of daily life in southeastern Europe, there are few better writers than Perišić. Tatjana Gromača. Divine Child (Sandorf Passage; due in autumn 2021; trans. Will Firth) A searing portrait of a family trying to survive a fractured society, the second novel by acclaimed poet Tatjana Gromača involves a child-narrator whose mother is marginalized by society either because of mental illness or the fact that she comes from somewhere else, “the east”, and therefore doesn’t quite fit in – the reader is initially left to guess at the true nature of the family’s problems. Written in minimalist language that only tells you the half of what is on the narrator’s mind, the novel offers a running commentary on a world in which individuals can easily find themselves cast adrift by a society governed by mainstream assumptions. A book of huge symbolic weight, then, but given Gromača’s control of the narrator’s voice it has an intimate and gripping quality that is hard to put down.

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Art & Culture

Art Park, Photo by Julien Duval, Zagreb Tourist Board Archives

Ivan Rabuzin, On the Hills Primeval Forest, 1960 Photo by Croatian Museum of Naïve Art Archives

Murtić 100 25/5 - 18/7 Edo Murtić, Good Day Red, oil on canvas, 100 x 81cm, 1980 Photo by Murtić Foundation Archives

Photo by Julien Duval, Zagreb Tourist Board Archives

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May - November 2021

Art & Culture

The Meštrović Gallery in Split offers a unique view of the sea and the central Dalmatian islands. Photo by Ivan Meštrović Museums Archives

History Talk - Master Meštrović Every country has its national treasures: people or institutions that define that nation; that make it proud or simply make its people a little gladder to be alive than they would have been otherwise. One of Croatia’s national treasures is undoubtedly the sculptor Ivan Meštrović. In his work you can clearly see the conflicts and passions that made him, like his statues, very much larger than life. Many of Croatia’s major cities, as well as its small towns and hamlets, boast works that are profound expressions of Meštrović’s powerful and sometimes turbulent character. Stand at the foot of the mighty statue of Bishop Gregory of Nin in Split and the most committed atheist can’t help being instilled with a sense of awe. Gaze at Meštrović’s studies of peasant women, and you can feel the essence of their culture, the artist’s reverence for his roots in the rocky Dalmatian hinterland. Meštrović was not born in Dalmatia. Around the time of his birth in 1883, his parents moved to the village of Vrpolje in Slavonia, eastern Croatia, in search of work. There, his father Mate, a literate man and a skilled mason, found work as a labourer on the new railway. The family moved back to their home village of Otavice, just inland from Šibenik, when the young Ivan was tiny. 36 Croatia In Your Pocket

Meštrović was very much influenced by his childhood in the place where the Dinaric Alps plunge into the Adriatic Sea. The terrain is harsh and rocky: there, working with stone is a natural reflection of people’s connection with their environment. The tough conditions contrast with an austere but starkly beautiful culture. The rhythms of life are expressed in song, dance and crafts and are framed by the forbidding backdrop of pale rock against the dazzling blue sea. The young Meštrović tended sheep; he drank in the ballads of the villagers and the Bible stories and folk tales his family recited by heart. He tried to carve characters from the stories in wood and stone. At the age of 17, Meštrović’s talent for carving was noticed by a number of people who raised the money to send him to work as an apprentice under a stonemason named Pavle Bilinić in Split. Split still today is a living museum with the large and well-preserved palace of the Roman Emperor Diocletian forming its core, and a magical mixture of gothic, renaissance, baroque and later architectures. It’s easy to imagine the young Meštrović walking the polished stone flags of the street and gazing up in wonder: he would go on to design some equally splendid buildings himself. croatia.inyourpocket.com

Photos by Ivan Meštrović Museums Archives

Art & Culture

Meštrović continued to show exceptional promise. His supporters from Otavice brought his talent to the attention of an Austrian mine-owner in Drniš who helped them raised the money to send Meštrović to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Before that, however, a new challenge awaited the young sculptor: learning German. It’s worth remembering at this point that Meštrović had never had any formal schooling. His first years in Vienna were hard since his benefactors reneged on their promises. Meštrović rebelled against some aspects of Academy life, but his years in Vienna were formative, opening his eyes to the intellectual and artistic currents of the time. It was here that he met his first wife Ruža. Heeding the advice of Auguste Rodin (who had an enduring respect for the young sculptor), the couple embarked on a life of travel. A number of commissions, including the powerful fountain “The Source of Life” which today stands in front of the National Theatre in Zagreb, enabled Meštrović to spend time in Austria, France, Italy, Serbia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Meštrović worked and exhibited profusely. In 1903 came the first of many exhibitions with the world-famous Vienna Secession group. In 1911 he won the grand prize for sculpture at the international exhibition in Rome, where Gustav Klimt won the first prize for painting. His circle of friends comprised the most renowned artists of the day. He created works which still stand today in countries throughout Europe and beyond. Perhaps his most famous works outside Croatia are the Spearman and the Bowman (or the “Indians”) in Grant Park (Michigan Ave), Chicago. He was among the first living artists to have a solo exhibition in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (1915) and in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (1947). Meštrović left Croatia during the Second World War after his imprisonment by the pro-Nazi wartime regime. After the Second World War he refused to live under Yugoslav communist regime so in 1947 he accepted a post at Syracuse University, New York State, and in 1955 moved to Notre Dame University, South Bend, Indiana, where he died in 1962. He was buried in his parents’ village of Otavice, Croatia. During his lifetime, Meštrović became a member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Institute of Architects, and an honorary member of The Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. He became an American citizen in 1954. His legacy includes hundreds of sculptures, medals, monuments and public buildings all over the world. Ten years before he died, he made a gift of the bulk of his life’s work to the nation, including his family homes in Split and Zagreb and chapels in Split and Otavice. These are now Ivan Meštrović Museums and are open to the public. facebook.com/CroatiaInYourPocket

May - November 2021

Art & Culture The Chocolate Museum Zagreb The sweetest of Zagreb museums is a definite must for all chocolate lovers and for those who wish to explore the history of one of the most favourite tastes and flavours on Earth. The moment you step inside, you will be swept off your feet by the beautiful and creative interior that spreads through six historic zones. Each zone consists of unique scenery, musical background, historical artifacts, interactive educational spots and savouring stations.

A CHOCOLATE-TASTING BOX INSTEAD OF A TICKET Instead of the usual entry ticket, you will be given a chocolate-tasting box with various types of chocolates, starting with a cacao bean, the most essential ingredient of chocolate. While following the circular layout of the museum, you will stop at special savouring stations to try a particular chocolate from your ‘Entrance TicketBox’ and learn more about each sample’s history and production. The adventurous journey through time and space will thus engage all senses – sight, smell, touch, hearing and taste. FROM MESOAMERICA TO THE EUROPEAN COURTS The historical path at the Museum begins with the cocoa beans produced in Mesoamerica by the Olmecs, Mayas and Aztecs thousands of years ago, followed by the story of the Spanish conquistadors who brought chocolate to the European courts, and eventually brings us to the Belgian, Swiss, Dutch and English chocolatiers who created the chocolate we treasure and love today. The latest invention in the ‘world of chocolate’ which you will also have a chance to try at the end of your journey, is Ruby Chocolate, becoming very popular worldwide. 38 Croatia In Your Pocket

THE LABORATORY Don’t be surprised when you come across the ‘laboratory’ – a special area of the Museum. Here, one can learn about the production process, will be able to smell and touch ingredients and occasionally see a demonstration showing chocolate tempering and praline creation. WILLY WONKA The Museum also provides a chance for every visitor, regardless of age, to turn into Willy Wonka for a moment. As you probably know, Willy Wonka is a fictional character from Roald Dahl’s children’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory from 1964. His famous bike has been displayed at the Museum, and by sitting on it, you are guaranteed a big happy smile on your face that will rejuvenate you instantly!

THE CHOCOLATE BOUTIQUE The interactive Chocolate Museum of Zagreb offers diverse, but also fun facts, history, hands-on chocolate experiences, workshops and finally, exceptional products displayed in a chic gift shop that takes pride in offering for purchase, a variety of assorted, handmade chocolates from distinguished Croatian and Slovenian chocolatiers. TUESDAY WALK WITH CURATORS Note that every Tuesday at 6:45 pm you can join a ‘Tuesday walk’ with expert guidance of the Museum’s curators. Immerse into the World of Chocolate and engage all senses!

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Eastern Croatia

Ljelje are girls from the village of Gorjani near Đakovo, who in the spring, on the feast of Pentecost, dressed as queens, would visit the village and perform a ritual composed of special songs and sword dancing Photo by International Folklore Festival Archives

Eastern Croatia Rich agricultural plains and wooded hills combine to make Eastern Croatia one of the best parts of the country for a relaxed touring holiday. Baroque cities, birdinfested wetlands and spectacular archeological finds ensure that there is plenty to discover. facebook.com/CroatiaInYourPocket

May - November 2021

Eastern Croatia

Photo by Marin Topić, Osijek Tourist Board Archives

Baranja Some travellers frequently make the mistake of assuming that a predominantly flat landscape is a predominantly boring landscape. As if you need a horizon-splicing selection of hills and mountains in order to make a place worth visiting at all. The Croatian Baranja, which stretches to the north of Osijek, is the ideal place to come and challenge these prejudices. A green triangle of flatland set between the Danube, the Sava River, and the Hungarian border, Baranja is filled with unspoiled villages and natural charms, and when it comes to rural tourism, it is one of Croatia’s fastest-growing areas. As a treasure box of distinctive paprika-spiced recipes and increasingly excellent wines, the Baranja is also becoming a byword for gastronomic excellence. Spread out across the Baranja plain is a sequence of characteristically long and straggling villages, consisting largely of one-storey houses with colonnaded porches garlanded with drying red peppers. There is a significant Hungarian minority in the villages north of Osijek, and most of the road signs are bilingual: Hungarian national poet Sándor Petőfi appears to have more streets named after him than anyone else here. Many of the villages of the Baranja have a Protestant as well as a Catholic church, a reminder of the time when Calvinism was strong among the Hungarian-speaking peasantry.

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Eastern Croatia PAPRIKA-BASED CUISINE Baranja is a major heartland of the paprika-laden cuisine that is common to Eastern Croatia and neighbouring Hungary, with dishes like čobanac, paprikaš and perkelt (hot red stews that in English-speaking countries might be grouped under the generic name of goulash) appearing on every menu, from fancy restaurants to roadside bistros. One of the region’s main sources of culinary wealth is the rich stock of freshwater fish provided by the Danube and Drava rivers, including catfish, pike perch and carp that form the ideal ingredients for fiš paprikaš, a local speciality. It is a soupy paprika-based stew featuring huge chunks of (usually deboned) fish cooked in a spicy red liquid. Dishes like fiš paprikaš and its slightly thicker cousin perkelt are usually served with flat pasta (tagliatelle), and most establishments provide diners with a bib to prevent the otherwise inevitable embarrassment of leaving the table with stains all over their attire. FOODIE HOT SPOTS Indeed the Baranja’s goulash repertoire is so good nowadays that culinary tourists from Hungary frequently cross the border to taste it. One of the prime gourmet destinations is Suza, east of Kneževi Vinogradi, a typical Baranja village in which locals sit on benches watching the world go by and gossiping in Hungarian, occasionally uttering a friendly ‘dobar dan’ when a stranger walks by. At the western end of the village is an inn named Piroš Čizma (Hungarian for “red boots”) run by Šimić family who bring to the table typical dishes of Baranja. At the eastern end of the village is Kovač Čarda (“Kovač’s Tavern”), an increasingly popular destination for culinary pilgrims eager to try some of the highest-regarded fiš paprikaš in Croatia. The Šipec family who own the place are known for their fish specialities. Apart from fiš paprikaš, one can try the thicker variation, perkelt, or nibble on carp cracklings. Kovač Čarda’s dining room walls are covered with framed prize-winning diplomas from major paprika-cooking contests, notably from Kalocsa, the red-pepper capital of southern Hungary. FIŠ PAPRIKAŠ The best fiš paprikaš is made with three types of freshwater fish (carp, catfish and pike) cooked together in a kettle over an open fire. Fiš, just like its meat cousin čobanac (paprika-based meat stew), contains high amounts of powdered paprika, both sweet and hot. It is served with wide tagliatelle-like pasta. Connoisseurs of fiš frequently treat the dish as a two-course meal: first, the red liquid is poured over the noodles and eaten as a soup; the chunks of fish are placed on a side plate to be eaten separately as the main course. The fish is cooked complete with bones, skin, fins and a bit of the head to ensure a full taste – using a mixture of knife, fork and fingers to get at the meat is a perfectly acceptable way to proceed. Fiš is usually cooked in portions for two or more because the ingredients demand it: those who are dining alone will just have to order a twoperson portion and eat as much as they can. There is a witty quote (for every foodie to learn) that says: “Fish swims three times: first in the water, then in the kettle, and eventually in wine.” facebook.com/CroatiaInYourPocket

BARANJA WINES Talking about wine, both Suza and the neighbouring village of Zmajevac hug the southern slopes of the Banska Kosa, a long low ridge covered with some of the most productive vineyards in Eastern Croatia. Long famed for its dry white Graševina (known elsewhere as Welschriesling), the Banska Kosa is increasingly home to a new generation of boutique wineries eager to both introduce grape varieties new to the region and to increase the quality of what is already there. BIGGEST WINE PRODUCER – BELJE The Baranja’s biggest wine producer is Belje, which produces over 4 million litres of wine in the good years. Their wine cellars in Kneževi Vinogradi, complete with a large wine-tasting hall, are perfect for visits by groups. Their twostorey wine cellar, dating from 1526, is one of the oldest surviving cellars in Croatia and Baranja’s largest gator (wine cellar typical of the Danube Basin). It spreads across three floors on an area that totals 1,200 sqm with wooden barrels made of Slavonian oak from the forests of Spačva. The cellars boast a rich wine archive with more than 20,000 representative samples. The cellars also feature a wine store and a wine tasting room for wines and traditionally cured meat products from Baranja. The standard tour includes a visit to the cellars + wine tasting (45 kn per person; 1 hour). Shopping possibility at the adjacent wine shop.

Photo by Marin Topić, Osijek Tourist Board Archives

May - November 2021

Eastern Croatia

Photo by Marin Topić, Osijek Tourist Board Archives

EXCITING NEW WINE-MAKERS The new generation of Baranja wine producers is exemplified by the Josić winery in Zmajevac, founded by the Osijek-based wine enthusiast Damir Josić. New technology made it possible for small wineries like Josić to focus on quality production in an economically viable way. Producing good-quality Graševina, the predominant local grape variety, was Josić’s main aim but today he also produces imported varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz. His cuvee Ciconia Nigra (“Black Stork”), blending Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc, is one of his most popular labels. Josić was also far-sighted enough to combine his winemaking business with a cosy restaurant housed in one of the surduks, or wine-storing tunnels cut into the sandy soil of the Banska kosa ridge. Thus he is bringing together the main elements that Baranja-bound tourists are here to sample – excellent wines and traditional mouthwatering local cuisine. East of Zmajevac the Banska kosa ridge comes to an abrupt halt when it meets the river Danube, which today marks the border between Croatia and the Serbian province of Vojvodina. The town of Batina on the Croatian bank of the Danube is dominated by a huge 42 Croatia In Your Pocket

World War II memorial. Batina is also the home town of the Kazalić winery, another quality producer known for both classic reds like Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir and traditional local whites such as Graševina and Traminac. KARANAC VILLAGE – TRADITION & CHARM Another of Baranja’s hit destinations is Karanac, a typical one-street village northwest of Kneževi Vinogradi with a more generous than usual sprinkling of traditional onestorey houses. One of Karanac’s traditional farmsteads was purchased by Osijek-based tourism pioneer Denis Sklepić in 2000, who renovated this charming 19th century rural homestead and transformed it into one of the first ruralstyle B&Bs in the region. You can also visit their Living History House that will instantly transport you some hundred and fifty years back. Up the road from Sklepić’s place, the Baranjska kuća restaurant doesn’t just serve up some of the best in East-Croatian cuisine, but also houses a private ethnographic collection, stuffed with domestic implements and craft tools assembled over the years by the restaurant’s owner. Tuck into warm shepherd’s pie cooked in a clay oven, or if you are feeling brave, why not try snails cooked in nettle sauce? croatia.inyourpocket.com

Eastern Croatia Kopački Rit Kopački rit is characterized by exceptional landscape beauty and great biodiversity. NATURE RESERVE SINCE 1976 Just 10 km northeast of Osijek, Kopački rit is one of the largest and best preserved river floodplains in Europe. Placed in the corner formed by the river Danube and its tributary Drava, it is something of a paradise for wading birds and their admirers. Depending on the water level, the water of these two rivers constantly shapes and changes the look of Kopački Rit, creating a beautiful mosaic of lakes, canals, ponds, floodplain forests, reed beds and wet meadows. Therefore, in 1976 this area was declared a Nature Reserve (Park prirode) which makes it the first Nature park in Croatia. The 23 000-hectare (232 km2) expanse of lakes, reeds, woodland and pasture is widely known as a habitat for numerous waterfowl birds and the most significant inhabitant – white tailed eagle, which is also a symbol of the Park. The whole Park is criss-crossed by dyke-top roads, making it easily accessible to the daytripper. FLORA AND FAUNA There are two permanent lakes here, Sakadaš and Kopačko, each surrounded by reedy vegetation. Semi-sunken forests of white willow thrive in the low-lying parts of Kopački rit, while poplar, oak and elm cover the higher ground. Kopački rit is the largest spawning ground of fish native to this part of the Danube Basin. The Park’s fish fauna comprises more than 50 freshwater species, with European carp, northern pike, wels catfish and zander being the most common ones, alongside an abundance of frogs, snails and insects. During the course of the year Kopački rit might be visited by as many as 300 bird species. Of these, 140 species nest here regularly, the rest are spring and summer migrants. It’s the fish-eating birds that flourish most, with herons, cormorants, white-tailed sea eagles and egrets congregating around lakes Sakadaš and Kopačko. But it’s not only the birds and fish that abide here. According to currently-available research, mammal fauna of Kopački Rit comprises 55 species, which is more than a half of the total mammal species of Croatia. Reed beds stretching as far as the eye can see, ponds, flooded forests and wet meadows all provide optimal living conditions for many mammals, such as the red deer, roe deer, wild boar, wildcat, otter, beaver, badger and many more. THE NAME OF THE PARK The name of the Park (Kopački rit) stems from two Hungarian words: kapocs, which means link, and ret, which means meadow in Hungarian. The role of today’s link between wetland meadows is played by wooden bridges that allow visitors to enter deep into the area of the Park, which is a natural phenomenon of biodiversity. facebook.com/CroatiaInYourPocket

GETTING AROUND The park is easy to get to: if you’re driving, head north from Osijek as far as the village of Bilje, turn right at the main crossroads, and follow the signs to “Park prirode Kopački rit”. There’s a cycle path running alongside the Osijek-Bilje road, making it a pleasant two-wheel jaunt. Those with no wheels whatsoever will need to grab a taxi (15 min ride) from the nearby city of Osijek. The main entrance to the Reserve is at the Visitors’ Centre (Prijemni centar), a traditionalstyle thatched hut just north of the village of Kopačevo, where you pay an entrance fee and receive an Englishlanguage information leaflet. The entrance ticket includes: • Visit to the interactive exhibition about the flora and fauna of the Park • Walk along the White Water-Lily boardwalk • Free parking • Free wi-fi • Usage of the restrooms • Usage of playground Entrance ticket: 10 kn Entrance ticket + 15-minute presentation of the Park: 20 kn per person (min. 10 pax). Working hours: Jan, Feb, Mar, Nov, Dec: 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.; Apr - Nov: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Photo by Marin Topić, Osijek Tourist Board Archives

May - November 2021

Eastern Croatia WHITE WATER-LILY BOARDWALK The best way to start your visit in Kopački rit is by walking along the White Water-Lily boardwalk. The boardwalk leads you from the Visitors Centre to Sakadaš Lake, site of a partially sunken forest where you’re likely to spot cormorants and herons. This walk lasts for 20-30 min. Along the boardwalk there are educational signs with photographs and descriptions of plants, animals and other characteristics of this habitat, describing the rich eco system of the wetland. You can also choose a guided tour of the Park. “Bridges of Kopački rit” guided tour includes: visit to the interactive exhibition on flora and fauna of the Park, walk along the White Water-Lily boardwalk, presentation of the Park and a local guide. Duration: about 1,5 hours; Price: 50 kn per person (minimum 10 pax) BOAT/CANOE TOURS By far the best way to see the park is to take a boat trip with a local guide. It’s important to ring the visitor’s centre to enquire about these in advance rather than just turning up on spec – the boat trips in particular don’t depart at a regular time every day of the week. At the quay by Sakadaš Lake, you will set out on an exciting journey through the Special Zoological Reserve. The boat tour lasts for approximately 1 hour. You will experience the wondrous world of the Danube’s floodplain accompanied by a professional guide. Price: 150 kn per person. The canoe tours also start at Sakadaš quay and last for 1 or 2 hours. Visitors paddle on their own through the Special Zoological Reserve, while a professional guide is ensured during the tour. Canoe tours can be organized from March 15 to October 31. Price: 100 or 200 kn depending on the duration of the tour (1-2 hrs).

KOPAČEVO VILLAGE A small village called Kopačevo is located southeast of the Visitor’s Centre and you will easily reach it after walking along the boardwalk. The settlement of Kopačevo is a fishing village located right next to the flood areas of Kopački rit, half immersed in water, half based on land, as has been the case since prehistoric times. It’s a wonderfully preserved example of a typical Slavonian settlement, with neat rows of picturesque single-storey farmhouses, many with strings of red paprika hanging outside to dry. Ground paprika is the main ingredient of many dishes in this area. Given the fact that they were no longer able to engage in fishing, vegetable growing remained as the only branch of agriculture providing quality yields. The people of Kopačevo turned into masters of vegetable growing, and they remain masters of it until the present day. The Zelena Žaba restaurant in Kopačevo is one of the best places in the region to eat fiš perkelt, the dangerously spiced stew comprising huge chunks of catfish or pike-perch.

RENT A BIKE Cycling enthusiasts can rent a bike in the Park and spend a thrilling and fun-packed day riding a bike along various bike routes that lead you through the beautiful nature of the Park. Price for bike renting: 1h – 30 kn, up to 3h – 60 kn, up to 6h – 80 kn. BIRD WATCHING Different bird watching tours can be organized within the Park by boat, on foot or with a terrain vehicle, depending on the season and water level. Among the most important ornithological values of Kopački rit that will be presented on the tour is the largest nesting area of the White-tailed Eagle in this part of Europe, the largest Cormorant and Grey Heron colony in Croatia and other. Group size: maximum 10 pax. Duration: minimum one hour (for professionals, at least 3 hours recommended). The best period for bird watching tours is from April to June or from August to October and it is necessary to make a reservation in advance. pp-kopacki-rit.hr 44 Croatia In Your Pocket

Photo by Marin Topić, Osijek Tourist Board Archives

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Eastern Croatia TIKVEŠ CASTLE COMPLEX About 8km north of Lake Sakadaš are the oak forests of Tikveš, thronging with wild boar, deer, and secretive black storks. In the middle of the forest is the palatial, red-brick Tikveš Hunting Lodge (Dvorac Tikveš), built by the Teschen line of the Habsburg family, taken over by the Serbian royal family after World War I, and subsequently used by the communist leader Josip Broz Tito. Perhaps appropriately for a location long associated with spraying the local fauna with gunshot, Tikveš now hosts conservation-oriented seminars organized by the European Environmental Centre (Europski centar za okoliš). Visits to Tikveš Castle Complex are not possible at present due to construction works that will last until the end of the year 2021. WINE AND DINE IN KOPAČKI RIT Returning towards the Visitor’s Centre you’ll pass the Kormoran restaurant, set in a hunting lodge, surrounded by greenery and ponds. Decorated in a traditional style, with large

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oak tables and wooden chairs, like most restaurants in Baranja, the offer is based on freshwater fish dishes (perch, carp, pike and catfish) prepared in various ways (fish paprikash, a widely known carp on fork, catfish perkelt), venison and other local specialties, primarily cured meat products of pork (kulen). Some dishes are prepared in the open hearths and in the kettles. Wine is dominated by those of Belje wineries. ON THE WAY BACK The castle of Eugene Prince of Savoy If you are heading back to Osijek via Bilje after the Park visit, you can’t fail to notice the handsome ochre castle at the eastern end of Bilje village. It was built at the beginning of the 18th century to serve as a hunting lodge for the greatest of the Austrian army’s commanders, Prince Eugene of Savoy. He allegedly used Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt as his architect, the same Hildebrandt who built the famous Belvedere palace for Eugene of Savoy in Vienna. The castle is currently under renovation.

May - November 2021

Eastern Croatia Osijek Top Sights Co-cathedral of St Peter and Paul The multi-tiered 90-metre spire of this red-brick neo-Gothic beast provides the city with its defining visual trade-mark. The church was built in the 1890s on the initiative of energetic Đakovo-based Bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer, who reckoned that a 3000-capacity parish church was just what a growing town like Osijek needed. The church is entered via a small door to the right of the main portal, overlooked by a ferocious-looking trio of gargoyles. The interior is a treasure trove of neo-gothic ornamentation, with a succession of pinnacled altars overlooked by exuberant stained glass windows. The interior was finished off in 1938-42 when leading Croatian painter Mirko Rački covered the walls and ceilings with brightly coloured frescoes illustrating episodes from the Old and New Testaments - most of which will be easily identifiable to anyone who paid attention during Bible class. Photo by Dominik Lalić

Osijek On the banks of the River Drava, Osijek is the largest city in Slavonia, a region of rich agricultural land and vibrant gastronomic and cultural traditions. The name of the city comes from the Croatian word “oseka” which means “ebb tide” and is connected to the town’s position on an elevated ground which prevented the city from being flooded. The city is defined by its city walls, co-cathedral of St Peter and St Paul, parks and fine art nouveau buildings lining the city’s main artery. The Osijek Citadel is the oldest part of the city; its baroque buildings are home to museums, galleries, churches, cafés, restaurants and nightclubs - and therefore Osijek’s citizens of all ages. The riverside café terraces are also perfect for relaxing after sightseeing: from here you have a view of the modern pedestrian suspension bridge. Cool off in hot weather at the Copacabana open air pools. In the surrounding Baranja countryside, the Kopački rit Nature Park is a wetland area offering a wildlife paradise. Its unique floodplain habitat interwoven with lakes and marshland provides optimal living conditions for numerous species and lots of cycling and walking trails for the visitors to explore. In Baranja region you will find yourself amid some of the best vineyards in the country as well as some excellent restaurants and farmsteads that will surely tempt your palate.

46 Croatia In Your Pocket

The Drava riverfront The River Drava is an essential part of Osijek’s character and its difficult to see how the locals would survive without strolling along its southern bank at least a couple of times a week. Main focus of activity is the Zimska Luka (“Winter Harbour”), a row of boat moorings below the Hotel Osijek where you’ll find a handful of floating restaurants, and a row of cubby-hole cafés which explode out onto the pavement in spring and summer. From here, pedestrians and cyclists glide eastwards along Šetalište Franje Šepera, the riverside embankment that leads past a sequence of flowerbeds and grassy parks. At the eastern end of the embankment, the sight of the red-brick Tvrđa fortress district rising out of the surrounding greenery is truly wondrous to behold. Tvrđa An eighteenth-century complex of cobbled streets, grandiose buildings and open squares, Tvrđa (“Citadel”) is the bestpreserved ensemble of Baroque buildings anywhere in Croatia. It began life in 1687, when Habsburg armies kicked Ottoman forces out of Osijek and decided to turn the town into the military nerve-centre of eastern Slavonia. Austrian engineers demolished most of the existing buildings, moved the city center westwards to today’s Gornji Grad, and spent the next 35 years building a planned settlement comprising barracks, staff headquarters, churches and monasteries, all surrounded by a state-of-the-art system of moats, bastions and gun positions. Most of the outer fortifications have long since been demolished, but the heart of the Tvrđa still survives in its original form. At the centre of Tvrđa is Trg svetog Trojstva (Holy Trinity Square), a broad traffic-free expanse dominated on the northern side by a monumental threestorey building that once housed the Habsburg high command. On the western side, the arcaded house with a spindly lookout tower originally accommodated Osijek’s town guard. Stretching either side of the square is a grid-plan of streets, each lined with elegant ochre-colored buildings where Austrian bureaucrats once toiled over their military plans. A zig-zagging stretch of the outer fortifications still survives on the northeastern edge of Tvrđa. Head down the street Fakultetska to find the Water Gate (Vodena vrata), one of the last surviving fortress gates, which leads through to the grass-fringed banks of the River Drava. croatia.inyourpocket.com

Photo by Marin Topić, Osijek Tourist Board Archives

Photo by Marin Topić, Osijek Tourist Board Archives Photo by Damir Rajle

Photo by Osijek Tourist Board Archives Photo by Antonela Martinčević

Eastern Croatia Vukovar On the very eastern tip of Croatia, situated on the banks of rivers Danube and Vuka, lies the city of Vukovar, a place that has always been a melting pot of different cultures, but also a battleground in wars. Sadly, the war in the 1990s turned it into a symbol of devastation, but also a symbol of resistance and persistence. Today, when the wounds have slowly healed, Vukovar is a symbol of peace and courage and a beautiful baroque town. The most impressive baroque building is the Eltz palace housing the Municipal museum with a huge collection of art. Another landmark is the Water Tower, a frequent target of the Serb artillery, today a symbol of victory. Five kilometres downstream on the Danube is the archaeological site of Vučedol with traces of a 5000-year-old civilisation. The iconic Vučedol dove found on site, is a symbol of the town and also a very popular Croatian souvenir. Vukovar’s murals and 3D street art are to the urban traveler what the baroque city center is to culture tourism buffs. Rather than being mutually exclusive, the two are perfectly complementary, weaving the most beautiful tale of the city lying on two rivers.

Inside tips Museum of Vučedol culture A valuable and rich archeological digging place is situated on the coast of the Dunav, not far from Vukovar. Come visit the museum and get to learn of the culture of the civilization’s who once lived here, and see why it draws archeologists from all over the world. vucedol.hr Park Forest Adica A favorite promenade of Vukovar residents; great for relaxation, enjoyment in nature, green scenery, activities on the walkways, obstacle courses, wooden exercise equipment, and here you can also find the Eko Etno Club with traditional craft collections. vukovarnadlanu.com Požega cathedral A magnificent late baroque sacral structure, dedicated to St. Teresa of Avila, protector of Maria Teresa, who herself sent the blueprint for its construction. pozeska-biskupija.hr The Spahija cellar The Spahija, or Spanish, cellar is one of the most impressive objects in Pakrac. Various myths and legends spoke of a secret passage from its underground that leads to the fort of Čaklovac, partially remodelled, but without a doubt extremely interesting. tz-pakrac.hr 48 Croatia In Your Pocket

Daruvar - The City of Orchids Fans of flora and fauna ought to visit Julijev Park which rejuvenates the city and is filled with vast types of orchids depending on the season. Do not miss the Castle of Count Jankovich located in the centre itself. visitdaruvar.hr Thermal water park Aquae Balissae If you are in the area this is a worthy escape from the summer heat! Indoor and outdoor pools, thermal water, geysers, slides, spas, a restaurant, and a tropical bar. Made for a great family day out! aquae-balissae.hr The home of Ivana Brlić Mažuranić In the centre of the city you can find the home of Ivana Brlić Mažuranić - where she lived after she married the author of children’s books who is celebrated worldwide. Her works are translated into many languages, such as the novel ‘The Adventures of the Apprentice Lapitch’, which was later adapted as an animated film. tzgsb.hr Kazamati - Brod Fort In the western curtain wall of the Fort a few gun emplacements have been renovated such that when you enter you will feel a breath of history and get a clearer picture of one part of the lives of people from this region; not only soldiers, but those who worked in the baking trades, blacksmithing, and so on. tzbpz.hr Petnja Lake An artificial lake, 7km northwest of Slavonski Brod, enchants with its appearance, forest surrounding, walking trails, fishing opportunities, rowing and other water sports, and clear air. tzbpz.hr Olanović stables A horse farm with some twenty horses of the Lipik breed, located on an estate that sits 8,500m2 in area. In Poljanci, with a tour of the horse farm, horseback riding is also possible, as is riding on country wheels and a barouche (horse drawn carriage). Papuk Nature Park This is a protected area which encompasses the mountains of Papuk and Krndija, providing enough terrain for an active vacation. The remains of old cities such as Ružica Grad, with its fascinating legend of disappearance, and the Arboretum Lisičine prove most intriguing for the many who seek mystery. pp-papuk.hr Steppe Višnjica The steppes are large agricultural lands that are traditionally used for pasture and the breeding of livestock. This one, dating from the 19th century, was reconstructed in 2005 and is now a beautiful estate with horses, mouflons, a garden of medicinal plants, and a home-style kitchen. The area is always being improved so its likely you’ll see new features year after year. visnjica.hr croatia.inyourpocket.com

Local Food

Šaran u rašljama

is a speciality of Slavonian Baranja cuisine and according to many the greatest gastronomic delicacy of this area. facebook.com/CroatiaInYourPocket

May - Photo November 2021 49 by Višnja Arambašić

Local Food

Photo by Supetar Tourist Board Archives

Photo by Ravni Kotari Tourist Board Archive

10 Authentic Cultural Food Experiences 1

Komiška or Viška pogača If you keep out a sharp eye you might come across a pogača hailing from the island of Vis, a flattish breadcake containing a mixture of salted anchovies and onion, plus tomato, capers and herbs depending on the version 2

Prisnac Prisnac is the nemesis of anyone trying to stick to a low-cholesterol diet. A voluptuous mix of soft cheese, eggs, cream and a little sugar is enveloped in a bread base to create a golden, gently sweetish cake. It has been prepared in the hinterland region around Benkovac for centuries.

Photo by Monika Vrgoč

50 Croatia In Your Pocket

Varenik An unusual ingredient called Varenik is thought to have been made on Brač for 2000 years – it was mentioned during Roman times. It’s made by boiling red wine down to a concentrate, which is then stored in bottles and added to all sorts of foods, sweet and savoury, to impart a unique and rich flavour. During the time of the Varenik festival, dishes are prepared showcasing the use of this ingredient, and the island’s restaurants have a range of specials on the menu. 4

Vitalac Vitalac is listed as an item of nonmaterial cultural heritage in Croatia. A skewer is threaded with small pieces of kidney, lung or what have you, salted

and wrapped in soft piece of muscle tissue, gently barbecued, then wrapped in a piece of intestine and roasted for a further hour until crispy on the outside. For best results, the victim should be a little baby lamb not even weaned from its mother’s milk… sniff! The resulting sausage-shaped delicacy is removed from the skewer, salted, sliced and served warm. The administration of lashings of extra virgin olive oil makes the ingestion of this almost bearable for those who are not fans of offal.

Soparnik Soparnik is an old-fashioned Dalmatian dish dating back to the time before the Turks invaded the region. It is a simple dish made by filling two layers of fillo dough with swiss chard, onions, parsley, garlic and olive oil. Traditionally, it was prepared on round wooden plates over

Photo by Roca Restaurant Archives

Dobrinj Tourist Board Archives

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Local Food

i es

Photo by Matko Petrić

a stone hearth on days for fasting, such as Good Friday, Christmas Eve or the Feast of All Saints. Soparnik comes from the former “Peasants’ Republic,” Poljica, which existed in the late Middle Ages, near modern-day Omiš, and was prepared to treat guests and friends. Over the years, it has become a symbol of old Poljica. Once a meal for peasants, it is now a prestigious delicatessen and has been registered Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) recently.

Arambašići Aramabašići a speciality originating in Sinj, a little way inland. These are little soured cabbage parcels containing beef (and sometimes pork), cooked in a broth with smoked dried meats. These, or their cousins sarma, are a must at every special occasion, as is a spit-roast lamb.

Peka You might get a turkey (tuka) roasted peka style, under an iron lid heaped with embers. Local turkeys are small and athletic, very different from the big white industrially-farmed birds. Roasted like this with potatoes they’re succulent and delicious. 8

Šurlice Šurlice, a speciality from the island of Krk which you’ll find throughout the region. This is a type of pasta made by wrapping the dough around a knitting needle. Handmade pasta with a rich sauce is always a pleasure, and there are many different sauces to choose from, though we’d say goulash is probably a classic.

Photo by Ana Marija Bujić

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Photo by Višnja Arambašić

Konavoska zelena menestra A selection of cured meats (pork, mutton, sausage) is cooked up with winter greens and potato. When finished, the meat is served on a plate and the smokily scented veg dished up with a little of the soupy liquid and lashings of olive oil. This dish dates from the 16th century; for added historical effect substitute barley for potato. Fast forward to springtime when broad beans are ready for picking: try them cooked with smoked mutton, garlic, parsley and bacon fat. 10

Fiš paprikaš Fiš paprikaš is a cooked stew thats combines chillis, onions, various spices and a diverse range of freshly caught river fish.

Photo by Višnja Arambašić

May - November 2021

Local Food

Oily fish If you find yourself on a Friday at s fish market, you will surely notice the largest queue at the stands selling fresh sardines and anchovies. It is these types of oily fish that are sold the most, both because they are rather cheap, but more importantly, extremely healthy. In saying that, even if small oily fish such as sardines may catch the eye it is dentex, bream and bass that are highly sought after. So, it would seem that people survive on oily fish whilst dreaming of eating white fish, and for that matter, large tasty portions of it. To put it mildly, this is a somewhat unfair attitude towards a category of fish that has nurtured and raised generations along the entire coastline. It has high nutritional value, and historically it has fed many people in these parts because it is cheap and widely available.

Sardines Savur Ingredients 500g sardines 250g purple onion 0.75l wine vinegar 150ml olive oil 3 bay leaves 1 sprig rosemary 1 teaspoon sugar parsley leaf sharp flour oil, salt, peppercorns Preparation steps Clean the sardines (remove the head and flakes). Add salt, roll in flour and fry in oil. Place on kitchen paper to soak up excess fat. In another pan on olive oil, brown the onion chopped into crescents. Season with salt, pepper, bay leaf and rosemary. Add raisins: and if you don’t like them, you can do without and the boiled savur. Make savur from olive oil, yeast, water, a little parsley, lemon zest, a little sugar, sprigs of rosemary, bay leaf and peppercorns. Place the roasted sardines in a bowl and pour the chilled savur over them. You can keep sardines prepared in this way for up to a week or two in the refrigerator Serving Serve cold and garnish with lemon slices. Advice You can also prepare a larger blue fish in the same way, just cut it into smaller pieces.

Oily fish is not just to be thrown on the barbecue, but one can work hundreds of miracles with it. We suggest a simple dish, as prepared on the Adriatic islands, and it can stay in the fridge for a long time and be eaten as a cold appetizer. 52 Croatia In Your Pocket

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Shopping

Istra & Primorje A unique concentration of riches is contained within this section of the country, with the historical treasures of the heart-shaped peninsula of Istria, the beaches and islands of Primorje’s Kvarner Gulf, and the majestic peaks and forests of the Gorski kotar. facebook.com/CroatiaInYourPocket

May - November 2021

Istra & Primorje 10 Ways to Discover the Magic of Istria Despite its compact size, the Istrian peninsula is one of the most varied regions that Croatia has to offer, with a stunning variety of landscapes, cultures and attractions. Here are just ten of the destinations that make the region so special.

National Park Brijuni - Photo by Nenad Reberšak

The Lim Fjord Cutting into the western coast of Istria is a wondrously beautiful inlet known as the Limski kanal or Lim Channel. Popularly dubbed the Lim Fjord due to its resemblance to the Norwegian coast, it is in fact a 10km-long estuary of a local river, the Pazinčica. Edged by steep greygreen slopes that in places reach a height of 150 metres, this stunning natural feature is a popular target for boat trips from the nearby resorts of Poreč and Rovinj. One historical personality who is rumored to have come here on a boat trip and stayed is seventeenth-century Welsh swashbuckler Henry Morgan, whose alleged descendants live in the village of Mrgani above the fjord’s northern rim. The Italian adventurer and teller of tall tales Giacomo Casanova briefly stayed at the nearby hillside town of Vrsar, noting the region’s “good wine and beautiful women’ in his memoirs. By way of tribute to the Venetian charmer, a popular biking trail from Vrsar to the Lim Fjord is known as the “Casanova Way”. The Fjord is also famous for its oysters, which are served in a couple of renowned restaurants down by the shore. Lim’s fjord-like features were put to good use in Hollywood Viking movie The Long Ships (starring Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier), filmed here in 1963.

www.inyourpocket.com 54 Croatia In Your Pocket

Picturesque towns Inland Istria, with its green valleys overlooked by puddingshaped heights, is famous for its medieval hilltop towns, many of which preserve their narrow alleys and grizzled grey-brown defensive walls. Arguably the most dramatic of these is the summit-straddling town of Motovun, a perfectly preserved medieval townlet with a picturesque main square and gobsmacking views from its battlements. It is also the traditional home of the Motovun Film Festival, Croatia’s most prestigious international movie event. Motovun fills up quickly in summer and is full of shops and cafes serving trippers. Equally ancient near-neighbours such as Grožnjan and Oprtalj are more laid back, but no less photogenic. Kotli Midway between Buzet and the tiny historic town of Hum, the river Mirna has carved its limestone bed into a sequence of bowls, cataracts and shallow pools. Known as Kotli (‘the cauldrons’), the locality is also home to a string of disused watermills and a half-abandoned village of cute stone houses and narrow alleys. The river, with its rock formations, is a cult place to watch the swirling waters, and the surrounding terrain is full of woodland trails. Some of the stone houses have been converted into self-catering holiday apartments, and there are a couple of waterside café-restaurants open in summer. For a relaxing holiday in the wilds, there are few better places. croatia.inyourpocket.com

Istra & Primorje Labin Another old hilltop town with a tangle of evocative alleys, Labin is also famous as the centre of one of Croatia’s most important coal-mining regions, although the exhausted mine workings were closed in 1988. Down in the valley beneath the Old Town, the former pithead still serves as an urban landmark, the name “Tito” famously spelled out in steel bars at the summit of the winding tower. Since the closure of the mines Labin has reinvented itself as a centre of contemporary art, with a sprinkling of galleries in the Old Town and an arts festival that takes over the place in summer. A more recent innovation is the Industrial Art Biennale, which explores the nature of culture in post-industrial spaces and has placed the town on the international culture map. Lovers of beach life should not despair: the welcoming resort-settlement of Rabac lies just 3km downhill. Roman palaces at Medulin Primarily known for its long sandy beach and shallow paddler-friendly waters, the town of Medulin south of Pula has an important historical claim to fame. Spread across the lush green peninsula of Vižula just north of the beach are the ruins of an ancient Roman palace complex, comprising seashore colonnades complete with ancillary buildings, and a small port where supplies of wine and victuals were unloaded. It’s an evocative spot, suggesting the admittedly rather enticing idea that Medulin was an elite resort a full 2000 years before the modern era of sun-loungers and suntan lotion. A path leads around the peninsula, passing several snazzily-designed wooden pavilions where visitors can rest, take snacks, or inspect fragments of floor mosaics. During the tourist season, virtual reality goggles can be hired from a kiosk at the entrance to the peninsula providing visitors with an enhanced idea of what the Roman-holiday experience might have been like. A short visit here and you’ll soon be measuring up material for your new toga. Brijuni Another place where wealthy Romans went on holiday is Brijuni, the offshore archipelago opposite the fishing port of Fažana whose main island boasts a handsome clutch of ancient villas and temples. Centuries after the Romans’ departure the islands were bought by Viennese industrialist Karl Kupelwieser, who turned main island Veli Brijun into a landscaped park complete with luxury hotel settlement, beachside pavilion, and wildlife reserve planned by zoo pioneer and exotic animal dealer Carl Hagenbeck. Top Habsburg aristocracy and the artistic elite flocked to Brijuni before World War I, and it became a popular polo-playing and golfing resort during the inter-war years. Following World War II Brijuni was reserved for fauna of a different kind: Yugoslav ruler Josip Broz Tito built a summer house on the island of Vanga, while communist functionaries stayed in Kupelwieser’s former hotels. Now a national park (you can stay on the island or enjoy a day-trip from Fažana), Brijuni remains a unique example of partly natural, partly man-made paradise, stocked with plants and animals from all over the world and offering a strong whiff of history at every turn. facebook.com/CroatiaInYourPocket

Cape Kamenjak When people start asking bout Croatia’s best beaches they often entertain a mental picture of ribbons of sand, or sweeping crescents of pebble. However the true glory of the Croatian coast lies in its wealth of angular rocks and boulders, perfect perches for sizzling in the sun or leaping with abandon into the velvety Adriatic. Cape Kamenjak south of Pula embraces a dizzying mixture of rockscapes, with numerous spots for cliff-diving or simply laying your towel on a gently sloping slab. Covered in Mediterranean maquis, the whole peninsula is a protected nature park: visitors pay a symbolic fee to enter the area and park their car a short walk from the main shoreline spots. Višnjan Just northeast of Poreč the pretty town of Višnjan has become something of a global watchword for stargazing, thanks to the world-famous observatory built here in 1976. (A new building 2.5k out of town was opened in 2009 in order to escape light pollution.) Led by teacher and amateur astronomer Korado Korlević, the observatory has conducted research resulting in the discovery of over 1000 minor planets, as well as organizing science camps for kids and adults. The new observatory is open to visitors in July and August and the site is extremely photogenic at all times of year, exuding tangible, galactical mystique. Mount Učka Right on the border between Istria and the neighbouring county of Primorsko-Goranska, the mountain ridge of Učka is an enduringly popular target for hikers. The 1394m peak of Vojak offers absolutely stupendous views of both the Istrian interior and the Bay of Kvarner which stretches out to the south. Just east of the summit, at Poklon, a brand-new Visitors’ Centre will offer tourists a multimedia display detailing the flora, fauna and geology of the Učka Nature Park, as well as information on how to explore. Pazin Istria is a land of many literary associations but by far the most tantalizing is the Jules Verne 1885 adventure Mathias Sandorf, in which the eponymous hero escapes from Pazin Castle by floating through an underground river en route to the Adriatic Sea. Somewhat disappointingly, Verne never set foot in Pazin and researched his story by reading contemporary travelogues and writing to Pazin’s mayor. However the locations referred to in the book are very much still here, and are if anything more amazing in real life than in the Frenchman’s fertile imagination. The town (Istria’s administrative capital) is grouped around the so-called Pazin Gorge, a rocky defile fed by the River Fojba which emerges from a limestone cliff – the underground river of Verne’ story. A scenic trail winds down into the gorge from the town centre, and there’s a hair-raising zip-line running across the gorge for those who fancy a Sandorf-style dose of adventure. Hovering above the Gorge from its cliff-top perch, Pazin Castle looks every bit the prison-fortress from which escape is impossible – although today’s visitors are free to walk in and out the main gateway. The castle museum provides an atmospheric home to an outstanding collection devoted to Istrian history and folklore. May - November 2021

Istra & Primorje

Trsat, Photo by Rijeka Tourist Board Archives Delta, Photo by Igor Crnković

Rijeka, Photo by Rijeka Tourist Board Archives

56 Croatia In Your Pocket

Rijeka, Photo by Rijeka

croatia.inyourpocket.com Tourist Board Archives

Istra & Primorje Rijeka after Rijeka 2020

um’s revolving programme of temporary exhibitions brings together some of the most ambitious artists in the region.

In Your Pocket looks at how the coastal city will fare in the aftermath of its stint as European Capital of Culture

However it is the so-called Children’s’ House (Dječja Kuća; www.djecjakuca.hr) that arguably represents the most innovative part of the whole Benčić transformation. Opened in March 2021, in one of the former factory buildings, it includes the children’s section of the municipal library, areas where educational workshops and play can be organized, an auditorium for puppet shows and children’s theatre, and a full programme of events, festivals and language classes. It also includes an indoor play area where parents can take a breather while watching children lark about in a secure environment. By integrating all the facilities and services that a city’s young population needs, the Children’s House is an ambitious undertaking that can serve as a model for similar institutions elsewhere. With a playful approach to interior design and furnishings, the House also serves as a thrilling example of what today’s Croatian designers can do.

It was supposed to be Rijeka’s biggest ever party. And when it opened early last year, it really looked as if the rest of Europe was going to sit up and take notice. Sadly, the onset of covid-19 took the shine off Rijeka’s reign as European Capital of Culture, which began so explosively with a night of outdoor music and spectacle on February 1 2020. The pandemic played havoc with a painstakingly-prepared schedule of cultural happenings, and although the organizers worked wonders in securing a summer of sustainable exhibitions and outdoor events, many international guests could not travel, the influx of tourist was less than expected, and the global media were preoccupied with events elsewhere. Despite the raucous fun of the opening day, Rijeka’s year in the international limelight was cruelly taken away. Taking stock of things in early 2021, however, it is clear that the whole 2020 project has exerted an enormous impact on the city, changing the long-term face of Rijeka for locals and visitors alike. The Capital of Culture enterprise inspired a host of transformational projects. Most important of these was the redevelopment of the Benčić factory complex into a post-industrial cultural quarter which promises to provide citizens with a brand new artsand-lifestyle focus. The Benčić complex’s nineteenth-century factory halls have been either lovingly refurbished or creatively bashed into shape to make room for the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, a new municipal library, and a new and innovative Children’s House that offers community facilities to parents and their offspring. Most importantly, the Benčić complex’s Baroque administrative building (called the “Sugar Palace” in recognition of the factory’s initial role as a sugar refinery) was assiduously restored and proudly reopened as the new seat of the Rijeka City Museum (Muzej grada Rijeke; www.muzej-rijeka.hr). Offering a fascinating narrative that takes in Rijeka’s industrial past, political highs-and-lows and punk-rock heritage, the City Museum’s permanent exhibition offers visitors an all-embracing history of the city that was not available before for the simple reason that the museum did not have an adequate building in which to display it. Beautifully presented, featuring lots of artefacts that had previously spent years in storage, and accompanied by a fluent and flowing set of English-language explanations, it’s an essential museum not just for those interested in the history of Rijeka but also that of Croatia as a whole. Tucked in behind the city museum is the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Muzej moderne i suvremene umjetnosti or MMSU; mmsu.hr), this time occupying a nineteenth-century factory floor which has preserved a lot of its original wood and ironwork. It’s the perfect post-industrial space in which to show off what is arguably the richest collection of contemporary Croatian art outside Zagreb, and once again points up the city’s historic role as a brash and unapologetic herald of the global avant-garde. The musefacebook.com/CroatiaInYourPocket

Another key plank of the Capital of Culture programme was the restoration of the Galeb (“Seagull”), former yacht of Yugoslav strongman Josip Broz Tito and future site of a floating museum. Built for the Italian navy in Genoa in 1938 when it went under the name of Ramb III, it was salvaged by the Yugoslav navy after being sunk in Rijeka harbour by the Allies in 1944. Reconstructed as a training ship, it became President Tito’s official yacht in 1952 and was kitted out like a floating luxury hotel. Tito sailed to London aboard the Galeb in 1953; it subsequently served not just for Tito’s trips abroad but also as an ideal craft in which to host visiting heads of state – especially those of the Non-Aligned Movement for which the good ship Galeb became something of a symbol. Fascinating both as a state yacht and as a place of political significance (just think of the celebrities and world leaders who once walked the decks), it’s the perfect place for a museum that brings the various threads of Croatia’s past together. Needless to say the project is running behind schedule (the onset of covid-19 removed the need to put it on show so quickly), however it promises to be one of the most significant additions to the city to have come about in consequence of the 2020 project. One blockbuster exhibition postponed from last year and now to be shown over the summer of 2021 is Unknown Klimt – Love, Death and Ecstasy, a look at the early years of the iconic Viennese painter of the Art-Nouveau epoch. One of Gustav Klimt’s early works was a trio of ceiling paintings executed for Rijeka’s theatre (now the Croatian National Theatre in Rijeka) in 1888. These recently-restored paintings will form the centerpiece of a show which reveals a great deal about Klimt’s formative years, a period when he was still searching for his own style. Also on display will be rarely seen works by Klimt’s brother Ernst, and their colleague Franz Matsch. Proof of Rijeka’s continuing cultural ambition will come with Fly off Into the Ether or Stay on the Earth, a retrospective devoted to the sculptor Ivan Kožarić (who died last year aged 99) which opens at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art on April 23. Kožarić was the author of Haystack, a self-explanatory installation placed on the streets of Rijeka immediately before the official opening of Rijeka 2020. Kozarić’s Haystack was notoriously set alight by a disgruntled member of the public, and it is somehow fitting that the work of this artist should serve as a symbol of Rijeka’s robust determination to see things through. May - November 2021

Istra & Primorje Rijeka

Rijeka Top Sights

Rijeka, exposed to the wide world for so many years now, is cosmopolitan in outlook and young in spirit you can feel it as you walk along the elegant Korzo, get to know the history of the city, the forward-looking people and their culture. And it’s capital of Kvarner, which truly has so much to discover. Travel west, and see how the lush Opatija Riviera, dotted with fairytale villas reminds you of the Italian lakelands. Penetrate into the hinterland or head south along the coast road and see a chain of forts, the legacy of the local nobles. Discover the charms of the islands – each one so different, but all surrounded by sparkling sea and a climate that returns to you the life that the hectic pace we live by robs us of day by day.

St Vitus Cathedral Although there has been a church dedicated to the patron saint and protector of Rijeka since the Middle Ages the Cathedral as we see it today was founded in 1638 by the Jesuits, who were once an influential force in the Europeanisation of Rijeka under the Hapsburgs. It’s a rotunda, rather unusual in this part of Europe, with elements of baroque and gothic, including fine baroque statuary inside. A gallery was built in the 18th century, apparently to insulate devout novice monks from the allure of girls in the congregation. There is also some unusual stained glass work, including an image of St Vitus, and a gothic crucifix. Legend has it that a certain Petar Lončarić was playing cards outside the church, and in a fit of pique at losing, threw a stone at the crucifix. To the amazement of onlookers, the figure of Christ started bleeding. The ground opened and swallowed up the blasphemous Mr Lončarić, leaving just his arm waving gruesomely. It was cut off and burned in public. The cathedral has a separate belltower which once gave access from the gallery to a huge Jesuit college and seminary, which sadly are no more. By the main entrance you can see a cannonball embedded in the wall and a Latin inscription referring to the Napoleonic wars which translates as “This fruit was sent to us by England when it wanted to oust the Gauls from here”. St Vitus’ was promoted to Cathedral status in 1925. Trsat Perched on a hill overlooking the harbour area and keeping watch over the hinterland is the fortress Trsat, which has stood guard over the city since Illyrian times. Trsat is the site of the first settlement of Rijeka, inhabited since prehistoric times. It’s one of the best known symbols of the city. You may also notice from a distance the elegant spire of a white church. Trsat is a complex comprising the fortress and church, a Franciscan monastery, a smaller church, a sports hall and exhibition centre (where many concerts are held), landscaped park gardens and a charming huddle of houses. It’s a serene place to linger over a coffee, and the ecclesiastical heart of Rijeka. The church, St Mary of Trsat, has been a shrine to the Virgin Mary and a place of pilgrimage for hundreds of years. The story goes that when, at the end of the 13th century, the Crusaders were taking Mary’s house from Nazareth to Loretto, where they would set it up as a pilgrim shrine, they stopped and rested at Trsat. A church was then built on the site by the Frankopans (who played a large role in the entire development of Trsat), which became a place of pilgrimage. The church contains a great number of renowned religious paintings and a 14th century icon of Our Lady, reputed to be miraculous. It was presented to Croatian pilgrims in Loretto, and is venerated to this day. For more on the church and its sacral art collection see below. The fort has had many facelifts over the centuries, notably by local influential families, the Frankopans of Krk, the Captains of Bakar and the Hapsburgs. The last and most

Photo by Vladimir Franolić, Kvarner Tourist Board Archives 58 Croatia In Your Pocket

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Istra & Primorje romantic alterations were made by Irish-born Count Laval Nugent, a commander of the Austro-Hungarian empire, who eventually made his home here and established a museum. Sadly, the museum no longer exists. There are attractive underground spaces (one of which once housed prison cells) which are now used as exhibition spaces, and apparently a secret passageway leads to the Rječina river. The Grecian style Nugent family mausoleum is also now a gallery space. The fort is well worth visiting for its architectural beauty and the stunning views over Rijeka and the Kvarner Gulf. It’s part of a chain of defences across the mountains that protected the Roman Empire from barbarian invasion. You can reach Trsat using the 16th century stairs of Captain Petar Kružić – the traditional route for pilgrims. Before you start complaining, pilgrims often climb them on their knees as a mark of devotion. But if it’s hot or you’re feeling parky, you can also reach Trsat by road from the east of the centre, or take bus No.2. The Corso The “Corso” is Rijeka’s main pedestrian street. Lined by elegant period buildings, shops and cafés, interspersed with refreshing fountains, this is where the locals gather by day to catch up on the latest, and to enjoy a promenade. Just behind the seafront, Korzo is the very heart of the town, and there’s no way you should miss a stroll, an espresso and a spot of peoplewatching here.

opatija With its elegant architecture, manicured parks and promenades, it’s easy to see why Opatija is often called the Croatian Nice. Opatija grew into a favoured resort during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and this history is evident in the wonderful old hotels and villas that line the shore. The climate here is mild throughout the year, and the coast is framed by a riot of vegetation where forested slopes plunge into the sea. You can visit at any time of the year and take the air on the 12 km coastal path or the hillside trails, then choose between hotel spas or treatments in the Thalassotherapy clinic. In the parks, among the wonderful planting you’ll spot camellias, the symbol of the Opatija Riviera. Look out for the Opatija Camellia cake, the perfect treat for those back home. Be sure to visit Villa Angiolina where you’ll find the Museum of Tourism: Opatija was Croatia’s first tourist resort. You can drink coffee on the terrace of Hotel Kvarner, the oldest hotel, and stroll along the Croatian Street of Fame celebrating the achievements of people who have contributed to Croatia’s standing on the world stage. Opatija has many public sculptures: famous folk in some way connected with the town (novelist Miroslav Krleža, dancer Isadora Duncan, and violinist and composer Jan Kubelik); and local motifs like the Opatija Boatman and the Girl with the Seagull.

Photo by Rijeka Tourist Board Archives

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Istra & Primorje Trips to Gorski kotar Zeleni vir i Vražji prolaz The Zeleni vir area is known for its unusual geological formations. The name means “Green Pool”, and refers to the emerald pool formed by a little waterfall gushing from an opening high up in a rock face. The second attraction in this area is Vražji prolaz – or the Devil’s Pass. This is an 800m long canyon carved out of the rock by a wild, foaming stream. You can walk along galleries and bridges the whole length of the canyon, and at the end you’ll come to a cave, “Muževa hiša”, with stalagmites, stalactites and a small underground lake. Zeleni vir is near the little town of Skrad, just off the A6 motorway (Zagreb direction). NP Risnjak Glowering above the city of Rijeka, in the densely forested Gorski Kotar region, are the primeval forests, mountain meadows and karst formed peaks of Risnjak National Park. This range of mountains, from which can be viewed the Julian Alps and the Adriatic is by far the wildest and most untouched in the country – mostly thanks to the somewhat inhospitable climate; it has an average temperature of 12.60 in July. The park is a haven for deer, bears, wildcats and lynx (ris) – from which the park takes its name. Wolves and wild boar also put in an occasional appearance. The Information office for the park is in Crni Lug, a small village that perches at 724m above sea-level (no mean feat with the sea around 25km away) and 12km from Delnice – the main regional town. From the villages of Razloge or Kupari, small winding paths can be followed up to the source of the Kupa river. From the jagged karst the water wells up into a lake and then tumbles downwards through the ‘valley of the butterflies’. np-risnjak.hr Kamačnik canyon Kamačnik is a river and a canyon in Gorski kotar region, in the Dinaric Alps. The river is only 3 km long, after which it discharges into a much larger Dobra river. The geomorphological features of karst in the area, along with the well-preserved watercourse and the surrounding flora and fauna make the Kamačnik canyon ecologically extremely important. A walking trail with wooden bridges and galleries runs along the crystal-clear river through a rich vegetation and wild life. There is a newly set educational-didactic trail, which explains the natural features of the protected area. You will also come across the Pan Trail, a series of five sound installations that will complement the unique experience of the pristine nature in the canyon. Gong, Bear’s marimba, Doormouse’s bells, Deer’s horn and Brook organ are set along the track for you to test your music skills and release an inner artist within. The path is very diverse, so no need to rush. Take enough time to inhale the fresh air, clear the mind and let your eyes fill up with greenness. At the end of the path, you will reach the spring of Kamačnik. It is at least 95 meters deep which makes it one of the deepest water springs in Croatia. Here, next to the spring, soak your feet in the cold stream water, it will serve as a perfect 60 Croatia In Your Pocket

refreshment after the hike. On return, stop at the Kamačnik Bistro which offers homemade dishes in a beautiful setting above the river estuary. Golubinjak park - forest A perfect place for spending a day in nature with family and friends. Golubinjak is located near the main road so it is easy to find and surprisingly peaceful despite the proximity of the highway. Beautiful large meadow at the entrance to the Park-forest, surrounded by tall trees that rise high above the white cliffs will simply take your breath away. In 1955 the 51 hectare of Golubinjak area was declared a protected park-forest. The park-forests in this area emerged on the karst relief. Because of this, they feature not only forest vegetation, but also a variety of karst phenomena. Golubinjak Park-Forest with its caves, rocks, sinkholes, stone bridges and other interesting formations, is a typical example. There is a walking trail through the forest which will take you to the Dove Cave and the Ice Cave whose refreshing temperatures definitely justify its name. At the beginning of the trail, you will come across the Queen of the Forest – the largest fir tree of Gorski kotar which is over 200 years old, with the height reaching 37 m which truly deserves the crown. At the entrance to the park there is a multipurpose grassplayground which is ideal for the outdoor games. You can also rent out a bbq area and have a fun day in the wild. Those who are not in the mood to do their own grilling may opt for specialties of the Gorski kotar cuisine served at the Park’s catering facility. Mushroom paradise A variety of mushrooms can be found in Gorski kotar almost all year round, except in winter. Some of the most sought after are morels, porcini mushrooms, milk caps, parasol mushrooms and chantarelles. There are many different mushroom species in Gorski kotar, but two definitely hold the royal title among the shroom hunters. If you have a chance, find an experienced mushroom hunter, grab a basket and set off to an exciting mushroom adventure. Here is what you need to look for. Porcini Porcinis are the biggest stars on the Croatian mushroom market. Gorski kotar area is particularly known for some of the best Croatian porcinis. Many people here dry them as it intensifies its meaty flavor and mushrooms preserved this way can be served all year round. Porcinis are great when paired with meat and also delicious in soups and omelettes. Chantarelles Chantarelles are known for its delicate taste and rich, exotic aroma. These wild mushrooms grow in the deep treeshadows of Gorski kotar mostly in autumn. They have a nutritional value that will blow you away and are a great source of iron, vitamin D and potassium. Chantarelles are perfect in risotto, or briefly sauteed with onions and served with toasted bread. If you don’t feel like going mushroom hunting, Gorski kotar offers a handful of restaurants with delicious wild mushroom dishes some of which are served seasonally. croatia.inyourpocket.com

Photos by Kvarner Tourist Board Archives

Photo by Armin Djuhic

Istra & Primorje the Brijuni” at the Museum on Great Brijun, covering the time since his first arrival in 1947 until the last day of his stay August 29, 1979. A long line of flags marks the 60 countries of the world, from which Presidents and Prime Ministers visited these islands. A monument laid in the memory of liberating the islands from malaria, dedicated to Robert Koch, the man who found the infective agent of tuberculosis and cholera and the winner of the Nobel Prize award, was made in 1905, in one of the quarries of the Brijuni. np-brijuni.hr Sculpture Park in Vrsar Art lovers may visit the unique Sculpture Park, left as permanent legacy to Vrsar by the famous artist Dušan Džamonja. The park is located in Funtana. infovrsar.com

Photo by Simon Pallard

The Pula Film Festival Owing to film shows in the historical spaces of the Kaštel and the antique Arena, the Film Festival in Pula is considered as one of the world attractive film festivals in the open. There are few festivals in the world that may brag with experiencing a film show in an area filled with centuries-old history. The Amphitheatre in Pula, the largest and well-preserved monument of antique construction in Croatia, was built in the middle of the 1st century B.C. pulafilmfestival.hr Pula, July 17 – July 25 The Pit Baredine The most important speleological object in Istria, the pit Baredine is only 6 kilometres away from Poreč and can be explored readily to a depth of 60 metres. It is rich with stalactites and stalagmites, dripstone posts, underground halls, and the presence of underground water enabled the survival of Proteus anguinus and other cave fauna. baredine.com Labin and Raša The old city on the hill – Labin, was once the centre of mining in Istria, but with the closing of the mines, its significance was reduced, so today it is recognised as a city of artists, who revived this charming urbane with their ateliers and general presence. Raša, another mining city near Rabac, was built within a basin and is considered as a model of fascist urbanism, because it was built entirely in the 1930s.

Inside tips The Brijuni: A Treasury of Culture, History, and Beauty The Brijuni, consisting of 14 islands, is the only national park in Istria. Owing to its long-time residential status, the islands are excellently preserved and the Brijuni represent a treasury of cultural and historical heritage, but also flora and fauna. If you are not staying in one of the hotels on the Brijuni, you can visit the islands by ship from Fažana, sailing all day, and the ticket includes the boat ride and a tour of the Brijuni by train. On Great Brijun, you can see a Roman villa from the 1st century B.C., traces of dinosaurs, old Roman Castrum, as well as enjoy the view of numerous animals living freely on the island. There are a large number of does and deer, but there is also an elephant, zebras, camels, numerous birds, etc… There is a photograph exhibition “Josip Broz Tito on 62 Croatia In Your Pocket

Casanova and Koversada Vrsar is a small but extremely charming city abundant in narrow winding alleys and small shops, which are mostly the same as they were in the past when the famous Italian writer, adventurer, seducer and gourmet Giacomo Casanova came here and was thrilled with it. Today Vrsar is famous for the largest nudist camp in this part of Europe – Koversada. The Euphrasian Basilica in Poreč This world famous historical monument of culture was built in the middle of the 6th century, at the time of the bishop Euphrasius, and it consists of an atrium, a baptistery, the bishop’s palace, mosaics and the remains of sacral objects from earlier periods, the 3rd and the 4th centuries. One can even climb the bell tower with its view of the city and its surroundings. The entire old city centre is a living monument of the rich history of Poreč. croatia.inyourpocket.com

Baška, Photo by Kvarner Tourist Board Archives

Osoršćica, Photo by Chiara Veranich

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Photo by Selce Tourist Board Archives

Lubenice, Photo by Renata Dossi

A Hint of Blue - a Photographic Journey

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A Hint of Blue a Photographic Journey

When the islands call! Feel the blue sea, the blue sky, the blue horizons … Take a moment and go with us through this photographic journey to the corners of Croatia’s islands.

Adventures

Photo by I.Trojanović, Orebić Tourist Board Archives

Adventures The incredible range of landscapes in Croatia seems made for adventures, with hiking, cycling, rafting and scuba-diving among the most popular of a growing range of activities. Of course the biggest adventure of all in this amazing country is to travel: keep your eyes wide open and let the scenery do the work. 66 Croatia In Your Pocket

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Adventures Fantastic journeys Highway to Heaven: Croatia’s coastal Magistrala The main road along the Croatian coast has always been considered one of Europe’s great journeys. Winding its way tortuously along the heavily indented, mountain-fringed shore, the single-lane highway known as the Magistrala (literally ‘main road’ although the Croatian original sounds much more romantic) offers over 500km of astounding views, complex history and - not to be forgotten – an outstanding range of food to be eaten along the way. In many ways Croatia is a country made for road trips. Whichever way you cross the country, you’ll be moving through a sequence of staggering, often very different landscapes. Travelling from Zagreb to the coast, regardless of whether you take the A1 motorway or one of the many minor-road alternatives, involves an inspirational trip across rolling hills, dense forests, karst plateaus and Mediterranean maquis. However it is the coast itself that provides most in terms of sheer wonder, with stark grey-brown mountains overlooking the verdant coastal strip and its scattering of islands. Some of these islands are lush and green, others are as otherworldly as moon-rocks dropped randomly in the sea. In the olden days travellers could undertake this journey via a costal ferry that ran from Rijeka to Dubrovnik, stopping off at all ports inbetween. Sadly this service is not currently in operation; the Magistrala, however, offers a driveable, stunning alternative. It wasn’t until the 1960s that a modern asphalt road serving the whole coast came into being. Before then, drivers had to contend with gravel roads and clouds of dust, or simply take the ferry instead. Indeed it wasn’t until the completion of the Magistrala that tourism in the southern parts of Dalmatia could fully blossom. The Magistrala quickly became so busy that it became a by-word for bad traffic, with columns of vehicles winding their way laboriously along a shore that drivers were too bad-tempered to enjoy. In recent years the pressure has been taken off the coastal route with the extension of the Croatian motorway network – it is faster to get to Dubrovnik by zooming down the highway slightly inland rather than following the long and winding road that is the Magistrala. No longer the Adriatic’s main traffic artery, the Magistrala has gone back to being a great ride, an exhilarating experience that you will want to savour rather than rushing, foot pressed on the pedal, to your final destination. And spectacular it certainly is. Indeed it’s one of the most dramatic road trips in Europe, and will never fail to take your breath away, however many times you might have done it. The fact that you will be passing many of the Adriatic’s most popular holiday resorts ensures that there is plenty of accommodation along the way. A profusion of shoreline campsites, especially in some of the smaller places along the road, is an important part of the route’s charm. facebook.com/CroatiaInYourPocket

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Photo by Biokovo Nature Park Archives

Adventures The route gets interesting as soon as you leave Rijeka, curving its way around deep sea inlets before winding along the foot of the mountains that hover above the coast. Indeed winding along below mountains becomes something of a leitmotif for the whole trip. Progress is never going to be a quick on a road like this. Get stuck behind a truck or a caravan and you could be waiting quite a long time before you get to a stretch of road suitable for overtaking. Providing you take it easy and enjoy the views, however, this is not a journey you are going to tire of in a hurry.

Photo by Dubrovnik Neretva County Archives

Things get really exciting after the cute port of Senj, with the rocky heights of the Velebit range glowering over the coast, and the road zipping its way between outcrops and ravines. Over on the seaward side of the road you will see the bare ochre flanks of the islands of Krk, then Pag. Once densely forested, these islands were denuded of trees in order to feed the shipyards of Venice, hence their stark beauty today. By the time you get to Zadar, with its multi-layered Roman, medieval Croatian and Venetian heritage, you begin to appreciate that the Magistrala offers an educative voyage through the centuries as well as a mosaic of maritime landscapes. Also home to innovative sound-and-light installations such as the Sea Organ and the Greeting to the Sun Zadar offers a crash course in where the Croatian Adriatic is going in the future as well as where it has been in the past. Further south, the history lesson goes on: there is Šibenik, with its Renaissance cathedral and Venetian fortresses; the Roman city of Salona at Solin; and Split, home to Roman-Emperor Diocletian’s Palace.

Photo by Hrvoje Serda

Photo by Konavle Touurist Board Archives

South of Split, the road passes beneath the intimidating grey crags of the Biokovo range, another imposing mountain ridge that stretches for several kilometres along the coast. Set below Biokovo’s western shoulder is Omiš, home to famously fine shingle beaches and starting point for boat trips up the Cetina river, a lush reedy wonderland flanked by tortured rocks. South of Omiš, the road runs along the famed pebble beaches of the Makarska Riviera, any one of which would serve as a quick-dip journey-breaker. Once beyond the Makarska Riviera the Magistrala crosses the Neretva delta, whose bright green patchwork of fruit orchards and irrigation canals comes as something of a shock after all those stark coastal mountains. It would be a shame to speed through Dalmatia without sampling the local idea of road-trip food. You will pass roadside restaurants roasting lambs over spits, hawkers selling cheeses and honeys, and in the Neretva delta region, stalls selling the mandarins for which the region is famed. Many travellers will end their journey at Dubrovnik, the perfectly-proportioned Medieval-Baroque city encased within stout sea-splashed walls. However there are abundant reasons to carry on southeastwards towards the Montenegrin border, with the Magistrala carving its way across an inland plain characterized by stone-built villages and fertile green fields. For a final breather consider a side-trip to the seaside village of Molunat, home to a brace of fine pebble beaches and wonderful views of the open sea. Lulled by the sight of crystal clear waters and the sound of crickets in the trees, it’s the perfect place to reflect on how far you have come.

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Lika

Photo by Roberto Pavić Ondić

Lika The river valleys, plateaus and mountains of the Lika region contain some of the most starkly beautiful terrain that Croatia has to offer. The world-famous Plitvice Lakes are a wonderland of frothing water and mystic forest; elsewhere, the Velebit mountain range offers exhilarating hiking terrain.

Lika coach or nine–sitter public omnibus, with a change of horse’s at Jasenica’. Well you may not be depending on that type of horsepower to get here, but apart from that, should you trek down here in the summer then the experience is going to feel fairly similar – because Plitvice is now on the main thoroughfare from the north to the middle and southern parts of the coast, and believe us, this small road gets busy! However, rest assured, the park is well worth the potentially nightmare journey. Let’s get the technical bit out of the way shall we? It is entirely true that the lakes are built by plants. The warm, aerated water of the streams that permeate the park are ideal to promote the growth of mosses. The mosses sit in the water and catch in their roots the dissolved limestone that the rough water sweeps down. This material is then called travertine. Over time this limestone hoard builds, new mosses jump on the top and round it all goes again. Leave to stew for a few thousand years and hey presto, you have yourself a series of lakes consisting of waters trapped by the limestone barriers that the mosses have built.

Mala Paklenica, Photo by Damir Kovačić

Zen nature trips Plitvice Lakes A sultry oppression sat over the fields and mountains for months. People and animals, meadows and gardens yearned for refreshing, gentle rain. The Crna Rijeka river, ordinarily a cheerfully babbling stream, dried up. The people’s prayers and pleading were all in vain the skies showed no mercy on them. But then the Black Queen with her glittering entourage appeared in the valley. The people cried for help, asking for water, without which they would all perish. And the Queen took pity on them: with great thunder and lighting, heavy rain began to fall in an instant, bringing life to the people and animals, fields and meadows. The rain poured and poured, and the waters began to grow, until they formed the lakes as we see them today. Thus reads just one of the many legends that surrounds the forming of this series of sixteen lakes that step down hill, connecting to each other by waterfalls. Plitvice Lakes really is the most unique natural sight in the country, having been formed, so an alternative and more coldly scientific theory reasons, by triffids! Well, not actually triffids if truth be told; the lakes are in fact formed by lumps of moss, but how else does one think of pleasure pool building plants? In 1910, a student of the region wrote that the lakes are ‘… rather out of the way, remote from the lively and modern thoroughfares, out in the Croatian karst, some 9 – 10 hours by 70 Croatia In Your Pocket

Further than this, these mosses, perfectionists that they are, are not satisfied with their creation and continue to feverishly construct new barriers. Measurements of the depth of the water taken in 1855 were 3m lower than those recorded in 1958. These glistening blue and green lakes are linked by waterfalls as the water tumbles onwards down the staircase that the barriers create, the tumult ending 135m below the point at which it started, as the waters leave the final lake in the series and plunge in one last 72m dive to join numerous cascades racing to fuse with the Korana River. Around the lakes stands dense forest with the occasional glade – mostly the result of human engineering for the sake of livestock. Many paths lead through the park and around the lakes providing you with a superb playground to wander about in, feeling insignificant in comparison to the majesty of nature; the power of the waters; the vigour of the forest; the achievements of moss. Velebit The magnificent terrain of the Velebit, a breathtaking chain of craggy peaks that runs along the coast for some 145km is one of Croatia’s most important areas of surviving natural wilderness. The whole range falls under the protection of the Velebit Nature Park (Park Prirode Velebit). Within the Park are two areas of more strict conservation, the Northern Velebit National Park (Nacionalni park Sjeverni Velebit) and – right down at the southern end of the range – the Paklenica National Park. Seen from the coast, the Velebit range appears to be a forbidding wall of arid rock, although there are plenty of forests, meadows and pastures hidden away in the highland troughs that run between the brittle grey ridges. The western flanks of the Velebit mark the transition from the Mediterranean to the Continental European climatic zones, and the prevailing type of vegetation can change in the space of a few kilometres. Covering the lower limbs of the mountain is the parched rocky scrub so typical of the Adriatic coast, while dense forcroatia.inyourpocket.com

Lika ests of beech stretch across the slopes further up. Spruce, fir and juniper characterize the higher altitudes, and a multitude of alpine flowers can be found above the tree-line – it is claimed that the Velebit as a whole contains 2.5 times more species of flora than the whole of Great Britain put together. The Velebit sustains a diverse animal population, including mountain goats, wild cats, wolves and bears. In the past the coastal belt of the Velebit was intensively terracefarmed, as can be seen by the dry-stone balls that still cover the range’s lower slopes. The local inhabitants migrated up and down the mountain according to the season, staying near the coast in winter and taking their flocks to the high-mountain pastures in summer. Most of the olive groves, fruit orchards and sheep pastures that used to stretch along the hillsides have long ago reverted to scrub. Logging remains an important local industry higher up the mountain, and with its wealth of unspoiled scenery and attractive scenery the region is becoming a muchfavoured destination for get-away-from-it-all travellers. One thing the Velebit range is famous for is its unpredictable weather. Storms can roll in with sudden ferocity and temperatures frequently plummet without warning. If you are planning any walking or mountain biking, always seek advice from the National Park offices before setting out into the wilds. Paklenica The impressive Paklenica National Park lies just north of Zadar within the Velebit mountain range. Two gorgeous canyons named Velika and Mala Paklenica divide this mountainous region filled with gorges and cliffs that peak up to 400m in height. The views are breathtaking: the lush surroundings are the result of large quantities of pure

spring water that envelop the area and allow for the trees and meadows to blossom. Local two and four legged residents include sparrow hawks, chamois, wild boar, brown bears, wolves and lynx. Perfect for bird watching! Such beauty cannot go to waste so we invite you to partake in the many adventure activities on offer. The magnificent canyon Velika Paklenica is home to natural mountain climbing and rock climbing spots; mountaineering and hiking are popular with over 150km of trails. White water rafting and canoeing from the highest point of the Zrmanja River will leave even the most experienced breathless. Become a speleologist for the day, admiring the deep caves and their rich rock formations. The incredible diversity of landscape in such a small space can be experienced by mountain bike or opt for an off-road excursion. Local tourist authorities publish excellent maps. Guided tours and qualified instructors for adventure activities need to be reserved. If you crave some fresh alpine air, mountain hut accommodation is available. Be warned, book in advance. Karl May fans and nature lovers can visit the original screening locations of films dedicated to the legendary Indian chief Winnetou. This includes a thematic exhibition in the old part of the Alan Hotel where the film crew resided during the shooting of the motion picture in the 1960’s. The exhibition also includes authentic bedrooms, documented photos from the shooting and original objects used in the films. Besides visiting the various places in the Velika Paklenica canyon where the film was shot in motion, we strongly recommend the Velebit jeep safari and the visit to the beautiful surroundings of Tulove Grede and the socalled Pueblo plato. For all essential information, visit www. rivijera-paklenica.hr

Žir, Lika field, Photo by Krunoslav Lisac

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Lika Inside tips Nehaj Fortress in Senj Dominating the horizon south of Senj is the hilltop fortress of Nehaj, a monumental sixteenth-century cube of grey-brown stone embellished by a bouquet of dramatically-sprouting corner towers. The fortress is a simple but effective construction consisting of a single keep-like tower with two storeys of gun positions and an open parapet at the top. The history display inside makes imaginative use of Senj’s turbulent past. There is also a fascinating relief map of Senj as it looked in the seventeenth century – which shows how little the town’s maze of narrow alleys has changed in the intervening centuries. Look out for a real-size relief of Ivan Lenković (a copy of his tomb in the Slovene town of Novo Mesto), showing him in full body armour and wielding a mace to symbolize his authority. A tunnelled stairway leads to the second floor, where a pair of cannon point mutely out to sea. A further climb leads to the open parapet, with fantastic views of the coast and islands. Senj, Photo by Zdenko Vukelić

Senj, Photo by Zdenko Vukelić

senj Senj is famed for fearsome pirates and north winds whipping down from the Velebit range. The symbol of Senj is the 16th century Nehaj fortress, part of the Hapsburg defences against the Turks, while historical artefacts testify to a past going back to Roman times. Completely spared from mass development, this part of the coast has dramatic views of highlands and islands, and secluded pebbly coves where the sea is fed by mountain springs. Tourism is on a low-key scale, with foreign visitors mainly coming for camping and adventure sports. You’re in easy reach of mountain peaks and meadows, including the Northern Velebit National Park, the picturesque village of Krasno (a Marian shrine), and the watermills of the Gacka valley. After a hard day’s exploring, watch the lights twinkling all over the Kvarner Bay as you feast on a plate of freshly-caught seafood or local lamb. 72 Croatia In Your Pocket

The Senj Town Museum Senj’s Town Museum occupies the Gothic-Renaissance palace of the Vukasović family, a beautifully restored building with wooden-beamed ceilings and atmospherically creaky staircases. The museum’s pride and joy is the brand-new display of Roman-ea amphorae in the basement, where a recreated seabed scene shows how these shipwrecked ancient vessels looked when the marine archeologists first found them. Three more floors of exhibits follow, showcasing Senj’s importance as a spiritual centre from the Middle Ages onwards. Occupying pride of place is the so-called Senj Tablet (Senjska ploča), a fractured piece of stone bearing a twelfth-century inscription in the Glagolitic script. Built into a staircase in the Nehaj fortress, the tablet probably originally belonged to a medieval monastery demolished to provide Nehaj with construction materials. Senj was a major centre of Galagolitic printing during the Renaissance, recalled here by a collection of old books and facsimiles. Several rooms pay moving tribute to those Senj citizens who served during the Homeland War of 1991-1995. The display culminates with a room devoted to the Bunjevci, Croats who originally lived in the river Buna area (Herzegovina) but were dispersed in the aftermath of the Ottoman invasion. Today, descendants of the Bunjevci live in three main locations: the Senj region, the hinterland of Dalmatia, and the area around Subotica in northern Serbia. Characteristically colourful Bunjevci costumes are beautifully displayed here, alongside embroidery, tufted rugs and other traditional handicrafts. Cathedral of the Ascension in Senj Senj’s principal place of worship is thought to date from the eleventh century, and fragments of Romanesque brickwork can still be seen on the lower parts of the west-facing façade. The Cathedral was severely damaged in the Allied bombing raids of September 1943, after which the exterior was reconstructed in a selection of different materials – thereby explaining the building’s current mix-and-match appearance. croatia.inyourpocket.com

Lika Inside, each row of pews is engraved with a character from the Glagolitic alphabet (those on the left-hand side spell out the words ‘Katedrala Senj’, just in case you’re wondering). Decorating the pillars on either side of the nave is a series of wooden reliefs illustrating the Stations of the Cross, carved in 1958. by Ivan Kožarić. Main highlight on the left side of the nave is the baroque Altar of the Angels, with Raphael the Healer in the centre, and St Michael spearing a frowny-faced demon to his right. The curtained glass cabinet beneath the altar contains the mummified remains of an early Christian martyr brought here from the catacombs in Rome. Nearby, an ornate baroque pulpit dating from 1757 bulges from a pillar like a gilded fungus. Over on the opposite side of the nave is a charming nineteenth-century effigy of the Virgin and Child mounted on a canopied trolley, traditionally paraded around town on the feast day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (16 July). One of the cathedral’s most revered artefacts is the renaissance relief of the Holy Trinity immediately to the right of the main entrance as you face the altar. Dating from 1491, the relief bears a touching portrayal of the Crucified Christ alongside the earliest known stone-carved example of a šahovnica, the chequerboard pattern that appears on the Croatian coat of arms. Zavratnica Two kilometres south of Jablanac, the fjord-like Zavratnica is one of the most beautiful coves on the Adriatic coast, and is the one destination south of Senj that you should on no account leave off your itinerary. It is basically a sunken mountain ravine, with a shallow bay overlooked by sheer, rugged cliffs. You can walk there from Jablanac along a level and easily negotiable path that begins just below the Rapska plovidba ferry ticket kiosk. The path was built in the 1930s, when Zavratnica was a popular stop-off for Czech and Austrian tourists bound for the off-shore resort of Rab. Once you get to the cove the path winds beneath bonewhite crags, eventually arriving at a pine-shaded bathing area at the cove’s eastern end. It’s the perfect place for contemplation, and even in summer when Zavratnica fills up with excursion boats, it’s a good spot to sunbathe and swim. A stony path heads uphill and inland from Zavratnica to the Vidikovac (‘viewpoint”; also accessible by car from the main coastal road), where you can enjoy superb views back across the cove. Kuterevo Continuing east from Krasno along the main road to Otočac soon brings you to the turn-off for Kuterevo, an engaging cluster of stone barns, potato patches, grazing sheep and strutting chickens that scatters itself across several lumpy hillocks. Kuterevo would be worth visiting simply as an outstanding example of a traditional village, although it’s the presence of the Kuterevo Bear Sanctuary at the south-eastern end of the village that pulls in most visitors. Staffed by an enthusiastic bunch of international volunteers, the sanctuary provides a home for orphaned or abandoned bear cubs that would not have survived had they been left in the wild. Kuterevo lies at the centre of the facebook.com/CroatiaInYourPocket

Velebit’s brown-bear territory, and the locals are extraordinarily proud of these shaggy lumbering creatures. Young cubs are kept in an oval enclosure near the entrance to the sanctuary. Further down the hill is a much larger enclosure providing adult bears with the space they need to roam around. Having grown up among humans, Kuterevo’s bears can’t be reintroduced into the wild, and the sanctuary is in many ways a compromise – providing a secure but notquite-natural life for animals that would have otherwise died in their cub-hood. The Nikola Tesla Memorial Centre in Smiljan Situated in the village of Smiljan near Gospić, the centre was opened in 2006 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Nikola Tesla, the epoch-making inventor whose work on electric current, x-rays, light bulbs, radio transmissions and remote-control devices helped shape the world we live in today. The centre contains an accessible and entertaining audio-visual display that allows visitors to get up close to Tesla’s unique gift for invention. The centre comprises several buildings, including the house in which Tesla was born, a multimedia centre, a Tesla-designed turbine and a recreation of the laboratory he built in Colorado Springs in 1899. With a children’s playground on site too, it’s a great place for a family day out.

Photo by Nikola Tesla Memorial Center Smiljan Archives

May - November 2021

Mačkare, Photo by Milan Šabić, Sinj Tourist Board Archives

Southern Croatia Many of the superlatives associated with Croatian tourism are reserved for the south, where sweeping beaches are overlooked by dramatic mountain peaks, and unspoiled coves. With fabled historic cities such as Split and Dubrovnik there is an awful lot to savour.

Southern Croatia Dalmatian paradise - Six places that are perfect for a total getaway Despite its rising popularity, Dalmatia can still be an ideal place in which to get away from it all. And in an age when people are in serious need of a relaxing change of scene, the southern reaches of the Croatian Adriatic have a huge amount to offer. An astounding range of unspoiled landscapes are coupled with a take-it-easy pace of life and a distinct lack of holiday hustle: people are not crowding into bucket-list museums, socializing is done at café tables rather than stooped around a bar, and the scenery is sufficiently magnificent to ease away all those accumulated stresses. While there are enough off-the-radar spots in Dalmatia to soak up a host of tranquility-seeking tourists, here are just a few of our own favourites. The Quiet Side of Hvar The island of Hvar has come to represent the glamour side of Croatian tourism, the place that attracts the swishest yachts and the most beautiful party people. This is an image largely based on the island capital Hvar Town. In fact there is a lot more to the island, and people seeking a mixture of natural beauty and relaxing contentment will find that there’s a lot more to explore. The south side of the island in particular is a world apart; an isolated realm of steeply sloping vineyards and enchanting, undercommercialized beaches. The south coast is approached through a narrow road tunnel whose jagged rock-hewn appearance is enough to scare off many a recreational driver. Waiting on the other side are family-friendly pebble beaches at Ivan Dolac and Zavala, a lot of isolated coves, and plenty of apartment accommodation for people who want a share of paradise but without the crowds and the loud music. This part of the island also produces the richest grapes and the best Plavac wine, something to remember when visiting the modest scattering of quaint restaurants and bars. Pelješac A spiny finger of land topped by a mountain ridge, the 65km-long Pelješac peninsula stretches northeastwards into the Adriatic from the famous oyster-farming town of Ston. The peninsula is not exactly unknown to tourists but it is far from being over-exploited, offering a plethora of niche locations and little-traveled corners. The main town is Orebić, a beach resort of some popularity on account of its expansive pebble strands. However Orebić remains a family-centred resort rather than a raucous hotspot, and the beaches are big enough to accommodate everyone without too much of a crush. Viganj, west of Orebić, is popular with the windsurfing crowd on account of its channeled breezes, but most of them stay in campsites, there is no line of hotels dominating the shore. Beach connoisseurs will love the fine crescents of shingle tucked away in hidden places like Trstenik, Žuljana and Divna. Above all Pelješac is famous for its wine, with the peninsula’s steep south-facing slopes yielding some of the best reds in the country facebook.com/CroatiaInYourPocket

Orebić Tourist Board Archives

May - November 2021

Idillyc island: Molat BEHIND THE LENS FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHER: MARIN MAGAŠ

Molat is a relative giant of the Zadar archipelago, having 3 – count ‘em! – attractive little hamlets. OK, we got a bit carried away – they are very, very small. With only one ferry a day, Molat really is far from the madding crowd. There are only a handful of restaurants and shops on the island. Molat is covered by low-lying shrubs feeding a few goats and sheep. It’s great to spend the day exploring the pretty coastline by boat. Some of the best beaches are around Brgulje, where the ferry docks.

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Southern Croatia Imotski Situated on a karst plateau well to the east of the Adriatic coast, Imotski is a historic market town full of stone-built houses and tranquil alleys. It is famous for an astounding pair of natural beauty spots right on the outskirts of town, the Blue Lake (Modro Jezero) and Red Lake (Crveno Jezero). Both are situated in deep limestone depressions which fill with water during rainy periods and drain almost dry in especially hot summers. The Blue Lake is a designated nature park, with well-kept paths spiraling down to the shore and the possibility of taking a swim in the turquoise waters at the bottom. There is a lot of apartment accommodation in the area, and if the stark beauty of the Dalmatian interior appeals, this is the ideal place to enjoy it. Mljet Covered in dense forests of Black Oak and Aleppo Pine, Mljet is one of the greenest islands in the Adriatic. Situated at the western end of the island, Mljet’s famed National Park gets bags of day-trippers from Dubrovnik, while the rest of the island remains amazingly calm and uncrowded in comparison. Eastern Mljet, with its stone-built villages and sandy beaches, seems worlds away from the bustle of the modern Mediterranean. Quaint cove-hugging villages like Prožurska Luka and Okuklje offer the ideal opportunity for a blissfully relaxing holiday. Also attracting in-the-know lotus-eaters are Mljet’s cult beaches; cute pebbly Sutmiholjska on the south side of the island, and famously sandy Saplunara at the island’s very eastern tip. Lastovo One of the furthest of Croatia’s inhabited islands from the mainland and the most time-consuming to get to by ferry, Lastovo is perfect for those who prefer their holiday des-

tination to come with an end-of-the-world feel. Lastovo was for a long time off-limits to tourists due to its military importance, and retains the atmosphere of a place where tourism is still a relatively new phenomenon. Lastovo Town itself is a unique and characterful place, its houses arranged on sloping terraces above a verdant plain. Lastovo’s coast features quaint hamlets hiding in coves, where dainty rock and pebble beaches are washed by some of the cleanest seas in Europe. The shallow pebbly-sandy bay at Skrivena Luka is perfect for paddling. The whole island is covered in forest and scrub and is criss-crossed by trails, making it one of the best destinations in the Adriatic for hiking in blissfully unspoiled nature. And when the sun goes down, the lack of light pollution ensures that Lastovo is a wonderful place to watch the stars. The Baćina Lakes Travellers venturing down the coastal highway south of the Makarska Riviera tend to press on to Dubrovnik without stopping, which might indeed be the biggest mistake of their holiday. Dazzling motorists as they descend towards Ploče are the greeny-blue waters of the Baćina Lakes (Baćinska jezera), a group of seven little-explored watery expanses that sit on a karst plateau surrounded by attractively knobbly hills. Snuggled up behind meadows and rushes, these crystal-clear freshwater lakes make refreshing spots for a swim and a stroll. Linking the seven lakes is a network of foot- and bike-paths. Other activities include boat trips in traditional lađe (the shallow wooden boats specific to the Neretva region), or taking to the waters aboard kayak or paddle board. That such an attractive and compact lakeland area can exist so close to the coast comes as a big surprise to many; so big indeed that they don’t bother to stop, leaving the area for true lovers of Mediterranean tranquility.

The islet of St. Mary, Mljet, Photo by Mljet Tourist Board Archives 78 Croatia In Your Pocket

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Southern Croatia

The costume of the island of Pag, Photo by Matko Petrić

Top Sights

Zadar

St Donatu’s Church in Zadar Imposing and austere, yet absolutely harmonius and original in form, it’s not surprising that the pre-Romanesque St Donatus’ is taken as the very symbol of Zadar and an image of the unique spirit of Dalmatia. The circular shape is typical of the early Byzantine age in Dalmatia. It was founded in the 9th century, when it was called the Church of the Holy Trinity, and given its present name six hundred years later in memory of a famous bishop. Religious services are no longer held here, but the stark interior has excellent acoustics and is used as the concert venue for the annual International Festival of Medieval Renaissance Music, also known as ‘The Musical Evenings in St Donatus’.

Zadar has become a traffic centre of Croatia and has definitely connected two so different, and yet so similar Croatian regions – Lika and northern Dalmatia. This is the heart of Croatia in both actual and metaphorical meaning, from the Fairy of Velebit to ancient Croatian capitals, the old cities of Nin, Zadar, and Biograd, where Croatian princes and kings were crowned ever since the 9th century. Zadar County and Lika are a historical heart of Croatia bordered with a beautiful series of natural gifts. In the vicinity of Zadar there are as many as five national parks; Paklenica, the Kornati, Plitvička Lakes, Krka Falls, and Northern Velebit. In the south, there are two impressive nature parks, Telašćica with a salt lake on Dugi Otok and lake Vransko to the south. Diversity is the most important feature of this part of Croatia because you may truly enjoy its natural beauties or historical sites (and sights), but also countless beaches for everyone’s likes. If you are looking for a quiet holiday somewhere secluded, you can easily find it. Camp out at the foot of the Velebit or look for your own piece of paradise on an island in the Zadar archipelago where there are no cars. Silba, Olib, Molat, Zverinac, Premuda or Iž are waiting for you. Not to mention the island Rava where there is marked – the centre of the world. Recommended Sunset: Experience a spectacular sunset in Zadar along the Sea Organ and Greeting the Sun The smallest cathedral in the world: the Church of St Cross in Nin dating from the 9th century has been proclaimed the smallest cathedral in the world Pag cheese and lace: Each island is a world of its own, but this world has Pag lace, Pag cheese, Pag lamb, and Pag salt Saharun: A unique 800-metres long sand lagoon on Dugi Otok, without crowds of people

St Anastasia’s Cathedral in Zadar An attractive Romanesque cathedral - the biggest in Dalmatia - built during the 12th and 13th centuries. As with many Dalmatian churches, the belfry is separate. You can climb to the top - the view is amazing. Two attractive rosettes decorate the front portal, and a gallery of blind arches the flanks, with a ledge above them providing seating for pigeons to look down on the throngs on the Kalelarga. Simple stone blocks are lightened with decorative friezes, and the lovely stonemasonry around the doors is worth a careful look. Highlights of the interior include the stone ciborium covering the high altar, frescoes, an intricately carved choir and an Early Christian mosaic in the sacristy. The Sea Organ in Zadar Spring 2005 saw Zadar gain something absolutely unique: the world’s first pipe organ that’s played by the sea. Simple, elegant stone steps have been built on the quayside, perfect for sitting on. Underneath, 35 pipes end in whistles with openings on the quayside above. The movement of the sea pushes air through, and – depending on the size and velocity of the wave – chords are played. As you sit and listen to the ever-changing sounds created by the sea’s energy, you can bask in the sun, watch one of Zadar’s famous sunsets or enjoy the balmy night air. facebook.com/CroatiaInYourPocket

May - November 2021

Southern Croatia Galevac (Školjić) If you decide to go to the island of Ugljan, make sure to visit the Inventory Collection of the Monastery of St. Paul the Hermit. The monastery complex was built on the island Galevac (Školjić), situated opposite the village of Preko, on the island of Ugljan. Legend has it that the monastery was founded by the followers of St. Paul in the 14th century, whilst the construction of the monastery took place during the 15th century. The inventory collection of the monastery consists of more than 56 items. Cathedral of St James in Šibenik Šibenik Cathedral is the only cathedral in Europe built entirely out of stone without mortar or wooden construction so it is no wonder that it was included on UNESCO’s world heritage list as a unique monument of European sacral architecture. The cathedral is the most significant architectural accomplishment in Croatia in the 15th and 16th century.

Šibenik

St Donatu’s Church, Photo by Hostel Forum Archives

Greeting to the Sun in Zadar Witness this unique chance to see the latest project in Zadar called ‘A salute to the sun’ by the architect Nikola Bašić, who represented Croatia at the 11th Venice Biennial 2008. This project is in alliance with the Sea Organ project. In making these two projects possible, musician Ivan Stamać and as well as engineer and expert on water hydraulics Vladimir Andročec have both made significant contributions. Asseria At Asseria, near Podgrađe, 6km east of Benkovac are the remains of an urban settlement almost a kilometre long. Asseria was founded long before the Romans set foot on these lands. It was a powerful centre of the Liburnian tribe, whose territories stretched for miles along the eastern Adriatic coast. When the Romans later occupied these lands, Asseria grew to become a municipality with a governing council. The town was inhabited from the Bronze Age right up until the late Roman period – a time span of at least a millennium. 80 Croatia In Your Pocket

For most guests the summer holiday is an opportunity to change pace, if only for a while, and catch a more suitable rhythm. The young often want to increase speed, while the older run away from everyday stress and want to reduce speed. Šibenik and its surroundings, rich in diversity, offer both. An abundance of good time is offered in all villages on the coast from Vodice to Primošten. The islands and the hinterland offer a wide choice of relaxing activities, first of all in two national parks – Krka and Kornati. Krka Falls offer a unique play of water, and the Kornati islands are best to see when your boat is driven just by wind. Replace the noisy rapids of the Krka with the visit to those islands of peace and tranquillity, the Kornati, which are best experienced when your boat is driven just by wind. If you want to slow down even more, get yourself into ‘Robinsonian’ tourism, and rent a fishing house on an island. If you are not that daring, there are a few small inhabited islands in front of Šibenik where there are no cars. We remind you that this region is a gastro Mecca, because besides the traditional specialties, such as lamb in the Šibenik hinterland, or fresh fish, there are more and more restaurants with ambitious cuisine. Recommended Skradin risotto: Autochthonous specialty – veal risotto, which takes at least six hours to prepare Krapanj sponge: This sponge is a unique souvenir from the Šibenik seabed Visovac: Idyllic island with a monastery and a church on the lake of the same name Falcon center: Meet the mysterious world of predatory birds – falcons in Dubrava near Šibenik croatia.inyourpocket.com

Southern Croatia

VINKO

Experience and taste the traditional home made food offered by our family style restaurant.

Situated at village Konjevrate, direction of the town Drniš. From Krka National Park, entrance Lozovac - 5 km. From Šibenik - 15 km.

RESERVATIONS:

+385(22)778-750

KONOBA VINKO

reservations@konobavinko.hr

Saint Anthony’s Channel in Šibenik both useful in the kitchen and in medieval medicine. Fruit One of the most amazing entrances to a city from the sea. trees and roses help to provide additional colour. There is Saint Anthony’s Channel is a 4.4km new promenade suralso a café with outdoor seating on a garden-side patio, a rounded by Mediterranean and offers stunning restaurant and a souvenir shop. If you have ambitious plans Call us andvegetation make reservation +385(22)778-750 panoramic views of the Šibenik archipelago. Attractions for a herb garden at home, this is the perfect place to come include the ruins of a 16th century tower, a sublime several for horticultural inspiration. hundred meter long marine tunnel built for military purposes, beautiful coves that lay at the end of the channel Visovac Monastery and are perfect for a swim or quick dip, and in the vicinBoat trips from Skradinski buk head up the river into the soity sits the old port and a cave that housed a small church called Visovac Lake, a stretch of the Krka which measures dedicated to St. Anthony. Organised tours, walking, jogging 800m from shore to shore at its widest points. Grey-green and cycling are your best options for a very scenic outsidehills rise steeply on either side. Main destination for the exin view of Šibenik! cursion boats is Visovac Monastery, picturesquely located on an island 7km upstream from Skradinski buk. A FrancisThe Medieval Monastery Mediterranean can foundation has existed on this site since at least the Garden in Šibenik 14th century, although the church we see today was built Laid out by landscape architect Dragutin Kiš and mainin 1576. Long a centre of Catholic Christianity in the region, tained by children from a local high school, the Mediterit nowadays holds a seminary, as well as being the site of a ranean Garden has become one of Šibenik’s most popular much-visited church. A decree issued by Ottoman Sultan attractions since opening its gates in 2007. Occupying an Mehmet IV, returning Visovac to the Franciscans in 1674, is oblong terrace just above the belfry of St Lawrence’s church held in the monastery treasury. and surrounded by stone walls, the garden aims to provide Upstream from Visovac, the ruins of Kamičak fortress can an accurate impression of what a medieval monastery garbe seen on the cliffs above the eastern shore. Again built by den would have looked like, and is a marvellously sooththe Nelipić family in the 13th century, it was demolished by ing spot in which to enjoy a few moments of retreat. The the conquering Ottomans after 1522. collection of plants is laid out in neat geometric beds and reveals how monastery gardens such as these were highly www.inyourpocket.com practical affairs, cultivating the herbs and shrubs that were facebook.com/CroatiaInYourPocket

May - November 2021

Southern Croatia Split Split’s inhabitants will tell you this is the most beautiful city in the world. It’s a view that was clearly shared by the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who built his palace here at the foot of the mountain, along the shore of the blue Adriatic Sea. The palace, today full of shops and cafes, apartments and archaeological remains, still forms the core of the city. Almost everything is within walking distance, so you can sip coffee on Republic Square, visit St Domnius Cathedral and explore the palace catacombs easily, even on the hottest day. Outside the old city walls, stroll under the palms on the waterfront (popularly known as the Riva), or join fashion-conscious locals in the boutiques, hunting for that perfect sunhat or sarong. To feel the real pulse of the city, head for Pazar, the open-air market, with local fragrances and tastes. At the Peškarija (fish market) on Marmontova ulica, alongside squid and sardines you’ll spot the other inhabitants of the Adriatic sea, such as the red mullet, scorpion fish and monkfish that you can later try in one of the restaurants. Don’t overlook the green parts of Split such as the Forest-park at Marjan, with monuments, sports facilities and lookouts that offer fantastic views over the city. Sports types might join in a game of picigin, a local ball game, in the sandy shallows of Bačvice beach, while gourmet gurus will enjoy scouring the menus of traditional restaurants and konobas for specialities such as pašticada (marinated beef stew), buzara (mussel or scampi stew), and soparnik (a pastry pie made with spinach and garlic). Grgur Ninski, Photo by Matko Petrić

The Meštrović Familly Mausoleum in Otavice Ten kilometres east of Drniš, the sleepy village of Otavice is celebrated for the domed grey Church of the Holy Redeemer that squats on a low hill on the fringes of the village. It was built in to serve as a family mausoleum by the sculptor Ivan Meštrović, who spent much of his childhood here before pursuing a long and fruitful artistic career in Vienna, Zagreb then the USA. Begun in 1926, the building contains some of Meštrović’s most haunting reliefs, with an ethereal Crucifixion flanked by serene portrayals of the Evangelists. Mass is only held here once a month, but the church is open as a tourist attraction during whole year. Diocletian’s Palace in Split A quick look at the resplendent view of the palace from the hills surrounding the city will quickly establish why practically any emperor would be more than happy to locate his palace at the site that Diocletian chose for his retirement home. Construction began in 293 and was completed in ten years and utilized a variety of materials from all around the region, including white stone shipped from the island of Brač to sphinxes transported all the way from Egypt. Diocletian’s palace has become the quintessential “living museum”, as modern shops and citizens reside within the walls of the ancient palace complex. The part of the palace known as “the basement”was built during the reign of Diocletian to support the apartments placed above it and, until 1956, was unexplored and cluttered up with the detritus of thousands of years of history. Now, it’s been cleaned and opened for visitors. Because it mirrors the floor plan of the original imperial living quarters, a visit to the basement can help visitors envision the layout of the palace. And, because exploring the depths of ancient palaces is difficult work, the steps leading up and out of the northern end of the basement to the Peristyle can be a perfect escape. At one time the central courtyard of the palace, the Peristyle is now one of the central meeting points in town, with people leisurely sipping coffee, surrounded by an array of ancient architectural structures. The Peristyle and The Cathedral of St Dominius in Split Eleven of the twelve granite sphinxes that originally guarded the Peristyle have been destroyed by Christians who took exception to Egyptian imagery in their cathedral, but the twelfth remains, an imposing reminder of the original designer of the mausoleum, Diocletian. The former emperor’s tomb has long since disappeared, perhaps re-used in the creation of the Christianized mausoleum. Remnants of Diocletian’s rule do remain, in the form of portraits of the emperor and his wife that can be seen in the dome of the cathedral. More prominently on display are the altars to Domnius and Anastasius, the latter a Christian martyr who was killed during the reign of another enemy of early Christians, Emperor Nero. In grand historical irony, the cathedral was dedicated to one of Diocletian’s victims, the first Bishop of Salona. After viewing the interior of the cathedral, you can climb the bell tower to get a lovely view of the surrounding area and the nearby port.

82 Croatia In Your Pocket

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Southern Croatia Grgur Ninski in Split In 926, the representatives of Croatian churches were called together by Pope Ivan X in order to conduct a reform of the then current church system. The Great Assembly took place in Split and, in accordance with the wishes of Pope Ivan X, Slavic languages were outlawed in the Church, with the only accepted language for Mass and official Church business being Latin. Naturally, this started a firestorm of debate, with churches splitting into two factions. In the middle of this debate and fighting fervently on the side of Old Slavic language was Grgur Ninski, also known as Gregory of Nin. In the midst of a tumultous series of political and Church intrigues, he became the champion of the cause and today is recognised as a Croatian national hero and one of the fathers of Croatian language. You can see the completely impressive Grgur Ninski statue, created by another Croatian hero, Ivan Meštrović, outside the north gate of the palace (and you can rub his shiny big toe for good luck). Blaca Hermitage on Brač Island An interesting monastery to visit, especially if you like to hike, is the Hermitage of Blaca (Pustinja Blaca), founded in 1588 by monks fleeing the Turks. Perched on the side of a steep sided canyon about half way between the sea and the summit of Brač’s highest peak, Vidova Gora, Blaca indeed is a perfect place to hide. You can hike to the monastery either up a trail that begins near the coastal village of Murvica (west of Bol), or down from another trail that starts from a dirt track on the flank of Vidova Gora. To reach the trailhead you go 6 km on that track, which begins 1 km from the turnoff to Vidova Gora on the Supetar to Bol road. If you don’t have an SUV you run the risk of ruining your vehicle’s suspension. Both trails are well marked, which is unusual for Dalmatia. Allow several hours for the round trip hike and bring plenty of water. You will be rewarded with great views plus Blaca’s ascetic architecture and splendid isolation. Klis One of the largest, most spectacular and yet easily accessible fortresses in the Split-Dalmatia county is Klis, planted precariously on sheer cliffs just inland from Split. There’s an excellent view of this fortress from the highway that connects Split with the A - 1 highway. Partially restored and now an outdoor museum, the fortress is well signposted from the road. It will take you at least an hour to explore the fortress and soak in the great views in every direction. There is a café right below the fortress. Klis has had a long and colorful history. It was first mentioned in written records in the first half of the 10th century. In the 13th century the Mongols invaded the area but never succeeding in taking the fortress. The Ottoman Turks captured it in 1537. Local nobles succeeded in retaking Klis, but only for a few weeks, in 1596. The Venetians finally evicted the Turks for good in 1648. When you visit Klis you will see why it was fought over so fiercely. Anyone occupying the fortress could control passage through the rather narrow mountain pass from the coast to the hinterland. facebook.com/CroatiaInYourPocket

Brač, Photo by Andrija Carli

Solin Solin, aka Salona in Italian and Latin, stands 8 kilometres outside of Split at the meeting point of the River Jadro and the Adriatic Sea and was at one time the largest Roman settlement on the eastern coast of the Adriatic sea. One of its primary historical distinctions is that it was the birthplace of Emperor Diocletian who, as we hope you know by now, erected his palace in Split and spent the rest of his days there. Solin also probably played a role in Christianity’s early history. According to the Bible, Paul’s student Titus traveled to the region and, because of its sea connections with Italy and the Middle East, it is likely that Solin would have attracted such emissaries of Christianity. In any event, the town’s role as a crossroads of cultures and religions left behind an archaeological legacy that has earned the town the title of “Croatia’s Pompeii”. Until recently, Solin depended on its cement and asbestos factories as its principal industries, which did little to enhance the image of the town. Today, due to excavations exposing the remains of the former Roman town located nearby, tourists from Trogir and Split are giving the town a much-needed economic boost. In turn, they receive the possibility to stroll among ancient ruins that are over two thousand years old. In response to this increase in tourism, Solin has dedicated itself to highlighting and preserving its natural attractions as well. The River Jadro has been carefully preserved and is dotted with loads of green areas that are a pleasure to stroll through as well, especially if you’re not thrilled by the idea of exploring ancient ruins. In the end, Solin makes for a lovely day-trip from Split or Trogir and, considering the wealth of history ready to be explored there, just might be one of the best-kept travel secrets in the country that is just slightly off the beaten path. May - November 2021

Southern Croatia Dominician Monastery in Dubrovnik The Dominican order was established in Dubrovnik in the 13th century, and with the building of their monastery a century later, they became an important part of the city’s defences – the monastery is at a strategic corner of the Old Town, vulnerable to attack from land and sea. Graceful stone steps lead up to the complex – notice that the balustrades have been filled in to prevent rogues from looking up devout ladies’ skirts! As befits the monastery’s strategic position, from the outside it is fairly austere, but inside hides a jewel of a gothic and renaissance cloister (1456-1469), with a thick carpet of grass in the centre. The interior of the monastery church is delightfully simple, with a sweeping wooden roof and some fine stone furniture. The Dominican monastery, like the Franciscan, holds an important library and collection of art including a painting of Dubrovnik before the great earthquake by local master Nikola Božidarević that has been invaluable to historians in reconstructing the look of the Old Town, as well as important works by Titian, Paolo Veneziano and Vlaho Bukovac of neighbouring Cavtat.

The Rectors Palace, Dubrovnik, Photo by Domingo Leiva

Dubrovnik Originally called Ragusa, the city was founded in the 7th century as a refuge for coastal residents fleeing the advancing barbarians. The rich history of the former independent republic coexists here with modern hotels and resorts, trendy lounge bars, luxury yachts and cruise-boats. The old city of Dubrovnik, surrounded by the mediaeval walls, is entirely under UNESCO’s protection. Start your tour with a walk round the city walls, the perfect vantage point for some of the best photos in town. Then, as you stroll through the stone-flagged streets, you’ll see the Cathedral, the Church of St Blaise, the Rector’s Palace, monasteries and more. The streets off Stradun promenade shelter galleries and museums and have served as a perfect setting for “Kings Landing”, the capital of the Seven Kingdoms in the extremely popular Game of Thrones TV show. Drop into boutiques and authentic souvenir shops; choose between fine restaurants, traditional konobas and quirky bistros. Dip into the clear blue waters right by the city walls, or take a 10-minute boat ride to the islet of Lokrum where you’ll find beautiful beaches, a former monastery and strutting peacocks. The Lapad peninsula has great beaches for the kids; the shady Zvonimir promenade is lined with sports facilities, bistros and cafés. Take a bus to the Trsteno arboretum, small garden of Eden full of birds singing, and top off your visit with a cable car trip to the peak of Mount Srđ: the view of the city basking in the Adriatic is spectacular. 84 Croatia In Your Pocket

Stradun in Dubrovnik When talking about finding your way around town, you’ll often hear people referring to Stradun, which you won’t see on any street signs. It’s the unofficial name for the main street Placa that joins the two main entrances to the Old Town at Ploče in the east and Pile in the west. The name comes from the Italian strada, meaning street. With its shining limestone flags and the uniform baroque buildings that line it, it is itself one of the best known sights of Dubrovnik. It’s the place people bump into and chat with friends on their daily business, and dress up for a stroll in the evening or at coffee time. Stradun marks the dividing line between the earliest settlement and the parts of the city that followed. This first settlement was on the land south of Stradun, and was then named Laus, Greek for rock, since it was originally an island. From the name Laus came Raus, Rausa and then Ragusa. Although Laus has probably been inhabited by Illyrian peoples since the 4th century, it was colonised in the 7th century by Greco-Roman refugees from Cavtat fleeing Slav incursions. Later, Slavs settled the land across the narrow, marshy channel – this settlement was called Dubrava, from the Slav word for “oak tree”. The channel was filled in during the 12th century, thus creating Stradun, and the two towns integrated and began to build the city walls. The Church of St Blaise in Dubrovnik Named after the saint protector of Dubrovnik, this is perhaps the church most beloved of the city’s people. Sitting four square on Stradun, its stained glass windows by local artist Ivo Dulčić (1971) lit up at night make a wonderful show. A church has stood on this spot since 1368, but following a fire, the present church (1717) was built in Baroque style by Venetian architect Marino Gropelli, who was also sculptor of the statue of St Blaise standing above the entrance to the church, protectively holding a scale model croatia.inyourpocket.com

Southern Croatia of the Old Town in his hand. The church’s front steps are the setting for some of the most important events of the life of the city, including New Year’s Eve and the opening night of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, which always used to include a concert by legendary renaissance-pop group and Eurovision contestants The Troubadours. Mass in foreign languages can be arranged by appointment. Dubrovnik City Walls Almost two kilometres in length, Dubrovnik’s city walls are among the best preserved and most attractive on this planet, and a walk along them is an absolute must. The defences were built between the 8th and the 16th centuries. The fact that on the land side they are almost 6m thick in places shows their primary purpose as defence against attack from the mountainous hinterland – the Ottoman Empire, for example, lay just a few kilometers inland. The walls were strengthened by myriad towers and bastions, and were never breached – the Republic of Dubrovnik only fell after Napoleon’s armies were invited in on condition that they would respect its independence. Two further fortresses, Revelin to the east and Lovrijenac, on a headland just west of the Old Town, provided additional strategic defence. Revelin is a venue for concerts during the Dubrovnik Summer Festival. Lovrijenac is one of the most atmospheric venues of the festival, with traditional performances of Hamlet taking place under the stars. Your ticket to the city walls includes entrance to Lovrijenac, and it’s

well worth visiting. It was for some time used as a prison, and is surrounded by delightful parkland with some of the best views of the city, a great picnic spot. The Minčeta fort, just north of the Pile gate, with its stylized battlements, is one of the symbols of the city, and St John’s fortress houses the Maritime Museum and Aquarium. Apart from the fortresses, each of which has its own story and character, the Pile and Ploče gates are also masterpieces. From these gates, you now access the Old Town over stone bridges ending in drawbridges spanning the moat, now filled with park benches and orange trees. Above the gates you’ll see reliefs of St Blaise, protector of the city. The Franciscan Monastery of the Friars Minor and Old Pharmacy in Dubrovnik The Romanesque cloister of the Franciscan monastery is an absolute delight, decorated with the remnants of old frescoes, and with delicate pillars surrounding a garden where orange trees grow. The monastery is most famous for its pharmacy, among the oldest in Europe and the oldest one still working. The monastery houses a museum where you can see original items from the pharmacy, plus an extensive library with precious incunabula, manuscripts, a large collection of musical notations and a treasury of artworks. Outside the Church of the Little Brothers on Stradun you’ll see a lovely relief of the Pieta, and, on a lighter note, a gargoyle below knee height. The trick is to stand on it facing the wall – it’s the test of a real man!

Dubrovnik, Photo by Neil Morrell

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May - November 2021

Southern Croatia The Rector’s Palace in Dubrovnik One of the loveliest buildings in the city and the seat of the Rector, the figurehead of the Republic elected within the nobility, whose term lasted for just one month confining him to these quarters which he could only leave on official occasions and religious holidays. The building changed its appearance after two explosions of gunpowder stored here, and its current appearance is mainly thanks to the renaissance designs of Juraj Dalmatinac of Zadar and Michelozzo Mihelozzi of Florence in the 1460s. Alterations were added in baroque style in the 17th century following the earthquake, and since the original building by Onofrio della Cava, creator of the city aqueduct and fountains, was in gothic style, the result is a blend of styles which is timelessly romantic. The palace’s frontage has a delightful colonnade with choir style decorative stone benches. Inside, a beautiful courtyard is the venue for recitals and concerts. The palace is now a Cultural History Museum where you can view the richly appointed offices and quarters of the Rector, plus the arsenal, courtroom and prison cells. Artworks, costumes and domestic objects of the period are all on display. Bukovac House A highlight of a trip to Cavtat, where one of the best-loved Croatian artists, Vlaho Bukovac (1855-1922) grew up. As a child, he painted murals on the interior walls of the lovely old villa, bringing them alive with colourful paintings featuring semi-naive animal themes. Although subsequent owners saw fit to paint over his works, they have been restored with some success, and the delightful exhibition space upstairs features paintings and sketches surrounded by original furniture from Bukovac’s day. Bukovac’s portraits are especially personal and full of emotion. An exhibition space on the ground floor is given over to the work of young artists, and the shows feature contemporary works, a refreshing contrast with the antique mood of the rest of the house. There’s an idyllic garden at the back, and the whole experience is a rather uplifting one. Metković Natural History Museum Over 340 stuffed animals, amongst which 218 birds and 310 species that have been recorded in the Neretva River Delta, are shown at this beautiful and modern museum. The permanent exhibition features the richness of the flora and fauna of the Neretva Valley by using info panels, stuffed animals set in glass showcases, multimedia audiovisual displays as well as a 3D view of their habitats. One event that touches your senses and especially for those who love culture, arts, history and archaeology all in one! Narona Archaeological Museum in Vid This archaeological museum is located at the former site of Narona, an ancient Roman City in the present day Neretva Valley. Open to visitors since May 18, 2007, the Roman Temple Augusteum forms the base of the museum exhibition. The museum’s permanent collection features statues, pottery, jewelry, glass and money, which date as far back as the 3rd Century BC. 86 Croatia In Your Pocket

Sokol tower in Konavle Kids these days will say ‘hey, this reminds me of a fortress in World of Warcraft’, and they are not far off. Enter an ancient fort located in Konavle and up on a 25 meter high cliff, it dates back to 1420 and was most likely used for military purposes. After long renovations, it’s open to the public and also maintains some archaeological items including Bronze Age weapons for the feisty! Ston Saltworks Did you know that Croatia has one of the oldest salt mines in Europe? Located in Ston, this salt mine is one of three in Croatia and dates back to the 14th century. It was created in 1333 after the Dubrovnik Republic bought Ston. Annually, they produce up to 2000 tons of organic salt in salt pans! The Walls of Ston In an area known for its rugged natural beauty, few man-made sights are more magnificent than the grizzled fourteenth-century walls of Ston. For many years only a tiny stretch of this 5.5km-long line of fortifications was accessible to the public, but after a long period of renovation a significant circuit of wall was ceremonially opened to the public in October 2009. Visitors can now scramble around the ring of bastions that surrounds the town of Ston itself, enjoying fantastic views of the surrounding countryside. The walls date back to 1334, when the Republic of Dubrovnik gained Ston and the neighbouring Pelješac peninsula, and immediately set about securing it against potential Venetian or Ottoman attack. The area was well worth the investment: the salt pans of Ston went on to become a key source of Dubrovnik’s revenue, and helped to keep the republic’s fleet on the seas. Spanning the isthmus that connects the Pelješac peninsula to the mainland, and consisting of 40 towers and 5 fortresses, the walls comprise one of the longest stretches of surviving fortifications in the whole of Europe. Local sources reckon it to be the second longest stretch in the world after the Great Wall of China, although this eye-popping claim was probably intended as an attention-grabbing ruse by PR-conscious tourist officials. In the event, we feel obliged to report that a few idle seconds of web-surfing revealed that Kumbhalgarh in India boasts 36km of surviving wall – although we didn’t bother investigating any further. The Račić Mausoleum The Račić family mausoleum was built by Ivan Mestrović, a friend of the family, in the early 20th Century, in order to house their remains. Located in the middle of the cemetery, on top of the hill overlooking Cavtat, from the mausoleum you can look out at the magnificent Adriatic Sea. It took Meštrović two years to complete the mausoleum and he finished his work in 1922. It’s dedicated to Our Lady of the Angels. croatia.inyourpocket.com

Photo by Orest Yaremchuk Photo by Orebić Tourist Board Archives

Photo by Orebić Tourist Board Archives

What to see and do in Sinj To fully appreciate the stark majesty of the mid-Dalmatian landscape, you need to spend at least some time inland. The coast, with its sweeping pebble beaches and imperious mountains is only one side of the Dalmatian story. Delve beyond the coastal peaks and you will come across a dramatic combination of stony plateaus, fertile vales, river canyons, and mountains even more imposing than the ones you’ve just crossed.

Photos by Sinj Tourist Board Archives

Thirty-five kilometres inland from regional capital Split, the easy-going town of Sinj is the ideal place from which to explore this bewitching landscape. Sprawled across a fertile green carpet of rich agricultural land known as the Sinj Field (Sinjsko polje), the town is surrounded by the stark majesty of grey-brown highlands; while the furrowed gorges carved out of lime stone by the Cetina River lie only a short distance to the south and east. Whether you are into hiking, biking, fishing or simply looking, it’s an exhilarating place to be. Sinj is also a town of immense historical symbolism, It owes its central place in the national narrative to the heroic defense of the town against an Ottoman army in 1715. The battle took place on the Feast of the Assumption, and Croatian victory is often attributed to the divine intervention of the Virgin Mary, whose fifteenth-century portrait is proudly displayed in the local parish church, a magnet for pilgrims to this day. Indeed Sinj remains southern Croatia’s most visited Marian shrine, with hundreds of thousands of celebrants making their way here annually to mark the Feast of the Assumption on August 15. The famous battle of 1715 is celebrated every year by the test of horsemanship known as the Sinjska Alka, when riders attempt to spear a dangling talismanic disk in front of large crowds over a weekend in early August. Descended from age-old equine competitions and featuring brightlyclad participants in distinctive traditional costume, the Alka is a key component in Croatian national identity and comes under the protection of the UNESCO World Heritage list. Best place to learn about the Alka is at the award-winning Sinjska Alka Museum, an engaging mixture of traditional exhibits and modern multimedia presentation (which features as one of our top ten Croatian museums on page 26). The recently refurbished Museum of the Cetina Region (Muzej cetinske krajine) will give you the lowdown on the region’s rich heritage, with a colourful display that takes in folklore and local crafts – including the traditional hand-turned pottery made in the nearby village of Potravlje. One piece of cultural heritage you wouldn’t normally expect to find in the Dalmatian hinterland is the last resting place of Wally Neuzil, muse of Viennese painter Egon Schiele and the subject of many of his graphics and paintings. Neuzil was Schiele’s intimate companion from 1911 until 1915, when the young artist opted for respectable marriage with Edith Harms and cast the model aside. Neuzil trained as a nurse

during World War I and volunteered to serve in the military hospital in Sinj, where she died of scarlet fever in December 1917. Owner of one of the most iconic faces of the European avant-garde, she lies buried in Sinj cemetery. Historical resonances aside, Sinj lays good claim to being the activity capital of inland Dalmatia. It has a hippodrome that hosts equine sports throughout the year, and an airfield that hosts parachuting and gliding events. A mountain ridge near the village of Hrvace, just north of town, is the starting point for breathtaking descents by paraglider. Sinj’s surrounding area offers a wealth of hiking and cycling trails. Potential targets for explorers should perhaps start with Visoka, the 892m peak above town. Topped by tenmetre-high cross, it’s a popular target for pilgrims as well as recreational hikers. Offering a bit more of a challenge is the 1509-metre Svilaja to the northwest, the summit of which provides breathtaking views of the surrounding highlands. Clearly visible to the northeast is the Dinara range, site of Croatia’s highest peak (the 1831-metre Sinjal) and also a protected area under the Dinara Nature Park.

Photo by Ilija Veselica, Sinj Tourist Board Archives

For those into team-building activities and social sports, several local agencies offer zip-line adventures, paintball sessions and trips on local rivers. Stay in the Sinj region for any length of time and you will begin to realize the role that traditional crafts and customs still play in the life of the Dalmatian hinterland. The hugely popular pursuit of Klapa singing (polyphonic choral singing usually performed a cappella) is cherished here just as much as in the rest of Adriatic Croatia, and there is a rich repertoire of local songs. One form of singing specific to the inland region is Ojkavica, an archaic manner of throat singing passed down from generation to generation, in which the phrase “oj” (pronounced “oy”) appears at various stages of each song, most commonly at the end of a line. A specific Sinj variant of Ojkavica, known as Rera, involves two singers, one leading the song and the other one following. Ojkavica was included on the UNESCO List of IntangibleWorld Heritage in 2010. Another local tradition found across inland Dalmatia is the Nijemo kolo or “Silent Kolo”, a dance performed in the round or in pairs, but without musical accompaniment. You will need to be here at carnival time if you want to savour the unique experience of the Mačkari processions, in which locals clad in traditional costumes scare away the evil spirits of winter by jumping around and making a racket with their bells. Mačkari procession sare headed by the so-called Didi, saying figures who appear in 1.5-metrehigh headdresses fashioned from sheep’s stomachs, shaking bells worn around their waists as they go. Extraordinarily rich in landscape, culture and opportunities for an active holiday, the Sinj region is waiting to be discovered. More information is available on the local tourist board’s site www.visitsinj.com.

Photo by Milan Šabić, Sinj Tourist Board Archives

Photo by Nikola Belančić, Sinj Tourist Board Archives Photo by Milan Šabić, Sinj Tourist Board Archives

TOP NATURAL SIGHTS of Southern Croatia

3 5 9 6

21 1

12 15

Lunj Olive Grove, Island of Pag

(olives more than a thousand years old) 2

10 13

Telaščica Nature Park - Salt lake Mir

17 19 18

(A lake that is saltier than sea water)

Vrana Lake Nature Park (And one of the peculiarities of the lake is the autochthonous eel species, which spawns only once in its life and then dies.)

Kornati National Park (A stone labyrinth of eighty-nine islands, islets and cliffs in the sea these are the Kornati)

Krka National Park (Krčići, Topoljski buk, Manojlovac, Roški Slap) The main attractions of Krka include waterfalls, the river canyon, lakes, bathing places, boat tours and unique flora and fauna

Biokovo Nature Park

(a mountain with roots in the sea, and Sveti Jure is, with a height of 1762 metres, the highest peak of Biokovo and the third highest mountain peak in Croatia)

Vranjača Cave

Elafiti Islands (The Elafiti are a group of islands located west of Dubrovnik. Although they are no longer inhabited by deer, the archipelago owes its name to them)

Đurovića Cave (Đurovića cave spreads over 9000 square metres, and is located below the runway of Dubrovnik Airport)

The mouth of the Neretva 20

Bašćina lakes

(The Pakleni islands are between Split and the island of Vis, and its 21 nautically attractive islets and cliffs that seem to be connected to the town of Hvar by a ribbon)

Nakovana Cave (cave and archaeological site of the Illyrian sanctuary on the Pelješac peninsula)

Blue and Red Lake

Paklinski islands near Hvar

Vela Cave (a fascinating cave above Vela Luka on the island of Korčula)

Arboretum Trsteno (The oldest arboretum in the world was built around the Gučetić-Gozza summer house in 1494.)

Sapluni Bay (Saplun is a beautiful, extremely wooded and shady island Lastovo, and it has what is very rare on remote islands in the open sea sand!)

(You can also get to know the lakes by riding a 15km long cycle path that connects five of the seven Baćina lakes) 12

Mills on the river Ljuta (In the 15th century, the people of Dubrovnik bought Konavle and founded four mills there. By the 19th century, 15 in total had been built, with a large system of stone canals that distribute water. The Republic of Dubrovnik never sold the mills)

(The mouth of the Neretva is the best Croatian kiteboarding place, ideal for all levels of kitesurfers) 11

(The canyon itself was written about back in 1774, when the work The Road through Dalmatia was published, by the famous Italian biologist and travel writer Alberto Fortis)

(Packed with stalactites and stalagmites, cave pillars and arcades, some halls are bluish and green, and some sparkle sprinkled with crystals)

Mljet National Park - Big and small lake (Veliko and Malo jezero are a natural phenomenon of Mljet National Park and also the most visited place on Mljet)

Cetina river Canyon

(The water level fluctuates considerably during the year, so it is not uncommon for it to sometimes dry up completely, and the residents of Imotski then traditionally play football at its bottom) 9

Blue Cave (The unreal beauty of the Blue Cave on the island of Biševo) Odysseus' Cave (Mljet is also called the island of Odysseus, because according to legend, it was also visited by the Greek hero Odysseus)

Shopping Whether you’ve come to the cities armed with a lengthy list of things you want to buy, or you have absolutely no shopping agenda, we offer you a couple of suggestions

www.namfleg.com

www.zlatarna-jozef-gjoni.hr

www.stripovi.hr

www.croata.hr

www.nautical-bracelets.com

www.lapidarium.eu

www.takemehome.hr

www.ulicni-ormar.hr

www.galerijajaksic.com

Photo by Fun Park Biograd

Croatia With Kids Croatia is very much a child-friendly nation and families will be welcomed wherever they go. Activities for children are on the increase, and there are some great new attractions specifically designed with kids in mind.

Croatia with Kids Croatia with Kids Croatia has never been so full of things for families with children. Always a family-friendly destination, Croatia’s provision for kids has taken off in recent years, with a whole new generation of activities and attractions specifically designed with younger visitors in mind.

Beaches Croatia boasts a staggering variety of beaches, ranging from the smooth-and-sandy to the rough and rocky, with lots of pebbly strands in-between. There’s no reason why children will not enjoy the rockier beaches: the most important considerations are the shallowness of the water and a reasonably level sea floor. For lovers of classic crescents of golden sand, however, Rajska Plaža or “Paradise Beach” on Rab is your best bet. Backed by feeding facilities and play areas, it is also very shallow, allowing paddlers to stride out confidently into the bay. Another famously paddler-friendly beach is Bačvice in Split, a popular place to splash around and play beach games such as the favourite local ball-throwing sport of picigin. The glittering beach at Nin, north of Zadar, is slightly less crowded and offers acres of space for making sandcastles. For a true away-from-it-all vibe, Saplunara on Mljet offers pretty much everything you might want from an idyllic desert island, with untouched nature, clear water and acres of sand.

The spectacular Zlatni rat, a peninsula of pebble pointing into the sea on the island of Brač, fills up in summer but also comes with all kinds of activities, from windsurfing to jumping around on the inflatable islands of an offshore aquapark. For kids who are old enough to try out diving and cliff-jumping, the Kamenjak peninsula in Istria offers a multitude of rocky perches from which to launch oneself into the sea. For a perfect day at the beach with a difference, the river Mrežnica near Karlovac is a great place to picnic on the lawns and enjoy a dip in a slow-flowing river: Belavići, with its grassy riverbank, restaurants and camp-site, is the place to aim for. Wherever you go on the Adriatic coast, remember to pack plastic sandals or sea shoes: sharp rocks and sea urchins are frequent hazards. A parasol or beach-tent will help to keep young heads out of the sun.

Photo by Sivia Kovačević

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May - November 2021

Croatia with Kids history museum that uses interactive exhibits to teach visitors about the need to conserve the natural environment, there’s also an outdoor play-park. Situated in a medieval castle in Ogulin, Ivana’s House of Fairy Tales (ivaninakucabajke.hr) celebrates Croatia’s foremost writer of fairy tales Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić with an innovative display that includes animated films, interactive games, and otherworldly creatures both good and bad. Istria’s Dinopark Funtana (www.dinopark.hr) with its stomping and roaring lizards (and the odd fairground ride) is both great fun and also pretty educational if you stop to read the captions detailing when and where these creatures lived. Enormously diverting and eminently instagrammable are the optical tricks on show at the Museums of Illusions (muzejiluzija.com) in both Zagreb and Zadar – the puzzles on sale in the gift shop make for a great souvenir option.

Nature parks & caves

Photo by Museum of Illusions Archives

MUSEUMS Recent years have seen huge improvements in the provision of museum content that is both engaging and educational at the same time. One of the best places in Croatia to take inquisitive kids is the Krapina Neanderthal Museum (www.mkn.mhz.hr), which sets the hairy hominid in the title in the context of the whole history of life on earth. Situated in a large sloping private garden, the Science Park in Oroslavlje (www.parkznanosti.com) is a fun way to explore basic physics, with a sequence of interactive learning stations that help kids learn about mass and velocity, human senses – or simply have fun bashing things. Another must-visit for would-be scientists is the Technical Museum in Zagreb (tmnt.hr), harbouring a parade of vintage vehicles alongside a display devoted to Croatian-born inventor and electric-power pioneer Nikola Tesla. For kids with a rich historical imagination, the Barone Fortress in Šibenik (www.tvrdjava-kulture.hr) offers a virtual realityaided trip back into the tumultuous world of the Seventeenth Century. Ranging further afield, Med dvemi vodami (local dialect for “Between Two Rivers”; www.med-dvemi-vodami.info) in the eastern county of Međimurje is a water-themed natural 96 Croatia In Your Pocket

Both the Plitvice National Park (www.np-plitvicka-jezera. hr) and the Krka National Park (www.np-krka.hr) are outstanding destinations that seem designed for that perfect family day out – which one of them you choose will largely depend where you are staying and how it fits in with the rest of your holiday itinerary. Plitvice National Park consists of a chain of lakes connected by tumbling cataracts; wooden walkways take you above the gurgling waters, and a network of boats and electric buses will ferry you from one end of the park to another. Krka offers a similar mixture of walking and boating, with chances to visit historic watermills and monasteries thrown in. In southeastern Croatia, the reedy wetlands of the Kopački Rit Nature Park (ppkopacki-rit.hr) offer the chance to enjoy a boat trip on the forest-shrouded Lake Sakadaš. To learn more about the big beasts of Croatia’s forests then head for the Large Carnivores Visitors Centre in Stara Sušica (www.centar-velikezvijeri.eu), where a multi-media display introduces you to the lives of the bears and wolves of the Gorski Kotar. An exhilarating introduction to the region’s birds of prey is provided by the Falcon Centre just outside Šibenik (www.sokolarskicentar.com), with its demonstrations of falcon-handling. One of the undoubted highlights of the Croatian underworld is Baredine Cave near Poreč (www.baredine. com), a treasure trove of stalagtites and stalagmites formed by several million years of water seepage. A 300-metre walkway leads through a sequence of astounding chambers; the cave is also home to an amphibious creature known as the olm, dubbed the “human fish” on account of its slender white body with agile arms and legs. Something of an outlier, but extremely worthwhile if you are visiting eastern Croatia, is the House of the Pannonian Sea (Kuća panonskog mora; kucapanonskogmora.hr), which features audio-visual presentations of the creatures that used to swim around hereabouts when it was covered with water 18 million years ago. croatia.inyourpocket.com

Croatia with Kids Outdoor Activities Croatia is blessed with a thrilling range of all-the-family activities, most of which can be geared up to suit children of different ages. Sea kayaking is hugely popular in Dubrovnik and the Dalmatian islands; while windsurfing schools make good use of Adriatic breezes in resorts such as Bol on Brač and Viganj on the Pelješac peninsula. The provision of biking trails has mushroomed all over the Adriatic in recent years, with spring and autumn the ideal seasons to take to two wheels. Rafting companies abound on the banks of the Cetina near the resort town of Omiš, offering an exhilarating white-water ride through spectacular scenery. Just inland from Biograd na Moru, Vransko Jezero Adrenaline Park (pp-vransko-jezero.hr) is part of the Vransko Jezero nature park, so you can observe the reedy lake and its bird life before tackling the park’s zip-lines and high-wire walkways – which include plenty of low-altitude options for younger kids. The Kupjak Adrenaline Park near Delnice in Gorski Kotar (adrenalinpark.com.hr) has a slightly more demanding high-wire park for the over-9s, as well as kids’ paintball and archery sessions for those who book in advance. For older children, zip-lines across the Cetina river near Omiš, and across the Pazin Gorge in Istria are guaranteed to get the adrenaline flowing.

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Photo by Vlado Anić

Ivana’s house of fairy tales, Ogulin, Photo by Domagoj Blažević

May - November 2021

Info

the quake Croatia found itself in the news in 2020 due to a series of earthquakes, the most serious of which was a 5.3-magnitude quake centred on Zagreb on March 22; and a series of quakes (the most destructive of which measured 6.2) near the middle-Croatian town of Petrinja on and around December 29. There was one fatality in Zagreb, seven in Petrinja, and a huge amount of material damage in both locations. Although the tremors were felt over a wide radius, the earthquakes did not affect the Adriatic areas of Croatia and it is not thought that the Adriatic coast is currently at any increased risk of seismic activity. Visual evidence of the quakes has now been largely removed from Zagreb streets, although several buildings remain closed and the job of reconstruction will take months if not years. Physical damage was much more widespread (and remains visible) in Petrinja, where whole areas of the town centre will need to be rebuilt. Residential buildings on both Zagreb and Petrinja were seriously affected by the earthquakes – many families remain housed in temporary accommodation. Aftershocks have been experienced in both Zagreb and Petrinja in the ensuing months, although not so far on a 98 Croatia In Your Pocket

level comparable with the original tremors. The earthquakes were followed by an outpouring of solidarity, with many locals volunteering to help relief efforts or contributing food, clothing and money to humanitarian actions – many of which were spontaneously organized by citizens themselves.

Useful links www.koronavirus.hr/en https://entercroatia.mup.hr/ https://www.safestayincroatia.hr/en www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/cases-2019-ncov-eueea www.dfa.ie/travel/travel-advice/a-z-list-of-countries/ croatia/ https://hr.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information-2/ https://covid19.who.int/region/euro/country/hr www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/croatia/ www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/croatia croatia.inyourpocket.com

National Park Paklenica, Photo by Luka Tambača, Starigrad Tourist Board Archives

Baška, Photo by Matic Kozinc

Photo by Marin Topić, Osijek Tourist Board Archives

Photo by Zagreb County Tourist Board Archives

Croatia In Your Pocket

Articles inside

History Talk: Master Meštrović

Zen Nature Trips

What to see and do in Karlovac

Also in this issue

Five New Faces in Croatian Culture