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The central-Dalmatian
island of Korcula stretches parallel with the nearby
mainland in the west-east direction. It is 46.8 km long, its average
width is 5.3 to 7.8 km, it covers an area of 270 km , and is the sixth
largest
Adriatic island. The Peljesac Channel, which
separates it from
Pelješac peninsula, is 1,270 m wide at its narrowest
point.
The island shoreline is 182 km long, and the shorelines of the nearby
islets another 54 km. Korcula is very indented with a large number of
bays and coves.
Its
north
shore is rather low and easily accessible with several
natural harbors sheltered from the southern and easterly winds:
Korcula,
Banja,
Racisce,
Vrbovica,
Babina,
Prigradica.
The south shore is more indented but steep in places,
with cliffs rising up to 30 m out of the sea in places. There are many
anchorages and bays sheltered from the northern but open to the southern
winds:
Zavalatica,
Rasohatica,
Orlandusa,
Pavja
luka,
Pupnatska luka,
Prizba,
Grscica,
Brna etc., and is sheltered from both the
bura and the jugo.
The island also includes the towns of
Vela Luka and
Blato and the coastal villages of
Lumbarda and
Racisce, and in the interior
Zrnovo,
Pupnat,
Smokvica and
Cara.
Like most of the Croatian
islands, the Greeks, who gave it the name
Korkyra Melaina
or
'Black
Corfu' for its dark and densely wooded appearance,
first settled Korcula, in the 6th century before Christ, at first next
to today's Vela Luka.
Today, the island of Korčula represents a unique fusion
of
beautiful nature, thousands of years of
cultural tradition
and
history, and
modern
tourism. Numerous
beautiful beaches and bays,
luxurious hotels and summer
houses,
centuries old olive groves and vineyards, and ancient towns and villages
on the island which seem as if they have remained lost in some long past
time attract tourist from all over the world to this island.
The vicinity of
Dubrovnik
as well as
island
Mljet gives visitors to Korcula unique opportunity to
spend time at this unspoiled Island as well as to visit effortlessly
Mljet, national park, Dubrovnik, UNESCO's city or
Mostar
and
Neretva River.
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map - island Korcula
Korcula
Korcula
Korcula
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City Korcula,
inhabitants:
3000 |
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City
Korcula
lies beside the sea on the
north-east end of the
island Korcula.
The old medieval part of the city was built on a small oval
peninsula, a Baroque suburb spreads under the old city walls, and
newer town quarters stretch along the shore to the east and west
of the old centre. Today the city has about 3,000 inhabitants,
most of them living in new parts of the city. Korcula is the seat
of the administration of the Town of Korcula that includes the
city, part of the island and four villages:
Zrnovo,
Pupnat,
Cara
and
Racisce,
with a total of about 6,000 inhabitants. Korcula has many social,
cultural, economic and health institutions and organizations: a
kindergarten, elementary and secondary school (grammar school),
museum, library, medical centre, tourist agencies, banks, pharmacy,
hotels, shipyard, shops, restaurants and so on. It also has
cultural and performing societies that foster choral singing and
folk dancing, and sports societies.
The
walled old city, with streets arranged in a herringbone pattern
allowing free circulation of air but protecting against strong
winds, is tightly built on a promontory that guards the narrow
sound between the island and the mainland. Building outside the
walls was forbidden until the 18th century, and the wooden
drawbridge was only replaced in 1863. World famous 13 cent figure
whose name is linked to a Korcula is Marco Polo.
Besieged the towers and walls, which along with geographic
position, I emphasize the role statesku town of Korcula, who
observed from afar looks like the city - fortress. Historical and
cultural features have always pridavale him the importance of
strong and the city of Korcula always been an administrative and
religious center of the island, a series of specific features of
Korcula makes one of the historic Croatian towns. One of the
particularities of Korcula, by which it is in the world today is
recognized Moreska tournament game in which black and white king,
Osman and Moro, fighting for the love of a girl - Bule. As on
hands, but the centuries provides Korcula, with its urban harmony,
houses, palaces, squares, processions, Moreska, hospitable
population, interwoven and tumultuous history in which many of
Korcula ruled. Each of the town within the municipality of Korcula
rich variety of natural and historical characteristics.
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town Korcula
Mokarecka
town Korcula
town Korcula
Korcula-city map
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City
Vela Luka,
inhabitants:
5000 |
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Vela
Luka
is the largest town on the island,
a municipality with almost 5,000
inhabitants, 42 km from the
city of Korcula by
island road, which ends here. The
town developed at the beginning of
the 19th century in a deep
sheltered bay. It has several
hotels, and the
Kalos medical centre for
rheumatic disorders and
rehabilitation. The inhabitants
are farmers, fishermen, work in
tourism, and the town also has the
Greben shipyard,
Jadranka fish factory,
and other smaller industrial
plants.
The Cultural Centre in a
renovated Baroque building, the
old Kastel summer house,
has a fine prehistoric
archaeological collection from the
nearby
Neolithic site Vele spilje,
and from Roman localities in the
surroundings of the town.
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Vela Luka |
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City
Lumbarda,
inhabitants: 1000 |
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Lumbarda
is six
kilometers east from the
city of
Korcula.
It extends around a small bay and on the hills behind it,
and is surrounded by large sandy vineyards. Lumbarda is
reached along a good asphalt road that passes through a
picturesque area of pine woods and olive groves.
In the 3rd century B.C. a
Greek (Hellenistic) agricultural settlement
was founded here from which originated the
Psephism and the
gnathia vases found in graves (now in the
Town Museum). There was a
Roman villa rustica (rural estate) in the
field north-east of today's village near
Bilin zal beach. Since the 16 century
prosperous Korcula landowners built summer houses called
kastel on choice sites in Lumbarda, some of them still well
preserved and inhabited: the Nobilo, Milina, Krsinic kastels.
St Roch's parish church (Sv. Rok) with a nave and two aisles
stands on
Vela glavica hill in the middle of old
Lumbarda, and there are several small old chapels in the
village itself:
St Bartul,
St Peter,
The Nativity of the Virgin (Mala Gospa). The
church of the Holy Cross (Sv. Kriz) from
1774, in front of which is a characteristic porch, is
surrounded by vineyards.
For centuries the people of Lumbarda were farmers, mostly
grape growers, fishermen and stone-masons. Several prominent
modern Croatian artists, sculptors and painters were born
here:
Ivo Lozica (1910-1943),
Lujo Lozica (1934),
Stipe Nobilo (1945), and the most important
of all,
Frano Krsinic (1897-1981). He made the
bronze Second World War Memorial in the centre of the
village and the bronze relief Fishermen on the hotel. Nearby
is the studio-house and collection of the local amateur
sculptor, the peasant
Ivan Jurjev-Knez (1920), who works in stone
and wood.
Today the local people are also engaged in tourism: there
are
hotels, several camps, many private pensions, restaurants,
shops, and a small
marina. The Ivo Lozica cultural and
performing society in Lumbarda cultivates music, singing,
folk dancing and amateur dramatics. |
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Lumbarda from air
Beach
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