Europe, Croatia, Adriatic islands

Korcula, an Adriatic island paradise

No Comments 7 August 2010

Korcula, an Adriatic island paradise

During his whirlwind tour of Croatia’s coast back in 2002, the Monkey became quite enamored with the island of Korcula. Here he shares a few photos from this lovely place.


Korcula, Croatia
Korcula is a 47-kilometer-long island off the Croat mainland along the Dalmatian coast. Inhabited since pre-history, the sunny island is perhaps best known for the heavy Venetian influence that held sway there for several centuries. Unlike Dubrovnik, which negotiated protected status from larger powers in order to maintain its semi-independence as a city-state, Korcula’s residents were directly ruled by the Venetians for the bulk of the period from 1000 until 1793, with occasional interjections by the Magyars, Slavs, and even the Dubrovnik Republic. From 1793 on, its trajectory followed that of Dubrovnik, and it became part of the proto-Yugoslav Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes in 1921.

In this photo, the Monkey peers from his balcony back toward the attractive peninsular setting of the medieval walled town of Korcula.

Marco Polo house, Korcula, Croatia
Though still an open case, many historians concur that Korcula was the birthplace, in 1254, of the famed Venetian expeditionist Marco Polo, whose 13th Century travels across Persia and India to China and subsequent memoirs of the journey played a major role in informing Europe of the existence of other advanced civilizations to the east. Korcula’s archives have documentation of the Polo family and visitors to the town never fail to climb the narrow staircases of the Polo family residence.

Here, the Monkey looks down from the so-called Marco Polo Tower onto the narrow streets of Korcula and the azure waters of the Adriatic beyond.

Marco Polo house, Korcula, Croatia
It’s such a pretty view that it deserves another shot. The Monkey in Korcula’s Marco Polo tower (see above caption for more details).

Stari Grad, Korcula, Croatia
The Monkey looks over the roofs of Korcula’s Stari Grad to the belfry of the Cathedral of St. Marco, built from the 15th Century onward. Six centuries on, the cathedral’s spire retains pride of place in Korcula’s skyline (see the shot at the top of this page).

Korcula, Croatia
The Monkey mans (or monkeys?) the defenses of Korcula’s harbor. In the distance are some of the villas and apartments of the new town.

Rocky coastline, Korcula, Croatia
Majmun tries not to cut his feet on the jagged rocks that form much of the Croatian Adriatic coastline. This view is from Korcula island back toward the mainland.



This Monkey adventure has been viewed 111 times since the 2010 website relaunch.

Croatia

   FAST FACTS


View Larger Map

 Population:

4,491,543 (2008)

 Land area:

56,414 sq. km.

 Capital:

Zagreb (pop. 930,753; 2005)

 Economy:

In 2006, Croatia ranked 45th in the UNDP Human Development Index and 58th in total GDP, with a per capita GDP of $9,611.68. Public debt accounts for 47.8 percent of total GDP, while 11 percent of Croats are beneath the poverty line.

 Main language(s):

Serbo-Croat

 Monkey's name:

Majmun (my-moon)

 Fun fact:

Two inventions for which the world owes the Croats credit are the necktie and the radio. The former evolved from a silk scarf worn by Croat sailors (dubbed the “cravate”), and the latter was developed by the Croat inventor Nikola Tesla, though many have erroneously credited Italian engineer Guglielmo Marconi with the creation of the radio.
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