Island Hopping

Welcome to Vodice, the best transition point to start sightseeing the surrounding area. Due to the environment and the beautiful archipelago, the proximity of two national parks and the charming beauty of the city, the tourism here has a long tradition, about fifty years old, and as an industry, it has meant tremendous development for the town.

The population once lived in the Vodice fields, which abound with fertile water sources and provided conditions for agriculture and settlement on the coast is associated with a growing fear of the Turkish threat.

The city, named after the water, lies on the sources of drinking water. In the past, its prosperity relied on the abundance of wells and the water trade. Today, two wells have been preserved in the square, below the parish church, as a monument to tradition.

Prvić is the first island to the mainland of Vodice, only 1000 m away. It is inhabited by two picturesque, typical Mediterranean villages with stone houses and alleys, Prvić Šepurine and Prvić Luka, with about two hundred inhabitants in each. Because of their authenticity, they are protected as a cultural entity.

The island abounds in gorgeous natural beaches and the gentle terrain, with the present traces of arable land that testify for the people of Prvić as valuable farmers who cultivated a wide range of overseas lands along with their own.

Nowadays, Srima is a modern tourist resort connected to Vodice, but it was inhabited in prehistoric and ancient times. Archaeological finds of two one-nave basilicas, known among the population as "Prižba", were found at the Srimska Lokva site. They are also called twin churches because they were built next to each other.

It was on Srima that the inhabitants of Prvić had vineyards, so the real jewel of dry-stone heritage remained from that time, hidden from the sea - "Domaćinova bunja" (Host's Shelter) with a height of over 5 m. It was constructed to provide owners with accommodation when they had to stay longer to work in the vineyard, outside the main island of Prvić.

Jadrija is the first beach in Šibenik, a city district and a monument of cultural heritage. It is placed at the Šibenik Channel entrance, on a peninsula formed by an embankment in 1922 to connect St Andrew's islet with the mainland.

The dominant view of Jadrija is the lighthouse, still in function, whose construction began in 1816 during the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was built as part of a lighthouse system on the Adriatic's east coast, intended to ensure trade sea routes' safety.

It was completed in 1871.

Under UNESCO protection, this fortress is one of the essential Venetian fortifications outside Venice, built for defence against the Ottomans. Famous as one of the most beautiful forts on the Adriatic. It was built on the islet of Ljuljevac, to which people eventually paved the way, and access to the fortress is now possible by land.

At the time of its construction, in 1540, it cost as much as half of Dalmatia, 40,000 ducats. The builders of the fortress are the distinguished Venetian Sanmicheli family.

St Anthony's Channel is the only sea route to Šibenik. It was protected in 1974 as a natural phenomenon due to its landscape value.

The Channel is distinctive by Aleppo pine and holm oak forests, the vegetation of about 600 plant species, and an underwater world of 56 shellfish species and an abundance of fish. The dominant feature of the relief is karst.

It is a little more than 2000 m long, 220 m wide and 40 m deep. In the past, it had two towers between which an iron chain stretched and defended the entrance to the city for the enemy ships.

Due to the Channel 's narrow width, the traffic of larger ships is regulated by traffic lights.

There is the Cave of St Anthony, the abbot in the Channel that has served as a chapel since the Middle Ages.

Hermits also lived in it, including the Zadar nobleman Jeronim Detrico, buried there in 1615. One stone has been preserved from the church equipment, into which water drips from the rock. During the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, cannons were located there, and in the SFRY the cave continued to be used for military purposes.

During the Second World War, Germany began digging a sea tunnel in the living rock that was supposed to accommodate the "Schnellboots." People, therefore, popularly called the tunnel "Hitler's eyes." When only the excavated rock remained after the war, the post-war Yugoslavia army took over the tunnel, concreted it and used it for patrol boats.

Šibenik, as one of the historical Croatian cities, was first mentioned in the middle of the 11th century in a document of King Petar Krešimir IV.

The view is dominated by its four fortifications: St Nicholas, St Michael, St John and Barone.

Of the sacral monuments, of which the city has 24 churches and six monasteries, from a distance, the Cathedral of St James, a unique monument of European sacral culture attracts the eye's attention. The cathedral was constructed entirely of stone, without any other materials and is the work of Juraj Dalmatinac and Nikola Firentinac, placed under the care of UNESCO World Heritage.

Zlarin is called Green Island, and you can undoubtedly get to know the authentic Dalmatian flora on it.

You can see many forests of cypress, pine, holm oak, pine, olive, fig, oleander, and rosemary on the island.

It is best known as the "coral island" due to hunting and processing tradition that dates back to the 14th century. During your stay on the island, you will visit a coral jewellery workshop and shop that still nurtures this endangered craft today.

Seagulls and Dalmatian lizards will complete the experience of a peaceful Dalmatian island, and when swimming and diving, you will notice a part of the rich underwater world.

Of the benefits of Zlarin, we emphasize that there are no cars on the island, contributing to an enjoyable atmosphere for a real vacation.

When disembarking on Zlarin, you will land on the unique, most extended island waterfront in Croatia, 131 meters long and 16 meters wide. This island is also the first "island without plastic" in Croatia.

Luka is one of the two settlements on Prvić, and together with Šepurine, they form a protected cultural whole. It is believed that the first to inhabit the island were hermits. The place has been a resort of Šibenik nobles since the 15th century. A monastery and two churches were built by the Benedictines and Franciscans.

Today it has about 200 inhabitants. The place is sheltered from sea storms because it is situated in a cove. With its stone houses, no car traffic and crystal-clear sea, Luka possesses the irresistible charm of a typical Dalmatian place.

In 2012, the Memorial Center "Faust Vrančić" was opened in the town, dedicated to the Croatian lexicographer, brilliant inventor, polyglot and philosopher. You can see a collection of models of some of his inventions: olive mill, suspension bridge, and the most famous, Homo Volans - flying man in the centre. There are also significant written works. Born in Šibenik, he spent his childhood in the family's summer house in Prvić and, at his request, he was buried here.

On the way back from Prvić, we will notice the island of Tijat, which is an example of bare karst terrain with vegetation of typical Dalmatian macchia, which in the past was wooded and with arable olive groves. It is estimated that there were about 2,500 olive trees on the island that the people of Prvić cultivated.

The vegetation of Tijat was impoverished by the cessation of human activity and the release of mouflon, wild sheep, to uncontrolled grazing.

On the way back to Vodice, we pass the island that has settled in front of Vodice neighbouring place Tribunj, which locals call Veliki Škoj. It is only 200 meters away from the mainland.

It housed the world's first donkey reserve. This indigenous protected animal was domesticated on the Dalmatian islands, coast and hinterland as a faithful companion in Dalmatian man's life.