Cities
Understand
The “golden island”, as the island of Krk has been called since ancient times, is the nearest island to western Europe. The latitude of the island is 45° and the longitude is 14°35'. We do not consider it an island so much anymore because it has been connected with mainland since 1980 a 1400m long bridge made of reinforced concrete. Krk has approximately 16500 year round inhabitants in seventy different settlements.
The island Krk has many different landscapes . The north part of the island is almost bare because of the strong wind called “bura”, while the southernpart abounds with greenness and gentle bays. Inland, rocky hills alternate with fertile fields.This sort of relief favorably provides for the cultivation of grapes and the production of the well-known wine “Vrbnička Žlahtina.”
If you can't visit the island Krk during the summer, come in spring or autumn. If the weather is nice, you can have a swim in the sea in June, September and October. There are some (brave ones) who swim from April to November
Talk
Croatian
Get in
You can reach Krk by land, sea and by air because there is also an airport (Rijeka airport) which can handle large and small planes. The island doesn't have a railway. The nearest railway station is in Rijeka, only 30 km from Krk. There are daily trains to and from Italy, Austria, Germany and Hungary. Rijeka also has daily coach lines which connest all European points such as Munich, Zurich, Trieste, etc. If you like boat rides you can also reach Rijeka by ferry and one of the safe harbours of the island in your own boat. You can leave your boat during the winter in Marina Punat or in other marinas offering dry storage.
For the sake of orientation, here are some rough distances for those who prefer coming by car:
München ~ 600 km, Wien ~ 500 km, Budapest ~ 600 km,Praha ~ 800 km, Bratislava ~ 600 km, Trieste ~ 100 km, Milano ~ 550 km, Ljubljana ~ 150 km, Zagreb ~ 200 km
See
Do
Eat
Domestic cheese, domestic prosciuto (pršut), seafood, barbecued lamb
Drink
Domestic vine "Vrbnička žlahtina"
Krk (Italian Veglia, Latin Curicta) is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, located near Rijeka in the Bay of Kvarner and part of the Primorje-Gorski Kotar county.
Krk is, together with Cres, the largest Adriatic island, with an area of 405.78 km², and also the most populous one, with numerous towns and villages totalling 17,860 (2001). Although recent student surveys pointed that Cres is the largest Croatian island, most recent official data show they are the same size.
The municipalities and larger settlements on Krk include:
Economics and infrastructure
Krk is located rather near the mainland and has been connected to it via a 1,430 meter two-arch concrete bridge since 1980, one of the longest concrete bridges in the world. Due to the proximity to the city of Rijeka, Omišalj also hosts the Rijeka International Airport as well as an oil refinery (related to the Rijeka port tanker facilities). A monastery lies on the small island of Košljun in a bay off the coast of Krk.
Krk is a popular tourist destination, because of the situation and proximity to Slovenia, southern Germany, Austria, and northern Italy.
Since the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, many tourists have appeared from Hungary, Romania, and other former Eastern Bloc countries.
History
The island has been inhabited since before 10th century BCE.
The Romans called the island Curicta.
During the Roman Civil War, the Bay of Curicta was the scene of sea combat between the fleets of Caesar and Pompey.
Over a thousand years later, the island was the center of the Vegliot dialect of the Dalmatian language. Krk was also the seat of medieval bishops and important nobility, the Frankopans.
Culture and religion
Krk has historically been a center of Croatian culture. Various literature in Glagolitic alphabet was created and in part preserved on Krk (notably the Baška Tablet, the oldest preserved text in Croatian).
Krk belonged to the Republic of Venice during the middle ages until its dissolution, when its destinies followed those of Istria, thus becoming part of Italy after World War I. After World War II, it became a part of Yugoslavia.
Catholic bishopric
A Catholic diocese, called Veglia, existed, under Austrian rule suffragan of Görz-Gradisca. Parallel to the Dinaric Alps are a number of rocky islands, separated from the mainland by a deep, though narrow, strait. The largest of them is Veglia, which in the year 1000 had a bishop, Vitalis, who was preset at a synod in Spoleto. Pope Eugene III made it a suffragan of Zara, but since 1828 it has been under Görz. Bartholomaus Bozarich was present at the assembly of bishops in 1849 and his successor was a member of the First Vatican Council.
Although Veglia is a triple see, it contained in the early 20th Century only 809,000 Catholics, 95 secular priests, 64 regulars, and 68 nuns. Under bishop Antun Mahnić (1896-1920) the Altslawi academy was established in 1902, and existed until 1927.
Other
The fictional island Everon from the video game is based on Krk.
Further reading
Sources and external links
