EXCURSIONS

Traces of Krk's rich history can easily be found in the Roman spa mosaics, old-Croatian churches and the Glagolitic monuments, or in the paintings by Venetian masters. Join us for a trip into the history of the "Golden Island".

Our first destination is Punat, a small town famous for its high-quality olive oil and one of the biggest marinas in the Adriatic, once Adriatic's oldest timber shipyard. A small boat will take us to the islet of Kosljun, about which an interesting legend is told: a long time ago the whole bay of Punat was a fertile field that belonged to two brothers, of which the younger was blind. When the yield was supposed to be divided, the elder brother cheated the younger one. Then the sky opened and he was punished terribly. The younger brother remained standing on a hill surrounded by sea, unharmed. That hill is today called Kosljun.

The island has been inhabited since Roman times. Since the 12^th century it has been home to Franciscan friars. The Franciscan monastery is one of the biggest cultural and museum centres in Croatia. Various collections of works, that were assembled for centuries, can be seen here: a collection of sacral arts, ethnographic, book, archaeological, numismatic, natural history and musicology collections are all on display. The Franciscans also keep an 11^th century Hebrew Bible, an atlas of Ptolemy, 14^th century parchment manuscripts...After Kosljun, we will head towards Vrbnik, a village perched on a 50-metre cliff surrounded by the sea on one side and fields of vine on the other. These vineyards produce the famous Vrbnicka Zlahtina wine. You will have the chance to taste one of the best Croatian wines, accompanied by local prosciutto, cheese and homemade pasta with meat sauce.

Towards the end of our visit to Krk we will visit the town of Krk, an ancient witness of flying time. Walking the streets, we will see the town walls dating back to Illyrian times, the Frankopan family castle and the most important monument, the Krk cathedral, built on foundations of Roman spa from the 1^st century, that got its present shape in the 18^th century.