DUBROVNIK - In Your Pocket

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dubrovnik neretva county
The Illyrians settled the entire island in the 2nd Century
BC, leaving graves and traces of military fortifications and
settlements in seven places, on hills near water sources.
The best preserved sites are located above fort of Vodice
near Babino Polje and on Veliki Gradac hill above the Veliko
Jezero.
The Romans followed, their era lasting from the 2nd Century
BC - 7th century AD. After Octavian wiped out the Illyrians in
35 BC, the Romans built their own settlements on the western
side of the island. Evidence of their domain is most notable
in Polače, where they built a palace. Other Roman ruins are
located in Pomena, Žara and Pinjevci.
The Croatian-Slavic nobility settled along the entire Adriatic
coast around the end of the 8th and the start of the 9th
Century. During this period of weakened Byzantine influence in
the region, Croatians descended from the Neretva Valley and
some settled on Mljet. The Romans, however, remained on
Restaurants
Konoba Triton Babino Polje, tel. 091 20 53 531
Konoba Riva Sobra, tel. 74 52 22
Konoba Laura Sobra, tel. 74 51 01
Konoba Lupar Zadublje, tel.74 52 35
Restaurant Melita St Mary islet, tel. 74 41 45
Marijina Konoba Prožurska Luka, tel. 74 61 13
Konoba Maran Okuklje, tel. 74 61 86, 098 931
96 01
Nine Pero Matana, Pomena, tel.74 40 37
Konoba Lanterna Sobra, tel.74 50 80
Konoba Stermasi Saplunara, tel.74 61 79
Konoba Ogigija Polače, tel.74 40 95
Konoba Stella Maris Polače, tel. 74 40 59
Konoba Barba Prožurska Luka, tel.74 62 00
Tourist information
Tourist Board Mljet tel. 74 60 25, fax 74 60 25,
tz-mljet@du.t-com.hr, www.mljet.hr. Sobra office
(around the side of the café at the ferry pier): January
- June: 08:00 - 13:00, closed Sundays; June - October,
08:30 - 13:00, 16:30 - 19:00 daily.
Tourist Board Goveđari (office actually in Polače),
tel. 74 41 86, fax 74 41 86. January - June, 08:00 -
13:00, closed Saturdays & Sundays; June, September,
08:00 - 13:00, 17:00 - 19:00, closed Sundays; July,
August: 08:00 - 20:00 daily.
Dubrovnik In Your Pocket
the western end of the mountain for about another 300 years,
until they were defeated in a battle on the mountain Bijeđ,
between Blato and Polače. Evidence of this battle, including
mass graves and remnants of bones, spears, swords and
arrows, were discovered in 1938.
In 1151, Desa of Zahumlje donated the entire island of Mljet
to the Benedictine Abbey of St Mary of Pulsano from Apulia.
Their arrival saw the construction of a church and grand
monastery (1177 - 1198) on the islet in Veliko Jezero.
Dubrovnik (latin: Ragusa) acquired the Pelješac Peninsula in
1333, leaving Mljet isolated for a time. This changed in 1410
when Dubrovnik, now independent of Venice, annexed Mljet.
Dubrovnik held the island until the dissolution of the Republic
under Napoleon in 1808.
What to See:
National Park Mljet (Nacionalni Park Mljet) Pristanište
2, Goveđari, tel. 74 40 41, fax. 74 40 43, np-mljet@
np-mljet.hr, turizam@np-mljet.hr, www.np-mljet.hr.
Established in 1960, the park is Mljet’s top attraction. The
park, encompasses 54 square kilometres at the western
end of the island, with an astonishing interior and coastline
beauty. Veliko Jezero and Malo Jezero (Big Lake and Small
Lake), and the villages of Soline, Babine Kuće, Pomena, Polače
and Goveđari all lie within park boundaries. Of interest, this
park represents the first institutionalised attempt to protect
the native eco-system in the Adriatic.
The lakes, 145-hectare Veliko Jezero and 24-hectare Malo
Jezero, are the park’s dominant features. Thirty-meter-long
channels link the two lakes and provide an outlet from Veliko
Jezero to the sea. The current in the channels, swift enough to
power mills during the Middle Ages, switching direction every
six hours. On foot or by pedal you can enjoy a 9-kilometer path
that circumnavigates the lakes, and other paths wind up and
over the hills. It’s ok to swim or paddle in the lake, but scuba
diving and motor boats are not permitted.
The usual national park rules apply: Don’t pick the flowers,
steal the artifacts, fish without a special permit, nor litter, and
most of all, don’t start fires. Mjet is one of the most verdant
of Croatia’s islands because it wasn’t heavily logged or used
for farming or herding. Nevertheless, in a1917 fire it took out
many of the deciduous forests.
Tickets to the park cost 90 kn and can be purchased at
booths in Polače and Pomena, and at the Hotel Odisej.
Admission includes the ferry to St Marija Island in the middle
of Veliko Jezero, where you will find the Benedictine monastery
and a restaurant.
Benedictine Monastery on the islet of St Marija
(Samostan Sv Marija) This tiny island, in a lake on the island
of Mljet, is at the island’s cultural and spiritual heart. For a
time, the monastery was the island’s governmental center.
Benedictines, members of a monastic order who live in
autonomous communities dedicated to work, prayer and
peace, came to Mljet from Monte Gargano, Italy in the 12th
Century to establish a monastery and build a Romanesque
church dedicated to St Mary, which they completed in 1198.
In the process the Benedictines became the island’s feudal
lords, but they are credited with developing literacy, culture
and art. The Church of St Mary was repeatedly modified over
the centuries, acquiring by the 13th Century decorative reliefs
of saints and a typical Romanesque belltower. Renaissance
features such as the Gundulić coat of arms over the church
portal, defensive towers and walls, the two-storey structure
of the monastery and Baroque side chapels were added
during the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1809, during the rule
of Napoleon, the monastery was abandoned and the Austrian
Forestry Office for Mljet used the buildings for offices until
1941. In 1960 it was renovated into a lovely hotel but given
back to the bishopric in 1997, just under 800 years from the
church’s inauguration.
The church has been reconsecrated, but other than a
restaurant in the monastery cellars, the buildings are
unoccupied. The island is small but offers a pleasant walk
dubrovnik neretva county
Summer 2008
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