museum shop of the dubrovnik museums

Lastovo
Lastovo is not furthest away from coast - that honour goes
to Vis - but it takes the longest to get here, over four hours.
Maybe that’s why the island culture is so different and well
preserved. Like Vis, Lastovo was a military base until 1989,
so access to the island was restricted. With not a great
deal to do, the island became depopulated. But Nature has
been left pretty much undisturbed, so you could say it’s an
untouched ecological paradise.
Many people sense in Lastovo a spirit unlike anything else,
a sense of the breath of ages. Lastovo town sits uphill in a
basin facing away from the sea to escape the attentions of
pirates. Walking in the town’s streets, those with a sense for
the antique and the eccentric will wonder at a culture so very
detached from modern urban life.
Lastovo is a town of chimneys. In times past, a sign of the
wealth of a household was the size and ornateness of one’s
chimney, and many unusual examples still stand. Another vital
aspect of Lastovo’s heritage is the “Poklad” - the traditional
pre-Lent carnival celebrating the island’s deliverance from
Catalan pirates. An effigy of the Catalan messenger takes
centre stage, spectacularly released from a hilltop to slide
on a rope to the town centre with firecrackers exploding at
its feet. Humiliating indeed. At this time, as well as during
summertime festivals, you can see the island’s folk costume,
where the men wear scarlet and black with embroidered
braces and hats decked with colourful flowers.
With so little (except carnivals) to disturb them, fish adore
Lastovo, and you can be sure of an excellent meal here.
Lastovo has poor transport connections, few shops, and
there is little accommodation with a few families offering
private rooms. But if you’re ready and able to explore, and
happy to adapt to the treacle-slow passage of time here, this
could well be the start of an enduring love affair.
Tourist information
Mljet
Sounds of Mljet
A breeze brushing through pine boughs ... the flapping of a
sail out in the channel, heard from high on a seaside ridge ...
the bray of a donkey. Silence.
Mljet gets a growing share of tourists, but as one of the more
remote and less developed islands, with limited ferry service,
it lacks the kind of mass tourism of much of the Dalmatian
coast and some other more accessible islands. This isn’t the
place to come for late night bars, concerts or discos. One
might hope it never will be. A ferry connects the island with
the Pelješac Peninsula.
Be prepared to fall in love with nature all over again, for this
island has a stunning quality waiting for you to discover.
Croatia’s 8th largest island is approximately 3 km wide and 37
km long making it attractive to explore for a short or lengthier
stop. It has an area of roughly 100 square km with 131 km
of coastline and many little niches and coves to discover, so
you’d be forgiven for wanting to stay. With five distinct forest
tree varieties, abundant fauna and lush vegetation, it’s easy
to see why Mljet is called the “Green Island.” Mljet offers
dubrovnik.inyourpocket.com
dubrovnik neretvA CountY
Lastovo Tourist Board Pjevor bb, tel.
(+385-20) 80 10 18/(+385-) 098 59
90 07, www.lastovo.hr. QOpen 08:00
- 14:00. Closed Sat, Sun.
a panorama of coastline, cliffs, reefs and numerous islets
as well as the rich topography of the hills that rise steeply
above the sea and plummet back into deep valleys sheltering
ancient stone villages. The submarine world includes quite
an array of fish and several types of corals. With fantastic
weather, recreational sports, hiking and bicycle paths are
only a fraction of the pleasures that you can enjoy here. The
western end of Mljet has been protected as a National Park
since 1960.
The ancient Greeks who settled here left the first record of
the place, calling it Melissa or Melitta, (meaning, bee; honey)
because of the many bees that made their home there. Greek
settlers became familiar with this island whilst colonising
nearby Vis (Issa), Hvar (Pharos) and Korčula (Korkiru).
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 on Veliki Gradac hill above
the Veliko Jezero, and the fort of Vodica near Babino Polje.
The Romans followed, their era lasting from the 2nd Century
BC to the 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 the western end of the island 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, was discovered in 1938.
In 1151, Prince Desa of Zahumlje donated the entire island
of Mljet to the Benedictine Abbey of St Mary of Pulsano from
Apulia. The arrival saw the construction of a church and
grand monastery of the Benedictines (1177-1198) on the
islet in Veliko Jezero.
Ragusa (later called Dubrovnik), acquired the Pelješac
Peninsula in 1333, leaving Mljet isolated for a time. This
changed in 1410, however, when Ragusa, now independent
of Venice, annexed Mljet. Ragusa held the island until the
dissolution of the Republic under Napoleon in 1808.
Getting There and Around
Transportation to the island is provided by Jadrolinija ferry
from Pelješac. Mljet is only 8km away from the peninsula of
Pelješac, 18km from Korčula and 30km from Dubrovnik. There
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