Secrets of island Krk

Island Krk is a unique island by many standards. Its vicinity and easy access make it a must-see location. Our island is not only admired for its natural wonders and beauties but it is also has rich heritage and hidden beauties not know to all its visitors.

There is an excellent book called “Tajne otoka Krka” or “Secrets of island Krk” by Denis Lešić, Berislav Horvatić and Čedomir Miler. This book dives into the subject of these hidden gems which might not be obvious to the regular visitor on his first visit to our island!

We will use several chapters from the book to do a sneak preview for you coupled with our photographs. We encourage YOU to explore these beauties yourself!

1. Prniba – it is actually a peninsula that encloses the Punat bay. This green oasis provides a great shade during the summer. Way before the popularity of biking and walking tourism, Prniba was a home to shepherds and farmers. It was once a huge pasture before it turning into a pine forest riddled with dry stone walls (gromača). Prniba is excellent not only for walking and taking swims but during the summer it can provide you with a small place just for yourself. Peace and quite in the middle of our summer season is not always easy to find! There is also an interesting story about how people used to walk to the little island of Košljun from the tip of Prniba! There was a stone wall that was used for people to go to the church mass. The wall is gone but many drone photos reveal it to still be there on the sea bottom!

2. Stone art on island Krk – these lands and its people were always intertwined. Their lives were often bound by the rock and stone. You can find many classifications of stone art on our island and we will mention “mrgari” and “gromače”. Mrgari are called “stone flowers” used to sort sheep in a specific way.

The ground plan reveals them to look like flowers and they were used often by the shepherds from Baška, Batomalj and Jurandvor. There are 10 of them on island Krk and 5 more on island Prvić. Three times a year the shepherds from these towns will collect all the sheep from the pasture and heard them into these “mrgari”. They sort them, find their own sheep, mark them and then release them back into the wild. These large fields used as pastures are called “komunade” on our island. Although “mrgari” have a very strict and practical use they remain an art to be marveled by observers such as us!

3. Waterfalls of Krk – it is a rare known fact that for most of the year there are active waterfalls on our island! We are talking predominantly about streams of water around Baška as they turn into Vela Rika or Suha ričina (literal translations being Big River and Dry river). It is called a “dry river” because the river and the waterfalls are active during the rain seasons mostly. They dry up during summer and become just that – a dry river bank. This river stream has two waterfalls – “Veliki slap” Curak and “mali slap” (Big waterfall – Curak and a small waterfall after it).

Although they are easy to locate near the road towards Baška (near Mošuna!) please proceed with extreme caution as the cliffs are steep and hard to traverse! With patience and caution you can, however, make it down near this river and enjoy the sight. Be sure to visit while the stream is full during the rain season!

4. Ponikve – our water supplier got its name from a natural hollow/depression that is our biggest water accumulation and the source of our drinking water. This location was always interesting to the local folk being the source of drinking water but you can also walk around this location. Each part of the year gives it a different look and be sure to pay your respects to this natural phenomenon as it deserves.

5. Gromače – “piece by piece a cake, stone by stone… gromača!” It is essentially a dry built stone wall specific for our landscape. It does not use any means of putting together the stones other than skill! The endless walls are used in the wild to divide land and huge pastures. The “gromača” can be build in single or doubled line. The biggest stretch of “gromača” in one length measures over 6 km.

Why do we talk about them? Because you have to put on your hiking shoes and enjoy this unique visual art first hand! This legacy of endless lines of “gromača” were very hard to build and they very well deserve our respect. You can see the beauty in the them from the photos of our photographer Srđan Hulak. They often divided even little drinking ponds for the sheep of different shepherds. Trust us – go out there and see them. You will understand why they are so special!

There are many stories that encompass these and many other secrets of the island. Some of which are legends, some are based on real facts but we do implore you to dive into this excellent book and start your own exploration. Here is link to the book itself: LINK

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