The Isles of Kornati - Exotic nautical paradise of Adriatic Sea

Now, I keep writing about natural wonders around my home, so you can better understand where I live. I wrote about Krka Waterfalls, about my hometown Šibenik, about Fortress of st. Nicholas. So, if you like exotic natural wonders, you'll read about Isles of Kornati, located about 20 km far of my home.

The Kornati also known as the Stomorski islands, is located in the northern part of Dalmatia, south from Zadar and west from Šibenik, in the Šibenik-Knin county. With 35 kilometres length and 140 islands, some large, some small, in a sea area of about 320 square kilometres , the Kornati are the densest archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. Kornati national park is unique for how close to each other the islands are. The name of the archipelago is the plural form of the name of the largest island, called Kornat. Kornat was a fictional giant in Slavic mithology.

In 1980, the eighty-nine southernmost of the 140-odd islands, islets and reefs of the Kornati archipelago were declared a national park, "Nacionalni Park Kornati", protecting the islands and their marine surroundings.

The most important places on the Kornati islands are: the shallow channel Mala Proversa, the oval-shaped Taljurič island, Špinuta Bay, Stivina Bay, the fourth largest island Levrnaka, the second largest karst rock-area Tarac, Svršata Vela island, Mana island, Piškera island, Panitula Vela island, the picturesque Lavsa Bay, the resort island Ravni Žakan, Smokvica Vela island, the Opat peninsula, Samograd island, the Purara reserve for marine life, Vrgada and Gangarol islands.

The names of the islands Babina Guzica and Kurba Vela, which in Croatian refer to buttocks and prostitution, offer an opportunity to explain the many vulgar names officially given to many places in the Kornati archipelago.

The fortress of Tureta

The fortress of Tureta of the isle of Kornat dates back to late Antiquity and early Middle Ages, most likely to the 6th century, it is one of the most impressive buildings of the Byzantine era. It is presumed that the fortress served a military purpose, namely guarding and controlling sea routes in the then rather rough Adriatic sea.

Venetian fortress

On the isle of Vela Panitula, at the beginning of the 16th century, there was built a Venetian fortress. Its primary purpose was to collect fishing taxes from Kornati fishermen. In 1532, Venetian authorities ordered the fishermen to take all the caught fish to the isle of Vela Panitula to estimate the size of tax.