Palagruza
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The most remote and geologically oldest island archipelago in the Adriatic, Palagruža has always aroused admiration and respect. Located almost in the middle of the Adriatic Sea, this group of islands and rocks preserves natural, historical and mythical stories, and the small islet of Galijula marks the southernmost point of Croatian territory. The central place is occupied by Vela Palagruža, 1400 meters long, 300 meters wide and 90 meters high. On its peak in 1875, Austria-Hungary built a lighthouse that still guides ships through the open sea. A narrow hiking trail winds around the island, and on the south side is Velo Žalo beach – one of the most beautiful pebble beaches in the Adriatic, recognizable by the mother-of-pearl stones that shape the sea. Palagruža was a key point on maritime routes in prehistoric and ancient times. It is believed that ancient writers knew it as the Diomedes Islands, and perhaps it was here that a sanctuary dedicated to the hero Diomedes was located. Archaeological research has uncovered fragments of Greek pottery, evidence of the trade and cult that flourished here for centuries. But Palagruža’s most dramatic stories are tied to the sea. Its underwater world is a veritable treasure trove of archaeological finds – from ancient shipwrecks with amphorae and lead ingots, to Venetian ships with cannons, to the remains of the Italian submarine Nereide, sunk in 1915. Particularly dangerous was the Pupak Shoal, just four miles to the east, an underwater trap that has swallowed numerous ships. Vela Palagruža also contains the remains of a late-antique fortress and a Roman lighthouse, part of the signaling system that ensured navigation in the Adriatic in the 5th century. Wild and remote, Palagruža is at once a natural gem, an archaeological treasure trove and a mythical place, a guardian of the border between sea and history – an island where legends, shipwrecks and endless horizons of the open sea merge.