March 14, 2022 -  The latest flight news to Croatia as KLM flights to Split and Dubrovnik resume from March 27, and two daily flights to Zagreb Airport continue. 

Dutch national airline KLM Dutch Airlines reintroduces regular seasonal lines to Split and Dubrovnik with the start of the summer flight schedule, which comes into force at the end of this month, reports Croatian Aviation.

While KLM will re-introduce regular flights from Amsterdam to Split and Dubrovnik from Sunday, March 27, the Dutch airline continues to operate twice a day to Zagreb Airport.

The first flight to Split Airport in this year's summer flight schedule has been announced for Sunday, March 27. Initially, two flights a week have been announced, every Saturday and Sunday. Before the Easter holiday, the airline is planning a number of operations, and from the end of April, KLM should operate daily between Split and Amsterdam. In the peak summer season, up to three daily flights between Amsterdam and Split of this airline are expected.

KLM will also resume traffic to Dubrovnik on the first day of the summer flight schedule, on the Amsterdam line that was reintroduced last season. Two flights a week have been announced, also on Saturdays and Sundays, and there should be an increase in weekly operations at the end of April. As was announced earlier, KLM should work up to twice a day between Dubrovnik and Amsterdam this summer.

Despite the increase in the number of operations to coastal airports last year and this year, KLM plans to continue with two daily flights to Zagreb but using mainly the Embraer fleet, which has a significantly lower capacity compared to Boeing. The Embraer and B737-700 fleets are planned on the lines to Croatia in March and April.

For more on flights to Croatia and other travel announcements, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

ZAGREB, 10 March 2022- The European Commission's Smart Tourism Destinations initiative has selected Dubrovnik among 50 destinations that will be given the opportunity to participate in a series of activities aimed at improving sustainable tourism practices, the City of Dubrovnik City said on Thursday.

Dubrovnik was selected after applying to the EU Destination Managers call as part of the Smart Tourism Destinations initiative and meeting the set criteria of previous experience, motivation and expectations as well as technical capacities.

Dubrovnik applied using its experience and know-how through the implementation of the Altereco and Respect the City projects.

"Dubrovnik's selection to be a stakeholder in this project is yet another tangible support in transforming the destination into a promoter and leader of sustainable and responsible tourism. The selected stakeholders will be able to participate in various workshops led by reputable experts from various fields related to smart tourism, to share experiences with other destinations, to learn from one another, as well as becoming or improving as a smart tourism destination," the city said.

The Smart Tourism Destinations initiative of the European Commission provides support to EU cities to facilitate access to tourism and hospitality products and services through technological innovations. Their mission is to transfer know-how in applying innovative digital solutions that can help tourist cities and destinations to be more sustainable and accessible as well as improve destination experiences where cities entirely use their cultural heritage and creativity.

For more on travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

March 9th, 2022 - Young artists are reshaping the urban landscape in Croatian tourist hotspots, taking over empty business spaces and delivering them from winter ennui

In 2020, Culture Hub Croatia (CHC) launched a project named Voids (Croatian: Praznine) as a reaction to the issues created by mass tourism on the Croatian coast. Empty spaces in the historic centre of Split, typically used for tourism-related business activities in summer, were handed over to artists and citizens to use in the off-season. Spaces to work, to study, to connect - something they’ve been sorely lacking thus far.

‘We used this experiment not only to test the concept, but also to build our community. In July 2021, we opened Prostor (Space) in Split, a space which now features the same elements tested during the Voids project: open studio, workspace, gallery, event space... and we continue to apply the same principle of space adoption giving everyone the opportunity to suggest activities through a public invitation that we publish once a year’, said the CHC.

CHC Facebook

Voids are back in Split this year, with several artists who grew familiar with the city as they participated in the project in 2020 and 2021 invited to design art interventions.

Ledia Kostandini (Albania), Driton Selmani (Kosovo), Tin Dožić (Croatia), Lana Stojićević (Croatia) and Verica Kovacevska (Northern Macedonia) will be putting up site-specific installations around town to turn the public space in Split into a space of artistic expression and dialogue. The interventions are envisaged as a medium that will encourage the citizens of Split to think about their environment and its potential in relation to the past and future.

Every week from February 28th to April 3rd, a different artist will display their work, reports Vizkultura. Following Tin Dožić who kicked off this year’s programme with a sound installation, Ledia Kostandini has unveiled several site-specific installations entitled Blowing in the Wind.

‘The starting point of my work was my first visit to Split in 2020, when I noticed pieces of clothing hung up to dry in the wind in the city centre. They occasionally resembled flags indicating an existence of lives being lived behind those walls. Intrigued, I began to follow these traces, just as if I were following the tiny heartbeats of the city, pulses that show that there is real life in this monumental place, not just the tourist one’, said the artist whose work will remain displayed around town until March 13th.

This time around, Voids are also headed for Dubrovnik as the most visited tourist destination in Croatia. From March 5th to the 20th, several artists from Croatia and the region will be using business spaces that sit empty in winter as their open studios.

‘Through the Adopt the Space scheme, the citizens and civil society organisations will be included in the participatory process and will get the opportunity to propose their own activities in the selected spaces during two weeks. In this way, tourist spaces become community spaces, shaped by the people themselves, in the quest of re-appropriation of the historical core and bringing back the sense of community’, states the CHC.

March 9, 2022 - The latest flight news to Croatia as 19 easyJet summer lines to Pula, Split, and Dubrovnik begin at the end of the month! 

At the beginning of the summer flight schedule, British airline easyJet is introducing regular flights to Pula, Split and Dubrovnik airports. In the last week of March, easyJet will operate 44 return flights to three Croatian airports, reports Croatian Aviation.

easyJet will be a regular guest at the airports in Pula, Rijeka, Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik this summer. 

Pula lines
easyJet is announcing a total of 9 scheduled flights to Pula Airport this summer, from London, Amsterdam, Basel, Berlin, Bristol, Geneva, Glasgow, Luton and Paris. All lines, except those to and from London, will start operating in May and June.

As of March 28, a regular line between Pula and London (Gatwick Airport) will be introduced, which will run 3 times a week, every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. 624 seats are available on this line for the first two rotations.

Rijeka and Zadar lines
Rijeka Airport will have two easyJet lines this summer, to London and Berlin, but they will start operating in May and June, respectively.

A total of 5 lines have been announced for Zadar, to Amsterdam, Basel, Berlin, London and Milan, but like Rijeka, some lines will start operating in May and some in June.

Split lines
For this summer season, 14 regular lines to Split Airport have been announced, and ten lines will start operating this month:

Amsterdam, from 28.03., five times a week,

Basel, from 27.03., daily,

Berlin, from 27.03., four times a week,

Bristol, from 27.03. four times a week,

Geneva, from 27.03., four times a week,

Glasgow, from 27.03., twice a week,

London, from 27.03., six times a week,

Manchester, from 29.03., three times a week,

Naples, from 28.03., four times a week,

Paris, from 29.03., twice a week.

In March alone, easyJet will operate a total of 29 return flights to Split Airport, and thus offer 4,524 seats in the last week of this month alone.

Lines to Luton, Lyon, Milan and Orly will start in May and June, and the number of weekly rotations on all lines will increase from week to week.

Dubrovnik lines
Dubrovnik Airport is a long-term easyJet destination in Croatia, and 8 international routes will depart from Dubrovnik in March for:

Amsterdam, from 27.03., twice a week,

Berlin, from 30.03., twice a week,

Bristol, from 27.03., three times a week,

Edinburgh, from 29.03., twice a week,

Geneva, from 29.03., twice a week,

London, from 27.03., five times a week,

Manchester, from 30.03., twice a week,

Naples, from March 29, three times a week.

easyJet will run 13 return flights to Dubrovnik in the last 5 days of March, with 2,028 seats on sale. Lines to Lyon, Nantes, Orly and Basel will start in May and June.

44 easyJet return flights from March 27 to 31 are a hint of a good summer season in which this well-known low-cost airline will significantly increase its market share compared to the previous two seasons. 

In the peak summer season, easyJet will operate on 42 scheduled international routes from five Croatian airports, but a detailed analysis of the schedule for May, June and July will be known in the weeks ahead, given that operational changes are certainly possible.

Airlines from the A320 family, type A319, A320 and A321NEO, which have a capacity of 156 to 235 seats at easyJet, have been announced on the routes.

For more on flights to Croatia and other travel announcements, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

March 7, 2022 - The latest flight news to Croatia as ITA Airways flights to Dubrovnik and Split have been announced in the 2022 summer schedule of the new airline. 

New Italian airline ITA Airways has announced regular operations to Dubrovnik and Split airports, reports Croatian Aviation.

Just as was the case with Alitalia, ITA Airways is announcing two routes to Croatia in the upcoming summer flight schedule - from Rome to Split and Dubrovnik. The planned number of operations is almost identical to that of Alitalia, whose business was continued by ITA Airways.

The only difference is the type of aircraft. Namely, in the last summer seasons, Alitalia used mainly aircraft from the Embraer fleet to Croatia, while ITA Airways plans operations with aircraft from the A320 family, type A319 and A320, with a capacity of 144 to 180 seats.

The line between Split and Rome will run once a week, every Thursday through August, while the line to Dubrovnik will also run once a week through August, every Tuesday.

In addition to ITA Airways, other airlines operate on the route between Split, Dubrovnik, and Rome; Croatia Airlines, Spanish Vueling, and Hungarian Wizz Air.

The chances of ITA Airways appearing at other Croatian airports with scheduled flights are slim, especially after Ryanair introduced a scheduled flight between Zagreb and Rome, where Croatia Airlines already operates.

Tickets for these two routes are on sale on the airline's official website and start at 54 euros one way.

Recall, other new flights were announced to both Dubrovnik and Split airports this month. Namely, Flyr will operate between Oslo and Dubrovnik from June 13 , while Volotea has launched a new route between Lille and Split Airport, connecting the two cities from May 8 until October 9 this year.

For more on flights to Croatia and other travel announcements, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

March 2, 2022 - The latest flight news to Croatia as 13 Jet2 Split and Dubrovnik flights have been announced in the 2022 summer flight schedule!

Jet2, the third largest airline in the UK, this year announces 13 scheduled flights to two Croatian airports - Split and Dubrovnik, in the summer flight schedule, reports Croatian Aviation.

Namely, Jet2 announces its return to Croatia with 13 international routes to Dubrovnik Airport and Split Airport, with no plans to operate to Pula Airport.

In the peak summer season, this airline will have up to 30 return flights to Croatia, connecting it with numerous destinations in the UK. Dubrovnik and Split are traditional destinations of this airline, along with many other destinations in Greece and Italy.

Split flights

Birmingham, from 01.05., 2 times a week on Wednesdays and Sundays,

Edinburgh, from 15.05., once a week on Sundays,

Leeds, from 30.04., 2 times a week on Tuesdays and Saturdays,

London, from 01.05., 2 times a week on Thursdays and Sundays,

Manchester, from 30.04., 4 times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Dubrovnik flights

Belfast, from 30.04., once a week on Saturdays,

Birmingham, from 02.04., 3 times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays,

East Midlands, from 01.05., once a week on Sundays,

Edinburgh, from 17.04., 2 times a week on Wednesdays and Sundays,

Leeds, from 03.04., 2 times a week on Thursdays and Sundays,

London, from 31.03., 4 times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays,

Manchester, from 31.03., 4 times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays,

Newcastle, from 01.05., once a week on Sundays.

Dubrovnik is traditionally the most common holiday destination for British tourists, so the number of lines is relatively higher than in Split. However, this is a smaller number of operations compared to the record 2019, but the announced program is significantly stronger than the previous 2021 when Jet2 waited until the peak of the summer season for the easing of restrictive measures in the UK to launch flights to Croatia.

Boeing B737-800 aircraft with a capacity of 189 seats have been announced on the routes to Croatia.

For more on flights to Croatia and other travel announcements, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

March 2, 2022 - The latest news on flights to Croatia as the LOT Croatia summer flight schedule is announced from Warsaw, and Iberia Dubrovnik and Zagreb flights resume from Madrid at the end of the month. 

Polish national airline LOT Polish Airlines is announcing over 20 weekly flights between Warsaw and Croatian airports in the upcoming summer flight schedule, reports Croatian Aviation. 

LOT Polish Airlines has confirmed flights from Warsaw to Zagreb, Split, Zadar, and Dubrovnik in the upcoming summer flight schedule. Although LOT also operated regularly to Rijeka last summer, tickets are currently not on sale, but it is expected that LOT will fly to Rijeka Airport this summer as well.

11 flights a week to Zagreb:

from April 30 - 5 flights a week (afternoon),

from May 2 - 5 flights a week (in the morning).

from July 5, the number of afternoon rotations increases from 5 to 6, a total of 11 flights per week.

6 flights a week to Dubrovnik:

from March 27 - flights will be introduced on Saturdays and Sundays,

from March 30 - flights will be introduced on Wednesdays and Fridays,

from April 18 - flights will be introduced on Mondays,

from May 5, flights are introduced on Thursdays, a total of 6 flights per week.

3 flights a week to Split:

from June 1 - flights will be introduced on Mondays and Wednesdays,

from June 5 - a flight is introduced on Sundays, a total of 3 flights a week.

1 flight per week to Zadar:

from April 30 - a flight is introduced on Saturdays.

In the coming weeks, sales are expected to open between Warsaw and Rijeka, which was in traffic once a week last year. LOT will use aircraft from the Embraer fleet on the routes to Croatia, as well as those from the Boeing family, just like in previous years. 

Furthermore, Croatian Aviation reports that at the end of this month, the national carrier of Spain, Iberia Airlines, will resume traffic on regular routes to Croatian airports.

Namely, Iberia will reintroduce regular flights to Dubrovnik and Zagreb, while Madrid and Split will be connected again only from June.

Iberia will operate between Zagreb and Madrid again from March 27, twice a week, on Saturdays and Sundays. From May 1, a flight will be introduced on Thursdays, and only from August 1, daily flights on this line will be announced.

Compared to last year, this is a much earlier resumption of traffic on this line. In the 2021 summer flight schedule, Iberia made its first flight between Zagreb and Madrid only on June 4.

Two flights a week have been announced between Dubrovnik and Madrid, and the first flight is also announced for March 27. A few more flights have been announced in April, especially around Easter, mostly three to four flights a week, and from April 29 the airline will operate between the two cities on Mondays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Dubrovnik is traditionally the most important destination of Iberia in Croatia, so daily flights from Madrid will be available from June 1. Two flights a day should be operating from August 1.

The Madrid-Split line has been announced from June 1, three times a week, on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. From July 2, a flight is added on Saturdays, and from August 1, daily flights are announced.

The route to Zadar has been withdrawn from sale for this summer season as well, and aircraft from the A320 family have been announced on routes to Croatia. In the peak summer season, Iberia announces up to 28 weekly flights, offering more than 10,000 seats between Madrid, Dubrovnik, Split, and Zagreb.

For more on flights to Croatia and other travel announcements, make sure to check out our dedicated travel section.

March 1st, 2022 - Croatia continues to rank high on lists of notable filming locations, mostly owing to its Game of Thrones fame

Interest in Croatia as a filming location has only been increasing as of late: the country hosted over 20 international productions in the first half of 2021 alone. Several hits filmed in Croatia such as The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard and Bliss were released last year, and the Netflix thriller The Weekend Away, largely filmed in Split, is set to premiere this week.

It’s no secret that Croatia has benefited considerably from film-induced tourism, mostly owing to its Game of Thrones fame. As reported by Morski.hr, Croatia ranks third on the list of eight destinations that generated substantial income from tourism, compiled by Unforgettable Croatia.

London tops the list, as the eight Harry Potter films drove so much tourist traffic, it generated a mind-boggling income of $5,3 billion in total. New Zealand follows with $1,3 billion generated by film tourism, brought in by the cult classics The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Croatia ranks third thanks to Dubrovnik and its Game of Thrones fame - no surprises there. Fans of the massively popular TV series were flocking to Dubrovnik in droves soon after the walled city made its debut on screen as King’s Landing, resulting in a total of $203 million generated from Game of Thrones-induced tourism between 2013 and 2018.

Here’s how Croatia ranks compared to other destinations that benefited the most from film tourism (in USD):

1. London, England / Harry Potter – 5,3 billion
2. Waikato, New Zealand / The Hobbit & LOTR – 1,6 billion
3. Dubrovnik, Croatia / Game of Thrones – 203 million
4. Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA / Breaking Bad – 70 million
5. Stirling, Scotland / Braveheart – 47 million
6. Forks, Washington, USA / Twilight – 46,2 million
7. Kho Phi Phi Leh, Thailand / The Beach – 13 million
8. Skellig Michael, Ireland / Star Wars – 4,5 million

Check out our list of filming locations in Croatia beyond Game of Thrones. 

February 27, 2022 - It will be the year of megayachts in Dubrovnik, as more 100-150 meter yachts are expected this summer than ever before. 

This year's first cruiser sailed into the port of Gruž on Thursday. Namely, it was the MS Bolette with Dubrovnik captain Jozo Glavić, carrying about 600 passengers.

This is not the first time Bolette visited Dubrovnik. This cruiser was already on tours that included Dubrovnik, only then its name was Amsterdam, and Holland America owned it. Now, it is owned by the shipping company Fred. Olsen Cruise Line. Captain Jozo Glavić made history when he passed through the Corinth Canal with the largest ship ever, the Braemar cruiser owned by the same company.

Announcements for this year's cruising season were commented on by the director of the Dubrovnik Port, Željko Raguž, and the director of Dubrovnik Port Authority, Blaž Pezo.

"The arrival of the Bolette is the first harbinger of a great season ahead in terms of cruises. We are also looking forward to Viking Sky, Viking Star, Athena, and Arethusa, which will arrive in mid-March, after which sailing will be more frequent, according to the announcements," said Blaž Pezo for Dubrovački Dnevnik.

Raguž pointed out that this is the best year ever for megayacht arrivals, but the same cannot be said for cruisers.

"More megayachts than ever are expected this year, even more than in 2019. We are talking about yachts over 100-150 meters, the announcements are excellent, and we expect to break all previous records," said Raguž.

As for cruisers, he claims, it cannot be compared to 2019 but can with all previous years.

"We are working following the decisions of 'Respect the City', so we will not accumulate that number in the future to be much higher than it will be this year, so we can say that we are almost at full capacity," said Raguž.

Pezo pointed out that last year was a 'solid cruise season' in which we were visited by 139 ships and 110,130 passengers.

"Given that there were none in 2020, we are satisfied with the result in 2021, or 30 percent of 2019, which is a good base for this season in which we plan to expect 70 percent of 2019," said Pezo.

He added that they are optimistic about the 2022 season.

"According to current announcements, in 2022, we expect 343 cruise ship arrivals and about 530 thousand passengers, which is fully in line with plans for sustainable tourism development in the destination. Therefore, the maximum number of passengers on cruises in Dubrovnik throughout 2022 is 4,000 passengers at a time, or an average of two ships at berth," Pezo explained.

Last year, city tours for cruise tourists looked quite different than in the pre-pandemic years. Last year, guests toured the city with strict measures; they could not enter restaurants, souvenir shops, or boutiques. There were pre-arranged spaces where the group could be, organized transportation, and passengers could not contact tourism staff without prior arrangement.

"On cruise ships, all passengers, as well as crew members, are vaccinated. Regarding the testing and application of epidemiological measures, the procedures are standardized in this segment of tourism," Pezo explained.

However, this year should return to the 'old normal' and the extinction of the 'bubble model' of cruising tourism.

"It seems that this is no longer the case as it was with the 'bubble model' and everything should be as it was before the pandemic," Raguž is optimistic.

However, he adds a dose of caution to the good news.

"There may be one decision in May, and then another in July, so it is still questionable. We hope that all these ships will come according to plan. Before the pandemic years, ships would come because there were huge penalties if they were a no-show, and now that’s no longer the case in a pandemic. It is enough to check out seven days in advance so that they are not punished in any way, so we need to take everything with some reserve. But, if last year we had five times fewer ships, and all the announced ones came, then I don't think we will come to that as the situation is much better in Croatia and the world than last year," concludes Raguž.

The Dubrovnik Port Authority is actively participating in the City of Dubrovnik project 'Respect the City', which seeks to ensure the sustainability of Dubrovnik tourism. As part of the project activities, the Ordinance on the conditions and criteria for the acceptance and allocation of berths for cruise ships in sustainable destination development was created.

"I especially emphasize that in 2022, an increase in traffic in the pre-season and post-season and a decrease in traffic in the peak months of the main tourist season, July and August, is expected. In this way, the cruise season has been extended from mid-March to the end of November and extends the tourist season, which I consider extremely important for the destination as a whole," said Pezo.

For more on travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

February 26th, 2022 - Following our feature dedicated to traditional jewellery of Istria, a look at the intricate filigree pieces traditionally worn in Dalmatia

In the first part of this series, we wrote about medieval jewellery discovered in Istria that has only recently seen a revival in the form of artisan replicas.

The traditional jewellery of Dalmatia, however, has historically been an integral part of folk costumes all over the region, and has been worn and treasured by generations of women up to the present day.

Let's take a look at some of the most prominent designs found in Dalmatia: 

Pag beaded necklace and earrings / Paški peružini i ročini

First, a quick disclaimer: depending on who you ask, Pag island is a part of Kvarner, Dalmatia, neither, or both. We'll leave the people of Pag to define their cultural identity as they see fit, and will include the island in this particular feature based on the shared traits of traditional jewellery of Pag and that found in the rest of Dalmatia.

The traditional costume of Pag island largely owes its distinctive appearance to the triangular headdress worn by women, made of starched white linen and lined with intricate lace.

The Pag lace is a showstopper, but if you take a closer look, you’ll see that the ladies are also adorned in jewellery when clad in traditional garb. It’s been worn on Pag since the 16th century, and considering that there were no master goldsmiths living on the island at the time, the jewellery was imported from Venice.

Pag folk costume / Image by Hotel Biser

There are two distinct types of jewellery worn as part of the Pag folk costume. Delicate beads made in the filigree technique are called peružin; string a number of them together and you get a gorgeous necklace. Decorative hair pins featuring a single peružin were used to help keep the headdress in place, as seen on the above photo. It should be mentioned that the traditional peružini were once made to weigh exactly 123 grams each!

A modern replica of Pag peružini / Image by Zlatarnica Jozef Gjoni

The other distinctive piece found on Pag are the ročini, dangly bell-shaped earrings typically made of silver or gold.

A modern replica of Pag ročini / Image by Zlatarnica Jozef Gjoni

Šibenik button / Šibenski botun 

Arguably the most popular piece on this list, the intricate Šibenik button used to be a decorative part of men’s folk costumes. These days, it’s one of the most recognisable symbols of Šibenik that doubles as an authentic souvenir. And while the motif is still seen in men’s accessories - tie clips, cufflinks - it’s not exclusive to gents anymore and is featured in women’s jewellery as well.

Similar to the Pag peružin, the Šibenik button is a hollow filigree bead composed of two half-spheres bonded together. Traditionally, the button used to be made of silver, but nowadays you’ll also find modern replicas made of gold, rose gold and aluminum. It's also called puce and toka, and was known to come in different sizes and designs depending on intended use.

Various versions of Šibenik buttons

Even though there are metal buttons discovered in Dalmatia that date back to ancient times, the famous decorative bead only became widely adopted as a part of traditional garb around the 17th century.

As mentioned, they were only worn by men back then and were an indicator of social status and rank. The buttons were essentially comparable to military medals, as they were awarded to heroes and commanding officers from the region by Venetian generals based in Zadar.

Over time, the Šibenik button became so popular that a large number of artisans, from northern Dalmatia all the way to Albania in the south, specialised in the filigree technique so that they could create the intricate orbs.

Šibenik button earrings / Image by Zlatarnice Rodić Facebook

Zlarin coral / Zlarinski koralji

For a little intermezzo on our filigree-laden tour, we’re heading to Zlarin island right off the coast of Šibenik, historically known for quite a specific thing: coral. 

People of Zlarin have dealt in coral harvesting and processing since the 14th century; while harvesting isn’t that common anymore, Zlarin is still home to a handful of skilled artisans creating unique coral jewellery.

Red coral necklace / Šibenik Tourist Board

Red coral, also called precious coral, thrives in clean waters and grows at the depth of 30 to 200 metres. In its natural state, it’s covered in a crust that needs to be filed down for its intense red colour to show; the skeleton is then cut into smaller pieces, each of which gets filed, shaped and polished. Polishing is the most crucial stage, a process that can last up to a few days and results in a high shine. The colour has a range of 10-15 hues, varying from a light to a deep red.

The art of coral harvesting was a skill passed from father to son. Coral was historically harvested by trawling, using a tool called inženj, a wooden cross weighed down with a heavy stone and fitted with fishing nets. Coral would get entangled in the nets as they dragged across the seabed and break off when the nets were pulled out of the sea.

Fishermen from Zlarin participated in harvesting expeditions all over the Adriatic - sometimes straying even further, as far as Greece - and sold the catch on Sicily.

Red coral / Zlarin Tourist Board

After the fall of the Venetian Republic that controlled the coral trade in the Adriatic, the people of Zlarin were granted the exclusive right to coral fishery. Like elsewhere in the Mediterranean, coral was overharvested due to its value until it was nearly eradicated, and so the practice gradually became less common by the mid-20th century.

Nowadays, the island is home to two coral shops run by jewellery makers that keep the tradition alive. Zlarin is also about to get a Croatian Coral Centre, a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to the island’s history of coral harvesting that's set to open sometime soon.

Konavle earrings / Konavoske verižice & fjočice

We’re heading further south, to the Konavle area near Dubrovnik, the home of the elegant Konavle earrings.

The verižice hoop earrings from Konavle have a small pendant, typically a pearl or a coral bead. In the olden days, there was a social order to wearing jewellery in Konavle: young girls wore smaller earrings, and the older the women got, the bigger earrings they could wear. Young men were known to present their brides with the lovely hoops as a gift before their wedding day.

Modern replica of Konavle earrings / Image by Zlatarnice Rodic Facebook

Traditional jewellery was handled with care and kept in decorative wooden boxes or in special compartments in chests. The best pieces were only worn in rare special occasions, as jewellery was considered a family heirloom and was passed down from generation to generation.

Another type of earrings popular in Konavle are the so-called fjočice. Worn by brides on the day of their wedding and in the first year of marriage, the dangly earrings had several pendants made in gold filigree.

The Croatian Post paid homage to the lovely fjočice with their own postage stamp, created by designer Alenka Lalić from Zagreb:

Interestingly, the Konavle earrings weren’t actually made in the Konavle area, but were instead manufactured by goldsmiths in Dubrovnik. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the goldsmith workshops predominantly focused on traditional jewellery, driven by the increasing demand from Konavle and the wider Dubrovnik area.

Dubrovnik necklace / Dubrovačke peružine & kolarin

As Dubrovnik used to be a major goldsmithry centre from the medieval times to the mid-20th century, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the Pearl of the Adriatic has its own type of traditional jewellery.

You’ll surely recognise the peružin motif by now, the hollow filigree beads which in Dubrovnik were traditionally made of gold. Strung together, the beads make a lavish necklace called kolarin. 

The kolarin were most commonly composed of 12, 14, 16 or 18 peružin beads, either simply strung on a silk ribbon, or connected with small golden links, pearls or coral beads. They were known to feature a heart-shaped pendant or a golden cross, altogether making a show-stopping piece typically worn on special occasions. 

Nowadays, you'll most commonly find earrings or pendants featuring the Dubrovnik peružin bead.

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