July the 31st, 2022 - Primosten beach has been made much more disability friendly with the addition of a new automatic aid to allow those who struggle with physical disabilities the ease of entry and exit into and out of the sea below.

The Republic of Croatia is full of ancient stone streets, hills, mountains, thin, slippery steps and narrow old streets. If there is one thing it struggles to be purely due to the very nature of the way its cities and towns have been designed, not to mention the natural landscape, it's disability friendly. Things are changing, however, and Primosten beach is the latest in a line of beaches up and down the coast to make things more accessible and easy for those who have various diabilities which hinder them.

As Morski writes, the Municipality of Primosten has received an automated aid for people with disabilities with which they can easily and independently enter the sea in a safe and secure way.

''Leading with the fact that the Municipality of Primosten is a leading destination during the summer months in the sense of the visits made by foreign and domestic tourists alike, listening to peoples' needs, and especially those with special needs, the first Aqualift has been installed on the beach on Ban Josip Jelacic Street (Ulica ban Josipa Jelacica), which will allow people with disabilities to enjoy smooth access to the sea below,'' they explained from the Municipality of Primosten.

The operation of the new Aqualift aid is fully automated and adapted to ensure the user independent and easy access the sea below with minimal effort and with maximum safety ensured. The procurement was funded in part from the budget of the Municipality of Primosten, while the second part was funded by the state budget of the Republic of Croatia.

With this project, this Primosten beach, with an already existing ramp, has provided people with disabilities even an even simpler and more practical approach to the sea in order to cool off during the scorching and often harsh and oppressive summer months.

The initiator of the idea was Jadranka Luketa-Markovic, as reported by local portal Primosten Plus.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

April 24, 2022 - A new type of tourism is emerging which is connecting the countries of South-East Europe, with all roads leading to Bansko in Bulgaria. 

One of the main differences I have noticed over 20 years living in Croatia is the perception of the term 'the Balkans' by locals and tourists. Many Croats will get very irate at the mere mention of their country being part of the Balkans, an association which is considered primitive and laced with conflict, as opposed to the supposedly more civilised lifestyle of Central and Western Europe. For many tourists, however, the Balkans is a place of undiscovered fascination, with many not quite sure exactly where each country is in the Balkans. The concept that it is a mysterious melting pot of intrigue, culture, history and ethnicity makes it one of the most exciting tourism destinations in this increasingly sanitised tourism world. 

And with exceptional prices, great lifestyle and a ton of authentic experiences, it is quietly becoming a magnet for the remote work revolution. Rather than just focusing on an individual country, as happens elsewhere, South-East Europe is home to some of the most progressive countries in Europe for digital nomads, and their combined offer is attracting increased attention from the global digital nomad community.

Croatia might have attracted many of the global headlines when it introduced only the second digital nomad visa/permit in Europe back in January 2021, but plenty of other countries in the region are also making significant strides. Belgrade in Serbia is emerging as one of the top nomad hubs in Eastern Europe, Montenegro has announced its own digital nomad visa, and Bulgaria is home to arguably the most important and well-established nomad festival of all - Bansko Nomad Fest. Add to this the considerable networking and collaboration which is going on behind the scenes (as witnesses in conferences such as last September's Budva Cross Border Coworking Conference in Montenegro), and it is clear that this is a region which is only going to become more attractive to digital nomads in the future. 

July and August are considered the peak tourist season in the region, but it is clear that this new type of tourism is starting to shift the thinking in terms of season as well. Nomads are typically price-sensitive and so usually looking for temporary homes away from peak season prices, and the Balkan region is emerging as an excellent choice for lifestyle and affordability in the shoulder season months. With winter over and the swimming season in full swing, countries like Croatia from late April to the end of June are increasingly attractive to the digital nomad mindset - especially as the nomad communities and offer continue to grow in those countries. And with distances between the countries relatively small, there is an opportunity to take in a multitude of experiences in a relatively short space of time. 

In terms of content, Croatia continues to lead the way in the region, and nomads considering a new region to check out over the next few months would be well-advised to check out Croatia and the Balkan region, which will be attracting a number of digital nomads with various excellent conferences over the next couple of months. Most are repeats of 2021, and Spring and early Summer are slowly turning into an attractive nomad destination option. 

Following the award-winning Dubrovnik Digital Nomads-in-Residence program a year ago, the Pearl of the Adriatic will be hosting Work. Place. Culture. from May 5-7, bringing remote professionals and destinations from around the world will together to inspire a global workforce who have greater location flexibility than ever before, and the destinations which are reinventing to support them through policy, infrastructure and community. You can learn more about Work. Place. Culture. on the official website.

Croatia's reputation as an emerging nomad destination received a boost in March, when the world's first nomad business and travel club chose the idyllic coastal town of Primosten as the local for only its third-ever conference and meetup. The Nomadbase conference will take place just two days after the Dubrovnik event, from May 9-15. More information on the official Nomadbase website. 

While a lot of nomad interest in Croatia is understandably focused on its spectacular Adriatic coast, the Croatian nomad destination which has been making all the waves has been much further inland. A year ago, the capital city of Zagreb rarely featured in any nomad discussion. By October, however, all that had changed, and Zagreb was named the 5th most-liked nomad city in the world (and first in Europe) in the extensive and influential 2021 NomadList survey.

The most high-profile nomad event in Zagreb last year was the inaugural Zagreb Digital Nomad Week and Ambassador program, which took place in June, one of the few global nomad events to take place that summer. You can check out the atmosphere in the video below. Zagreb Digital Nomad Week 2022 has been announced for June 13-19 this year (information as it is posted on the official website), just before the INMusic Festival in the Croatian capital, and just a few days before one of the top nomad events in the European calendar...  

... Bankso Nomad Fest. 

Billed as a celebration of the location independent lifestyle and nomad mindset, for one week hundreds of nomads, remote workers and freelancers will take over a beautiful village in Bulgaria for an amazing mix of presentations, workshops, sports, mindfulness and nature. The famous Bulgarian ski resort is becoming extremely well-known as one of the top coworking spaces in Europe for its affordable pricing and dynamic year-round community.  

This year's Bansko Nomad Fest will take place from June 26 to July 3 (book your ticket here), the perfect end to a nomadic few months in South-East Europe, experiencing Croatia in Spring with its growing community and numerous conferences. The collaboration of the regional community is intensifying, and one thing is for sure - there will be even more reasons to pencil in Croatia, Bansko and other regional attractions for a digital nomad visit from April to June 2023. 

For more news and features about digital nomads in Croatia, follow the dedicated TCN section. 

March 3, 2022 - Primosten is the place to be in May, as Nomadbase announces the pretty Dalmatian coastal town close to Split for its Nomadbase Croatia conference. 

The ecosystem is developing. 

Zagreb, Split, Zadar, Dubrovnik, Hvar, Rijeka, Pula, Osijek - all are Croatian destinations which are becoming attractive to digital nomads in the remote work revolution. 

And now we can add another name to that list - Primosten. 

The first digital nomad travel and business club, Nomadbase, has announced its third meetup, after successful events in Cyprus and Mexico. Founder Johannes Voelkner announced in a YouTube webinar that the gorgeous coastal town of Primosten - a short drive north of Split. 

It is not a destination which has been associated with digital nomads before, but that is set to change, as around 500 members of the Nomadbase are expected to descend on Primosten for the next 7-day conference, from May 9-15.

Voelkner gave a lot more detail on the event in the YouTube webinar which you can watch below. He also said that they were going to host a subsequent event in Croatia a couple of weeks later, as they did in Mexico. 

Great news, and even more content for digital nomads in May. 

Croatia is shaping up to be an attractive destination for nomads for May and June this year. In addition to the Nomadbase events, we will shortly be announcing two more great nomad conferences - Work. Place. Culture. in Dubrovnik from May 5-7, and Zagreb Digital Nomad Week 2022 in June. So maybe hold off booking your flights for a couple more days until you learn what other magic is on offer in Croatia during two of the best months to visit. 

Nomadbase has a dedicated page where all the information for Primosten will be updated - you can find it here.

For more news and features about digital nomads in Croatia, follow the dedicated TCN section. 

November 2, 2021 - Vinas Mora is a new label of natural wines from the ancient stone vineyards of Babić and other local varieties in Primošten. 

In the music world, you may be familiar with the term 'supergroup', which would be roughly defined as a band composed of already proven musicians who have world-renowned careers. There are numerous examples where heavyweights have come together under a common denominator: Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters and Josh Homme of Queens Of The Stone Age in Them Crooked Vultures, Mick Jagger, Joss Stone, and others in Super Heavy, or the inevitable Audioslave which is actually Rage Against The Machine with Chris Cornell of Soundgarden on vocals instead of Zack de la Roche, reports Jutarnji List. 

A Croatian wine supergroup was formed in Primošten, called Vinas Mora. It is the joint project of Krešo Petreković, who works for the best importer of natural wines in America based in New York, Niko Đukan, and partly Marko Kovač - organizer of the phenomenal natural wine festival in Vienna and distributor for Brazil, France, and Asia. An essential member of their team is Neno Marinov, a local winemaker from Primošten known for his famous grandmother.

"It's a phenomenal story of how I beat Marinov," Krešo Petreković begins with an anecdote. "I have been coming to Primošten forever, even when I started working a lot with the American market. I once came across a genius babić placed in plastic bottles, of course without a label, and I struggled until I found out that it was Neno Marinov's.

When I came to his cellar, I immediately realized that the man knew what he was doing and, without any doubt, immediately suggested that we export his babić to America. At first, he didn’t believe me, but he couldn’t come to his senses when the first order arrived. So we made the labels in London," Petreković reveals the beginning of the friendship, and later the business cooperation.

Although one might think that Vinas Mora is another in a series of babić editions, this time a bit made-up, but with a good designer label, the matter is still more complex. The initial idea was to present the terroir through wine by buying vineyards from spectacular but hard-to-reach positions. The winery makes five completely natural cuvées, and the most exciting thing is that all wines have the same vinification, but the terroir makes the difference. So, the grapes are picked by hand, mixed in small barrels, then pressed and put in PVC tanks, macerated for only four days, and 25 percent goes into barrels. Sulfur is applied only at the beginning for protection. The main goal was to keep the primary aroma and make the somewhat wild and lively babić elegant, which was served by aging it in wood.

"I think that if you lose or cover those primary aromas in wine production, you made a mistake. Cherry is dominant here, after the immortelle, in fact, the Mediterranean," says Petreković.

"The basic cuvée is Barbba, a blend of lasina, plavina, debit and maraština from Šibenik-Knin County, more precisely around Šibenska Dubrava to Oklaj. When we tasted it, we were almost instantly overwhelmed by the honey-floral flair with quite pronounced acids. If you had to describe it in two words, you wouldn’t be wrong to call Barbba a “Dalmatian cviček,” the kind you just invented on the terrace by drinking another glass in the thick shade.

Then there is Kaamen 1 - a stylized name that reminds of the region from which the grapes come. These are the vineyards of the Šibenik hinterland, Blizina, Bristivica, and Vinovac. With the first sip of this wine, you will encounter the strong aroma of cherries, which is an example of this "preservation" of primary aromas. Kaamen 2 is also a pure babić, just like Kaamen 1, but in slightly higher positions, like Kruševo and Široki. This is a more potent wine compared to Kaamen 2, and notes of cherry and jam characterize it."

According to Krešo, Kaamen 3 should welcome us with an even more concrete and powerful character since it is a grape from high locations such as the former Kamena Suza. It is a vineyard for which it is unbelievable that anyone would plant anything there, let alone succeed. Imagine vines growing from stone that must be broken by hand, vines have to be watered by hand, and no new age mechanization in such terrain can make your job easier. The last Andreis was made from grapes from the Primošten area, mainly from the Jadrtovac location.

The whole project started during the pandemic; the first harvest was in 2020. First, they founded the agricultural cooperative Motika, took over the former cellar of Šibenik's Vinoplod, and bought about 60 tons of babić and other native varieties from local winegrowers. Then, without equipment, any chemical interventions, they crushed grapes day and night with their hands, so these five cuvées, with the common denominator Vinas Mora, were created.

This wine supergroup has already presented new wines to its customers, and the reactions are very positive. Exports to America, Brazil, Switzerland, and Spain have already been agreed upon, and the Netherlands immediately ordered two trucks to Rotterdam as soon as they tasted the wine. These wines are primarily intended for export precisely because of their recognizability and terroir, making them different from anything else. If you were to conjure up the Šibenik or Primošten region without words, to a wine connoisseur from America or Brazil, just with the help of wine, this would be a good choice. The spectacular images of vineyards, historical sketches, food, and dishes of this area are later put together like a puzzle until the whole picture persuades you to visit and get to know this small country with huge potential. Trends are changing, and people like to get to know an area through food and wine, and that is why it must be tremendous and recognizable. Local recipes integrated into the cultural heritage and native wine varieties from which good, drinkable, and elegant wines have been created are the keys to the success of Croatian enogastronomy.

In Croatia, these wines can be purchased at the Agricultural Cooperative Motika, which will soon open to the public.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

September 30, 2021 - Belgian cyclist Milan Menten, a Bingoal Pauwels Saucers WB team member, won the CRO Race 3rd stage from Primošten to Makarska (167 kilometers) and also took the lead in the overall standings.

In the final meters, Menten overtook Dutchman Mick van Dijk (Jumbo-Visma), and 3rd place was taken by Norwegian Anders Skaarseth (Uno-X). At the same time, excellent placement was achieved by the Croatian cyclist Josip Rumac (Androni Giocattoli), who remained one step closer to the podium in fourth place, reports HRT.

With a stage victory, Menten also took the lead in the overall standings with three seconds ahead of Skaarset, and four ahead of third-placed Van Dijk.

After a nervous start to the stage due to a very early first passing goal in Rogoznica, just eight kilometers after the beginning, which was won by Norwegian Anders Skaarseth (Uno-X), an escape was formed in which five cyclists participated - Spaniards Jon Barrenetxea (Caja Rural) and Xabier Mikel Azparren (Euskaltel), Italian Davide De Cassan (Friuli), German Robert Jageler (P & S Metalltechnik) and Pole Adam Stachowiak (HRE Mazowsze Serce Polski).

The five had the biggest advantage of six minutes before the peloton started to catch them. Then, on the first ascent of the day, two Spaniards stood out from the leading group on Dupce, and Barrenetxe won the mountain goal in front of Azparren. 

On the descent towards Makarska, three cyclists caught up with the Spanish duo, and five cyclists passed through Makarska together before the final lap of 47.3 kilometers. Their advantage was 1:42 minutes ahead of the peloton.

That the leading five cooperated harmoniously is also shown by the results of passing goals in Makarska and Podgora, only nine kilometers away. In Makarska, Jageler won the passing goal in front of Stachowiak and Azparren, and in Podgora Barrenetxe in front of De Cassan and Azparren.

Until the southernmost point of this year's CRO Race in Živogošće, only Barrenetxe, Azparren, and Stachowiak remained in the lead. The main group reached them about 20 kilometers before the finish.

At the beginning of the last ascent of the day, the overall group leader, Dutchman Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma), broke out at the head of the group to attack his teammate and compatriot Sam Oomen. Unfortunately, the only one who could follow Oomen's attack was Norwegian Torstein Traen (Uno-X). The duo remained in the lead until the peak of the climb won by Traen, and the Norwegian managed to maintain a slight advantage over the group until entering Makarska. However, in the end, the group still caught him. 

Traen took the lead for the best climber and will wear a green jersey in the fourth stage, which will run from Zadar to Crikvenica (197 kilometers) on Friday, while Kooij kept the blue jersey for the best sprinter.

Croatian cyclist Fran Miholjević (Team Friuli) finished the stage in 48th place.

Upcoming CRO Race stages:

October 1, 4th stage: Zadar - Crikvenica (197 km)
October 2, 5th stage: Rabac / Labin - Opatija (137.5 km)
October 3, 6th stage: Samobor - Zagreb (156.5 km)

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

To learn more about sport in Croatia, CLICK HERE.

March 15, 2020 - All catering objects in the municipality of Primosten are forbidden to continue work, all to effectively implement measures for protecting citizens' health during the coronavirus outbreak. 

Mayor of Primosten Stipe Petrina has decided to close down all the catering facilities in his municipality to prevent any citizens from contracting the coronavirus.

Although there are no cases of the coronavirus in Dalmatia yet, meaning there are none in Primosten, Petrina is guided by the principle of prevention rather than treatment, and has made the following decision, which is fully transmitted in English below:

“Article 1.

Due to the risk of the spread of the coronavirus in the territory of the Municipality of Primosten and in general because of the threat to the health of the population of the Republic of Croatia, all catering establishments (cafes, etc.) located in the territory of the Municipality of Primosten are prohibited from working indoors (business premises) and outdoors (terraces - public area), all to effectively implement citizen health protection measures.

Article 2

The urgent implementation of this Decision is required.

Article 3

The municipality of Primosten will regulate the mutual relations with legal and natural persons regarding the lease of public land.

Article 4

This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its adoption and shall be valid from 15 March 2020 until revocation, and shall be published on the web pages of the Municipality of Primosten and the notice board and shall be notified to the media, (portals, etc.).

On Friday, Petrina was one of the first to respond to the further spread of contagion in Croatia, and suspended the work of municipal administration and local public businesses."

This news comes after Istria decided to close all cafes and restaurants in the region for one month starting 15 March 2020. Many other Croatian cities and counties are taking preventative measures, like Karlovac County, which announced that cafes can only work until 6 am to 6 pm. Bjelovar-Bilogora County has postponed all gatherings until further notice, and Rijeka will not implement the European Capital of Culture program, to name a few. 

Source: T.portal

For those looking for more comprehensive information about different aspects of coronavirus and Croatia, follow the dedicated TCN section. 

April 29, 2019 - Putting Croatian adventure tourism on the map, with the biggest welcome in the world. Day 37 of this incredible 2011 adrenaline trip covering 2,500 km along the Croatian coast. 

The World's Biggest Welcome, an ambitious adventure tourism project in 2011 in Croatia enters Day 37 of this 2019 appreciation of one of the finest tourism promotion projects ever in Croatia.  

The plan? To showcase the diversity and fabulous offer of adventure tourism in Croatia by following a GPS route the length of the Croatian coast in the shape of the word 'Welcome' - thereby creating the biggest welcome in the world from a hospitable tourism country. 

Day 37 moved from Primošten to Trogir.

40 kilometres for the day: And really, just a smooth kayak ride from Primošten to Trogir to continue forming the ‘O’ in ‘Welcome’. 

Day 37 kicked off from the coastal town of Primošten, which lies between the cities of Šibenik and Trogir. 

The vineyards of Primošten.

And then onto Rogoznica and the Dragon's Eye.

Lacko continued making his way to Trogir by kayak.

Though the strong wind made it difficult. 

Lacko and his kayak. 

Arrival in the UNESCO-protected town of Trogir with a great view of Kamerlengo castle. 

The bridge to Čiovo

Spotted: Lacko and his kayak at the Trogir marina.

Lacko is pretty happy to be here. 

And it's no wonder why.

A key part of the project was promoting tourism, and the official website has details of the key places visited during the day. 

Trogir.

You can see the entire project on the Welcome website, as well as much more of Luka Tambaca's stunning photography on the Welcome Facebook page. 

Tune in tomorrow for Day 38, as Lacko moves from Trogir to Trilj by kayaking, climbing, and cycling.

To follow the whole project from the start, follow the dedicated TCN page. 

April 28, 2019 - Putting Croatian adventure tourism on the map, with the biggest welcome in the world. Day 36 of this incredible 2011 adrenaline trip covering 2,500 km along the Croatian coast. 

The World's Biggest Welcome, an ambitious adventure tourism project in 2011 in Croatia enters Day 36 of this 2019 appreciation of one of the finest tourism promotion projects ever in Croatia.  

The plan? To showcase the diversity and fabulous offer of adventure tourism in Croatia by following a GPS route the length of the Croatian coast in the shape of the word 'Welcome' - thereby creating the biggest welcome in the world from a hospitable tourism country. 

Lacko greeted at Roški Slap with a birthday cake. 

Day 36 moved from Roški slap to Primošten.

55 kilometres for the day: And really, just a smooth kayak ride from Roškip Slap to Primošten to continue forming the ‘O’ in ‘Welcome’. 

Lacko begins his Day 36 journey in the river at Manastir.

Slowly warming up. 

The canyon slowly rising behind Lacko. 

Lacko pushes forward.

First onto Visovac.

The towards Skradinski Buk.

A small waterfall along the way.

And an old mill.

The wildly popular Skradinski Buk.

Lacko continues towards Skradin.

Lacko parking the kayak at the Skrad marina. 

A view of Lacko from the Šibenik bridge.

And finally, Primošten.

A key part of the project was promoting tourism, and the official website has details of the key places visited during the day. 

Krka National Park.

Skradin.

You can see the entire project on the Welcome website, as well as much more of Luka Tambaca's stunning photography on the Welcome Facebook page. 

Tune in tomorrow for Day 37, as Lacko moves from Primošten to Trogir. 

To follow the whole project from the start, follow the dedicated TCN page. 

The coastal town of Primošten will soon be dressed up with a brand new hotel complex to the right of the abandoned and devastated hotel Marina Lučica towards Mount Gaj, with 250 hotel rooms, apartments with 100 rooms, 30 luxury villas and accompanying sports and recreational facilities. The news was announced at the beginning of this week at the presentation the project supported by the Municipality of Primošten, reports Šibenik.in on April 17, 2019. 

The complex will be called 'Prim Bay Resort', and as discussed at the presentation on Monday, it will take up approximately 51,000 square meters. The new complex would bring 1,170 accommodation capacities to Primošten.

It was announced that the work should begin in the 4th quarter of 2020, and the first opening would follow in the summer of 2022, while the entire project would be realized in 2023.

The investor in the project is the company M.L. Bay Development d.o.o., founded by Christoph Traunig. Traunig’s projects always have different financing structures and involve various financial partners, and their names are usually not disclosed at their request.

With partners, Traunig successfully completed projects worth over a billion euro in Central and Eastern Europe. Namely, in the area of tourism and catering, especially in the Zadar and Split region, they played a decisive role in all stages of development of the Falkensteiner Punta Skala Resort and Radisson Blu hotel in Split.

Traunig is also co-owner of the Zagreb Business Park in Sveta Nedelja, the largest state-of-the-art logistics park in Croatia

“The Primošten municipality is one hundred percent behind this project, and with the help of the investor, we will also solve 25 million kuna worth of valuable sewerage in the area. I expect the first contracts and the invitation for a tender soon,” said Stipe Petrina, mayor of Primošten.

Back in January, the municipality of Primošten also announced their plans to build a submarine tunnel between the New Riva and the other side of the coast, in the Porat bay.

“We are talking about a panoramic pedestrian tunnel with transparent walls, which will be 60 meters long and 6 meters wide, that would lie at 18 meters below sea level at the deepest part of the sea floor in Porat. That's all I can tell you about the project, for which some conceptual solutions have already been developed, and we know how it will look,” said Petrina about developing the new tourist attraction.

Primošten would like to add the panoramic underwater tunnel as yet another tourist attraction after the town successfully implemented the gigantic monument to Our Lady of Loreto on Mount Gaj, where pilgrims and tourists come en masse. Recall, in the spring of 2017, the 17-meter statue of Our Lady of Loreto was constructed on Gaj, as local authorities wanted to lead the boom of religious tourism.

Within the tunnel, they intend to build both catering and other facilities at the entrance and exit, for which a total of about one and a half million euro will be invested.

“The idea was to build a pedestrian bridge in the area of the Porat harbor, but this would make the maritime traffic underneath it more difficult. We concluded then that it is best to build a tunnel that will be deep enough under the sea so that the biggest ships can sail above it, and the price of the tunnel construction will be roughly the same as if we were to build a bridge,” said Petrina.

In parallel with the construction of the tunnel, the municipality intends to upgrade the whole area of Porat soon, where they envision even more tourism content. 

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

T.portal reports on January 28, 2019, that the municipality of Primošten will build a submarine tunnel between the New Riva and the other side of the coast, in the Porat bay, which was confirmed by the mayor of Primošten, Stipe Petrina.

“We are talking about a panoramic pedestrian tunnel with transparent walls, which will be 60 meters long and 6 meters wide, which would lie at 18 meters below sea level at the deepest part of the sea floor in Porat. That's all I can tell you about the project, for which some conceptual solutions have already been developed, and we know what it will look like,” said Petrina about developing the new tourist attraction.

Here are some examples of underwater tunnels around the world.

Primošten would like to add the panoramic underwater tunnel as yet another tourist attraction after the town successfully implemented the gigantic monument to Our Lady of Loreto on Mount Gaj, where pilgrims and tourists come en masse. Recall, in the spring of 2017, the 17-meter statue of Our Lady of Loreto was constructed on Gaj, as local authorities wanted to lead the boom of religious tourism.

The project started in 2012 at the request of Stipe Petrina. The statue consists of seven rings, and on the top is the eighth - Our Lady's crown. The first ring shows religious abstraction, the second symbolic representation of the tree of life with the monogram AM (Ave Maria). The third features two hearts, and the fourth the birth of Jesus. The fifth ring features irregular geometric shapes, while the sixth displays roses and olives. On the seventh is Our Lady's head and Jesus, and the eighth is the crown.

Within the tunnel, they intend to build both catering and other facilities at the entrance and exit, for which a total of about one and a half million euro will be invested.

“The idea was to build a pedestrian bridge in the area of the Porat harbor, but this would make the maritime traffic underneath it more difficult. We concluded then that it is best to build a tunnel that will be deep enough under the sea so that the biggest ships can be driven above it, and the price of the tunnel construction will be roughly the same as if we were to build a bridge,” says Petrina.

In parallel with the construction of the tunnel, the municipality intends to upgrade the whole area of Porat soon, where they envision even more tourism content. 

To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.