Sunday, 6 September 2020 – Fafarikula from Zadar creates beautiful bespoke 3D Maps of Croatia, its islands, the Adriatic, and the world. Made from wood, they're the perfect souvenir to take from the coast

A stay on the Croatian coast is full of one-off experiences. Each island is unique, every wine and sunset is different. The same cannot be said for some of the mass-produced souvenirs available.

But, one small Zadar company has created a wonderful alternative to plastic keyrings and ill-fitting slogan t-shirts. Fafarikula makes beautiful 3D maps of Croatia, its islands, and the Adriatic. Made from wood and available to order, they can hang in your home and remind you every day of your trip to the Croatian sea.

The 3D maps of Croatia are made using a laser cutter and depict an accurate representation of shorelines and sea depths. Five layers of wood are used in their construction, then fixed atop one another.

Ida Šimunov and Marko Rihelj are the couple behind the 3D maps of Croatia. They founded their quality souvenir company, Fafarikula five years ago. They have a range of maps already available, but if you've fallen in love with one particular destination, they can make a bespoke map just for you. In addition to the 3D maps of Croatia, the company has recently produced maps of the Mediterranean and the whole world. They also make wood-bound notebooks, pendants, and a huge variety of fridge magnets.

Though a relatively new option for visitors, these 3D maps of Croatia come from a long line of map-making. Maps are one of the oldest things that humans attempted to paint. The earliest archaeological maps include cave paintings and ancient maps of Babylon, Greece, China, and India. However, the earliest known maps are of the stars, not the earth. Images dating to 14,500 BC found on the walls of the Lascaux caves in Dordogne, southwestern France map out part of the night sky, including three stars – Vega, Deneb, and Altair - as well as the Pleiades star cluster. The Cave of El Castillo in Spain holds a wall map dating from 12,000 BC of the Corona Borealis constellation.

A map-like representation of a mountain, river, valleys, and routes around Pavlov in the Czech Republic, carved on the tusk of a woolly mammoth, has been dated to 25,000 BC, making it possibly the oldest known map of all time. The word map comes from the medieval Latin 'Mappa mundi' with mappa meaning napkin or cloth and mundi meaning the world.


All photos © Fafarikula

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ZAGREB, September 4, 2020 - An agreement granting HRK 18.3 million to the Inovativni Zadar company to build a new business incubator in Zadar's Bili Brig district was signed on Friday by the Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds, Natasa Tramisak, and the Director of the Central Finance and Contracting Agency (SAFU), Tomislav Petric.

The project is worth a total of HRK 24.5 million and its implementation will begin at the start of next year.

Noting that Zadar had fully absorbed the funds from the Integrated Territorial Investment Mechanism, Tramisak said that the purpose of this project was to boost entrepreneurship and the business climate and pave the way for the development of new companies and innovative businesses.

The Integrated Territorial Investment Mechanism is designed for implementing sustainable urban development activities and provides financial support for implementing integrated activities.

"Young people with ideas need space and we want at least some of them to become respectable business people and help the local economy," Mayor Branko Dukic said.

The existing business incubator, built in the city's Novi Bokanjac district in 2008, has been used by about 80 start-ups with about 200 employees. The new incubator will be able to accommodate about 100 workers.

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September 3, 2020 - In the latest corona travel news, Germany puts Zadar County on the red list of risky countries. 

Index.hr reports that the German Government has added Zadar County to the new list of epidemiologically risky areas and warned its citizens not to travel to the area due to the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases.

The warning does not constitute a ban on travel to these areas

On Wednesday, the German Robert Koch Institute added Zadar County to the list of risky areas, in addition to the popular tourist destinations of Sibenik-Knin and Split-Dalmatia counties, the dpa agency reported.

The warning also does not constitute a travel ban on these areas, but suggests passengers reconsider their plans. In addition, it allows passengers to cancel trips at no additional cost.

Germany considers countries or regions where 50 or more cases of infection have been reported in seven days to be high-risk areas

Germany considers high-risk areas to be countries or regions where 50 or more cases of new coronavirus infections per 100,000 inhabitants have been reported in seven days.

Declaring an area risky means that those returning from vacation must be tested for coronavirus and remain in self-isolation until they receive a negative test result.

On August 20, the German Foreign Ministry issued a warning for travel to Sibenik-Knin and Split-Dalmatia counties due to the increased number of new coronavirus infections.

Who has put Croatia on the red list so far?

So far, Croatia has been put on the red list by Austria, the UK, Slovenia and Cyprus.

Unlike those countries that declared the whole of Croatia a red zone, Germany put only two Dalmatian counties in the red, which yesterday they extended to the third - Zadar County.

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September 2, 2020 - The latest news for flights to Croatia with updates for Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik, Rijeka, and Zadar. Israir to Zagreb, SAS and Norwegian Air to Split, and Polish LOT to numerous destinations in Croatia this September.

Croatian Aviation reports that Israir, an Israeli airline based in Tel Aviv, has resumed traffic on the route between Zagreb and Tel Aviv. The line was not in circulation this year because it is seasonal, and due to the pandemic, the company did not launch it earlier.

Regular flights between Tel Aviv and Zagreb started operating on August 19 this year, and so far 8 rotations have been made in August. The company offers departures on its official website throughout almost the whole of September, and as many as 11 rotations are available on this line:

between September 1 and 6, three flights are announced (Tuesday, Friday, Sunday),

between September 7 and 13, three flights are announced (Monday, Thursday and Friday),

between 14 and 20 September, three flights are announced (Monday, Tuesday and Sunday),

between September 21 and 27, two flights are announced (Friday and Saturday).

In last year's summer flight schedule, the company operated with significantly more weekly departures to Zagreb. Night flights, the only regular flights in the Croatia Airlines network, were operated on the regular line between Tel Aviv and Zagreb.

On the Israir Airlines route to Zagreb, there are A320 aircraft with a capacity of 180 seats.

Furthermore, Croatian Aviation reports that Norwegian Air and Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) will continue to operate on their scheduled flights from Scandinavia to Split Airport throughout September.

Although there are restrictions when traveling between Croatia and certain Scandinavian countries, the two mentioned airlines will continue to operate on their scheduled flights to Split Airport through September. The number of weekly flights on all routes has decreased compared to July and August.

Norwegian Air operates on three routes in September

Norwegian will operate only to Split Airport this month, with three direct routes from Oslo, Stockholm, and Copenhagen.

Oslo - Split will operate twice a week in September, every Tuesday and Saturday,

Stockholm - Split will operate once a week, every Saturday,

Copenhagen - Split will operate once a week, also on Saturdays.

Scandinavian Airlines flies to Split

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) will also keep three routes to Split, from Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Gothenburg. All lines operate once a week, on Saturdays:

Stockholm - Split,

Copenhagen - Split,

Gothenburg - Split.

The Gothenburg - Split route is not for sale on the airline's website, given that it is a charter line. SAS will use A320neo aircraft on all three routes to Split Airport, which have a capacity of 174 seats in the fleet of this carrier.

Croatia Airlines offers one flight a week (Saturdays) on the Split - Copenhagen route, while flights from Zagreb to the Danish capital are daily (certain flights have been canceled on this route).

Finally, although the Polish government announced a ban on flights from several countries from September 2 this year, including flights from Croatia, Croatian Aviation reports that the countries were subsequently revised and Croatia is no longer on the list.

Polish LOT will thus continue to operate on as many as 7 lines to Croatia in September this year:

Warsaw - Zagreb, daily,

Warsaw - Rijeka, once a week, on Sundays (until September 13),

Warsaw - Split, once a week, on Sundays,

Warsaw - Zadar, once a week, on Saturdays,

Rzeszów - Zadar, once a week, on Saturdays (until September 19),

Warsaw - Dubrovnik, four times a week, Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays,

Krakow - Dubrovnik, once a week, on Saturdays.

LOT also planned to operate on the Budapest-Dubrovnik route in September, which was canceled because Hungary has practically closed its borders as of September 1.

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September 1, 2020 - If you are from Zadar, chances are you've heard a thing or two about the Zadar sphinx. But if you aren't from the area? It's possible you don't have a clue. 

Slobodna Dalmacija writes that although the people of Zadar claim to have the largest sphinx in Europe, hardly anyone outside their city knows about it.

The situation should soon change for the better, according to the Department for EU Funds of the City of Zadar, which raised 220,000 euro to restore the sphinx and promote this location in the city area of ​​Brodarica. The funds were provided through the EU project Recolor. Several cities from Croatia and Italy are participating, and it intends to stimulate tourists' interest in locations outside the city center.

The negligence of those in charge of the sphinx has been written about for years in the local media.

The space and the sphinx were, to some extent, cared for only by the actions of volunteers. Though neglected, the sphinx is fascinating. It is located behind a dilapidated fence in a once beautiful park. The classicist villa, Attilia (where the Health Center is today), belonged to the Smirich family (Žmirić). Along the lungomare, after a series of historicist, classicist, and secessionist villas, which have been renovated in Brodarica in recent years in the name of tourism, a large sphinx appears that looks dignified, despite its declined state.

The sphinx's story begins after the villa Attilia was built in 1901, though little is known about who made such a large concrete sphinx, its significance, or when it was made. There is no preserved park design or original drawings of the sphinx. Today, it is a common story that it was built by Giovanni Smirich in 1918, as a sign of love for his late wife, Countess Attilia Spineda de Cataneis. He was a very important Zadar conservator responsible for the restoration of St. Donata, Sv. Stosije, Sv. Krsevana, Stomorice, Sv. Lovre, and was also the director of the first archeological museum in Sv. Donat, but he was not as important as the painter.

Gold was once thought to be buried beneath the sphinx; they tore off her hind paw, part of the thigh, and stripped the concrete from the north side of the trunk to dig it out. They even believed that there was a secret room under it.

Based on the sphinx's face, it was rumored that Smirich's wife was so ugly that he wouldn't let her out. Today, this was rejected because the countess was not ugly, nor did she look like a sphinx, as can be seen from the family photos by the descendant of the Smirich lineage, Mario Padelin. On the other hand, some believe that Smirich raised the sphinx out of interest in the occult he nurtured with his wife.

The city's tourist community seems to like the love version the most, judging by the promotional video.

Slobodna Dalmacija asked Dr. Antonija Mlikota from the Zadar Department of Art History, about the sphinx of Giovanni Smirich. She believes that Smirich, as the first Zadar conservator, should be indebted to the city by naming a street or park next to the sphinx after him.

"Smirich was a key person for the development of the protection of monuments and museology in Zadar. The more I research him, the more I am thrilled because I see how much he worked and had a wide range of activities and great knowledge of monuments and the past of Zadar. He was born in Zadar in 1842 and was buried there, in the city cemetery, in 1929. Although of Croatian roots, he was a great Italian, and he was proud of that.

He studied in Siena, Florence, and Venice, where he also met his wife, Countess Attilia of Treviso. They had four daughters and one son."

She said it was “amazing that Smirich and his gardener made the sphinx in such well-hit proportions.”

"I think he took advantage of the possibilities of concrete and wanted to show what can be done with it. He and his gardener built it; it was his only help in building the sphinx. We know this because the great-grandson of Smirich's gardener Sime Baric, Antonio Bari (Antonijo Baric), wrote a book about Smirich, the villa, the park, and his great-grandfather's life in Zadar. It is fascinating to me how, without computers, precise meters, and redrawing, they managed to make a sphinx modeled on what they saw in museums or Split. It is very proportional, like a sculpture.

In addition, we found that one of his sons-in-law, Vladimir Bersa, made two replicas of the Split sphinx in wood, which Smirich kept at home, and which was shown to us by his great-grandson Mario Padelin. Perhaps the Split sphinx was a direct example of the Zadar sphinx, because the sphinx on the Peristyle is atypical in that it has human limbs between which it holds a vessel, while Smirich held a sword over a shell-shaped well," Mlikota thinks.

The Egyptian sphinx on the Peristyle, 3500 years old, belongs to the type of sphinx representing a pharaoh who offers sacrifice in a vessel. It is believed that she was placed on the Peristyle to be the guardian of Diocletian's Mausoleum. Although the inspiration may have been taken from Peristyle's sphinx, we must note here that the sphinx's meaning in Zadar's Brodarica is different. There are no insignia of pharaohs on the head of the Zadar sphinx, no upright cobra or beard.

It is not known from the photographs whether there was a relief of Horus on his chest, representing the Egyptian god of the sky and war, or an eagle, as some claim, which would be a symbol of the Roman Empire (after World War II the relief was destroyed).

Beyond Egyptian mythology, in outstretched fists, the sphinx held a short sword of the ancient Romans gladius (later destroyed). It stood above a shell into which water flowed from a spring and flowed into fish ponds.

The sphinx can thus be understood not only as a guardian of the afterlife, but also as an earthly one (spring, fish), that is, as a protector of the household. But, for sure, with its large dimensions, which were not found in Dalmatian parks, the sphinx was conceived as an attraction that will capture passers-by's attention.

The Roman sword gripping the sphinx shows Smirich's preference for the Italian option. The Italians at the time were interested in Diocletian awakening territorial claims to Dalmatia because they claimed that the Italians were the heirs of the ancient Romans.

Giovanni's father, Antonio Smirich, was a member of the Autonomous Party in the first convocation of the Dalmatian Parliament. In 1860, he requested that land registers in Dalmatia be kept in Italian, which provoked a reaction from Mihovil Pavlinovic. Giovanni's brother Eligio Smirich was appointed governor of the Kingdom of Italy for Zadar in December 1918. With his appointment, repression of Croats and Serbs began in the city even before the Treaty of Rapallo. Giovanni's son Antonio was a volunteer in D'Annunzi's brigade when he set out to conquer Rijeka, and in 1926 he was appointed a member of the Italian delegation that shared the Zadar archives with representatives of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.

Sphinxes used to appear as a park sculpture (two examples from Osijek from 1896 are good examples), but with women's hairstyles, lush breasts and much smaller dimensions. However, that the sphinx could be used ideologically was shown in 1911 by Ivan Mestrovic at an international exhibition in Rome, where he won the first prize and was proclaimed the new Michelangelo. On that occasion, he exhibited the "Vidovdan cycle", which promoted the unification of the southern Slavs, and the sphinx, forgotten in our country because it is in Serbia and was one of the main attractions.

However, there is no reliable evidence that the Zadar Sphinx was erected in 1918, or who the author is. Marija Staglicic, who thoroughly elaborated the architecture from classicism to the secession in Zadar, believes that the park and the house as projects were created simultaneously.

"There have been houses in the Brodarica area since the 1880s, but between 1900 and 1907, many Art Nouveau and historicist villas were built abruptly. Smirich's house from 1901 was built quite early in relation to the others that grew sharply in that rather short period and is the first of a series of villas that were by the sea. I guess the park was created along with it. The goal was for these to be country houses that would have Mediterranean gardens. I didn't find any information about it, no draft, I just have a draft of the villa itself.

I assume that it was created by Smirich himself, who was a man of the 19th century, although he partly lived in the 20th. The house is neoclassical, and the park is neo-romantic. Both are neo-styles and therefore fit into that time," says Staglicic, who believes that Smirich designed parts of the park architecture, including the sphinx.

The Sphinx was probably conceived before Smirich’s wife died in September 2017, perhaps even before the war. Namely, he likely designed the park architecture together with the park, as it was usually done.

This is indicated by the arrangement of other elements in the park. An artificial cave, a fountain, a stone bench, and a semicircular bench, are placed on the left side or towards the middle. Had it not been for the sphinx, the southeastern quadrant of the park would have remained empty. It is hard to imagine that Smirich, who paid close attention to symmetry, as can be seen from his project for the fence between the bell tower and the Cathedral of St. Stosije, or the paintings "Annunciation" and "Spartan Court", allowed such a discrepancy in space.

There is no content behind the great sphinx, because it "theatricalizes the space and life around it", as Abdulah Seferovic concludes in the monograph on Brodarica. All this suggests that the sphinx was planned before the death of Countess Attilia.

If the sphinx was built only in 1918, as some claim today, although there is no official trace of it, it may be because there was a problem finding a contractor. Smirich, a painter, most likely did the design, but he had no sculptural experience, especially not working in such dimensions. The sphinx is almost three meters high and about five meters long. Moreover, in 1918 Giovanni Smirich was 76 years old.

It is unlikely that Mestrovic at that age also had the strength for a work of such dimensions.

Our famous sculptor, academic and professor at the Split Academy of Arts, Kazimir Hraste, believes that someone could not have created the sphinx without sculpture experience.

"The work is on a solid aesthetic level, which is noticeable from the harmonious proportions, and implies that the author was artistically educated. There was certainly a sketch-model in three-dimensional form for making such a large (in terms of dimensions) work, because that is the basic and easiest way to realize a large sculpture. Namely, the technique of transferring from a small three-dimensional form to a large one is well known.

It is an interesting fact that concrete was used for the realization, today a common sculptural material, but at that time a relatively new and primarily construction material. By choosing this material, the author reveals his character, which was obviously prone to new and experimentation," says Hraste.

"The realization itself required from the author the synergy of builders, masons, stonemasons ... old craftsmen in the service of the new 'building'. Everything is guided by the hand of the author who saw the goal. Today, with the help of modern technologies, we can reconstruct and discover the way we work. However, many details will remain a secret to us. I believe that the author himself made the final layer of concrete. It is a skill of directly applying concrete to the substrate, similar to working in the stucco technique. Considering the size of the work, many surprising factors were encountered on the way to realization, which was obviously solved with a large amount of creativity, because there was no model for such a monument," says Hraste.

Who then could have been the sculptor? The only sculptor educated in Zadar at the time was Bruno Bersa, his brother Vladimir Bersa married Smirich's daughter, and both were brothers of the famous composer Blagoje Bersa. Bruno Bersa portrayed the dignitaries of that time, so he created Smirich's bust. Bruno Bersa was educated in Vienna and Paris and could have taken on such a feat.

Another possibility is that the sphinx was made by masters and artists outside Zadar, from Austro-Hungary or Italy. Hraste says the Italians retrieved the concrete early.

Wartime and post-war times are times of poverty in which sculptors find it difficult to obtain commissions. Perhaps artists from larger centers came to the smaller centers and worked on garden sculptures for eccentric rich people, because they ran out of orders from the state and cities. And perhaps, they did not want these works to be known.

The City of Zadar said that the conservation study should be completed by the end of September, after which the state, which owns the land, will send the entire project. After approval, it is intended to renovate the sphinx and the concrete fence, which is in a rather poor condition, and to install benches and lighting.

The sphinx will certainly be cleaner, more beautiful, better lit and attract tourists more. Admittedly, even a damaged sphinx with a patina is not incompatible with the idea of ​​a romantic park. How the restored sphinx will be accepted, remains to be seen.

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August 23, 2020 – Croatian Tourism minister Nikolina Brnjac's recent visit to Vir island highlighted it's safe epidemiological record. Pictures show what to expect from a peaceful and secluded Vir.


Croatian Minister for Tourism, Mrs. Nikolina Brnjac, was welcomed on Vir island by the Mayor of Vir Kristijan Kapović, President of the Municipal Council of Vir, Rajko Radović, Deputy Mayor Antonio Vučetić, Director of the Vir Tourist Board Srđan Liverić, Director of the islanders' own tourism company Vir Turizam Kristina Perić, Head of Vir Turizam Mate Čulina, director of Tourist Board of the City of Zadar Mario Paleka © Virski List

Mrs. Nikolina Brnjac was not the first Croatian Tourism Minister to visit Vir island, located north-west of Zadar. Her three most-recent predecessors had also taken the short journey via bridge from Privlaka and Nin to reach the nevertheless peaceful and secluded island. However, Brnjac was the first to do so in August, at the peak of the tourist season. And, she had good reason for doing so.


Though connected to the mainland by a short road bridge, Vir island manages to retain a peaceful seclusion


Vir island has plenty of beaches to choose from and lots of space © Anton Unković / Tourist Board Municipality Vir


Some of Vir island's beaches are remote, but easily accessible by boat © Zvonko Kucelin / Tourist Board Municipality Vir

As reported in TCN earlier this season, Vir island is one of 2020's success stories. In a challenging year for tourism, Vir island had bucked all trends and actually improved on last year's visitor numbers. It was the first Croatian destination of 2020 to reach one million overnight stays. The island is keenly observing epidemiological guidelines, has positioned itself as a safe place to visit and has reaped the rewards.




Even on Vir island's more popular beaches, there's still lots of room for everyone © Vir Turizam

With over a month left to tour its beautiful, spacious beaches and clear, turquoise seas, these images give an idea of what you can expect from a visit to Vir.


Venetian fortress Kaštelina is one of the island's most significant landmarks © Tourist Board Municipality Vir  


Vir island is perfect for walking and exploring. Often, you'll find yourself alone on its many kilometres of shoreline © Tourist Board Municipality Vir  

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Boats in the harbour on Vir island at sunset © Zvonko Kucelin / Tourist Board Municipality Vir


Sunset over the Adriatic, as seen from Vir island © Sanja Grgić Ćurić / Tourist Board Municipality Vir

August 22, 2020 - If you are not allowed to party on land, you can party at sea! That is, if you're in Zadar.

Namely, Slobodna Dalmacija reports that after the National Headquarters banned the operation of all bars and nightclubs after midnight last week, the bar and club owners in Zadar figured out a way to keep the parties going. Now, all the fun (and earnings) from nightclubs and bars have simply moved to... party boats!

As most of the owners had to close their clubs, which left them with a considerable loss in business, two Zadar clubs decided to rent excursion boats for the weekend, which will sail through the Zadar archipelago and act as a floating club.

"The coronavirus should be stopped for all people, but of all the measures that were adopted and in force, the most abused group of people were caterers trying to do something and work," says Pjerino Bebic, co-owner of the popular Zadar club Opera, who explained that the club came up with the idea of a “party boat” as it is advertised on their Facebook page.

"We can’t work at the club so then we partnered with boats. We will organize excursions for our clients and guests. It has nothing to do with a nightclub, but we also need to earn something. This way, we will use our brand to attract people. Unfortunately, we will not use this to attract a large number of people, although we realistically could. We will have a maximum of 150 people on board.

We will adhere to all prescribed epidemiological measures, we will compile a list of all passengers, their temperature will be measured at the entrance to the boat, just as it was measured at the entrance to the club, tables will be at the prescribed distance, and we will finish at midnight because the headquarters informed us to," said Bebic, adding that the event was reported to the Civil Protection as a gathering of people.

"We have done everything so that no one can object to us. We have to work in limited possibilities and now we are looking to do no damage, and the earnings are not great. We have to maintain the brand, and we hope that we will be able to cover all costs," says Bebic.

"I don't want to allude to anything or anyone, but I watched footage from cafes in Austria and Germany, I was also at the Sinjska Alka, where people were having fun and nothing happened to anyone, and I don't know why we can't, according to possibilities and recommendations, work. At our club, we measure temperature, all employees work with masks, we have liters and liters of disinfectant. In a club that accepts 700 people, we let only 200 in because of all the measures imposed. There is no profit in such mathematics, and you must have the same number of employees. We have fully adapted to everything that is prescribed, but let us make money," concluded Bebic.

Along with Opera, the popular Zadar bar Hype also planned a fun tour of the Zadar archipelago.

"We have to work because otherwise, we cannot survive, but we will do everything in accordance with the prescribed epidemiological measures. Just as we’ve been working at the club lately, so will we onboard; measure the temperature of all visitors, distribute masks and gloves, make a list of all those who come, keep a distance between the tables, and everything takes place in the open part of the ship," Hype said, adding that rents, utilities and salaries must be settled, and there is no help from the state.

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August 19, 2020 – All weather, all terrain, all year round – meet HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service, amazing volunteers who will never let you down

They're never far from the news. For the last two weeks, members of HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service have yet again been on the TV news every night. They're leading the search for a summertime visitor, a Polish hiker missing on Biokovo mountain.

But, watch again this winter and, for sure, they'll be in the headlines once more. Whether, they're scaling mountain ranges in the unbearable heat of high summer, searching underwater caves, flooded rivers or the sea, breaking through wild forest or trudging through metres of snow, they undertake their search and rescue missions over every terrain, in every weather condition, in every month of the year, all across Croatia. And, they all volunteers.

Marc Rowlands meets the head of service for HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service and three of its volunteers to find out who they are and what makes them do what they do.


Josip Granić, head of service for HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service

My name is Josip Granić. I'm the Head Of Service for HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service. We've had an extremely busy couple of weeks. Being head of service for an organisation like this under such circumstances means you're always on the phone; co-ordinating, talking to outside organisations, members of the press. Communication. It's a 24/7 job, 365 days a year. If people need help, you can't take a holiday. Not at this level of the organisation.

We have around 1000 members. There are 11 paid positions in the main organisation and 25 people we pay to run the administration in each of the teams or stations we have. All of the members who perform the search and rescue are volunteers. We have pilots, surgeons, nurses, students, professors, every part of society.

I'm originally from Kaštela, but my home station is in Karlovac. I've been there for 15 years. I've been Head Of Service for two. Since I assumed the position, I've spent most of my time in the car. I travel all over Croatia.


HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service missions can be hampered by extreme weather conditions © HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service

To get a certified position as a mountain rescuer in Croatia you all do the same training. It doesn't matter if you come from Slavonia, Dalmatia or Istria, you must have the knowledge and ability to deal with circumstances in any terrain; caves, pits, mountains, on snow, underwater.

Depending on where your station is, the type of call-outs you get could be very different. In Slavonia, 90% are for missing persons - searching forests, rivers, and in floods. We've had a big search on Biokovo mountain for the past 16 days. The stations from Split, Makarska, and Dubrovnik were at first involved, then teams from all over Croatia. It's not the same as Slavonia. The terrain is very different, so you have to be good at a particular set of skills. But, the largest percentage of call-outs is still missing persons. It's 70% of our work nationwide. The other 30% are rescues.


HGSS volunteers are educated to use a wide range of technical equipment. They are trained to operate in all the different kinds of terrain found across Croatia © HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service

There are usually 800 – 1000 missions a year across the country. We get roughly the same amount of calls in colder months as in warmer months. Only, winter months can be busier. The terrain is more difficult. There are some villages in Croatia – usually where the front line of the fighting was, around Karlovac, Kordun, Lika – and when it snows, it can be almost impossible to reach those places. But, some older people still live there. It can take days to reach them on snowmobiles, then skis, to deliver food or medecine. The other busiest places in winter are the ski resorts - Platak, behind Rijeka, and in Zagreb, on Sljeme. There are teams stationed in those places throughout the snow season.

What's the greatest danger of the job? Almost everything. Nothing in this job is easy. The greatest dangers we face are the same facing those that we rescue - underestimating the environment, nature, the conditions. That's where our training comes in.

In mountain rescue, we separate dangers into subjective, objective and technical. Subjective is the stuff you're guilty of - lack of preparedness, knowledge or equipment. Objective dangers are the ones you can't control, like sudden changes in weather, or avalanche. If you're sensible and informed, there should be no objective danger.


HGSS on a mission, clinging to a steep incline in Paklenica © HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service "People need to be aware at all times on the mountains. By the time most people think they may be in trouble, they've usually been in trouble for five or ten minutes already" Josip Granić.

80 – 85% of the people we rescue are Croatian. Only 15 – 20% are guests. People from Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, (Austria and Slovenia too) tend to enjoy nature more. They like hiking. That's the reason there are typically more rescues for those nationalities than there are for British, Belgian, French, Italian, America, Canadian or Australian guests. I don't remember the specific year, but sometime between 15 and 20 years ago we had a season where 5 or 6 Czech nationals were being searched for or, sadly, turned up dead. The media covered it and ever since there's been this myth that all the people who get into difficulty are Czech.

The question about expensive helicopter rides - why don't you charge the people you rescue - has been here forever. It's like this - if you're a tourist and you have a car accident in Croatia, the fire service, police and an ambulance will come. You won't get charged. We are a tourist country. According to international agreements, we are obliged to make everything safe for residents and guests alike. We are here, just like the fire service and police, to do our part. The Croatian air force is responsible for the helicopter rides and I have to give credit to them - they are crazy good pilots. Amazing. Even if we did charge everyone we saved - and most of the 85% of Croatians we save would struggle to pay - it still wouldn't be anywhere near the money required to run this service.


The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service used specially trained dogs on their searches © HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service

In 2007, I got a new search dog. It came from the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue service in North Wales. We cooperate a lot. We were sent out on a job to look for a three-year-old male child who had gone missing near Požega at the beginning of January, wintertime. His grandma was watching him and they were in a house on the edge of the woods. Early in the morning, he was playing with a dog. It suddenly ran into the forest and the boy chased after him. The grandmother didn't see it happen. I found him using my new dog, just after 8 o'clock the next morning. He'd been alone in the freezing forest for almost 20 hours.

Time is really moving fast on a job like that, because it's a kid and because it's so cold. Survival rates in such conditions are not good after 24 hours. When I found him, saw that he was alive, those big eyes looking up at me, it's a crazy feeling. You can't describe it. You can't compare it. A lot of positive emotions.

Every mission is special. We meet them all with the same level of determination and professionalism. But, it's the ones where you know you've really saved someone that stand out in the memory. Not the broken leg, where you transported someone – sure, that's an excellent job. But, when you know you've saved someone's life, that they definitely wouldn't be here now if it weren't for you, that's what makes it all worthwhile.

Jana Mijailović, volunteer for HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service

My name is Jana Mijailović, I'm 48 years old and I'm from Zadar. I finished school to be a teacher, but I never did it. My husband and I run a company that does plastic and aluminium windows for houses.

I started to go into the mountains when I was at high school. I never had the ambition to be part of mountain rescue services – people just noticed me on the mountains. They said I'd be good at it and asked me to join. I met my husband on the mountains. We are both volunteers for HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service. I've been doing it for 16 years.

I was a member of the first and second all-female Croatian expeditions to the Himalayas. We first climbed Cho Oyu in 2007, then Mount Everest in 2009. Croatia is the only country in the world that has only one successful male climber of Mount Everest, but four successful female climbers. I sometimes work as a guide too. I guess you could say I'm all about the mountains.

Being a climber, an Alpinist, I know that if I get into trouble, it's only my HGSS colleagues who can help. I feel this instinctively. I cannot be in the house, safe and warm, knowing that maybe someone needs help that only I can provide.


HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service members entering Paklenica under foreboding skies © HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service

I've really been on so many expeditions with HGSS. My station are on duty in the season at National Park Paklenica and I'm now the coordinator. Climbers from all around the world come and so there are many interventions. None of them are easy because the terrain is incredibly difficult. You really have to be in shape and know the techniques inside out.

I'm very proud of my statistics. Everyone I've rescued, who was alive when I reached them, is still living today. Unfortunately, not everyone we reach is alive when we arrive.

I remember one time, my husband and I were having dinner. We were arguing about the techniques and knots for moving a stretcher down a vertical climb. The training is so intense, you really have to know it well, and I guess that's just the kind of people that we are, that we would be arguing about it in our free time. Ha! He told me, "Why do you care? You'll never have to do that," because usually, it's really strong guys who do that specific job. If you're on a 400-metre-high section of rock, it really takes a lot of muscle.


Ascending from a valley floor or descending from a mountain peak with a stretcher is a technically difficult operation, often hindered by darkness and adverse weather conditions. It requires a lot of training and a lot of muscle © HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service

In the evening, just two days later, we were called out to rescue an Italian guy who broke his leg on Anića Kuk. It's a really mighty part of the stone. And the leader of the expedition asked me to go on the stretcher. They pull you down on the ropes and you have to push very hard to keep the stretcher, the person you're carrying and yourself away from the rock, while balancing the weight of all three. It was dark, raining and with lots of Bura, the incredibly strong wind that sometimes hits us. That's probably my most memorable rescue.

Petar Prpić, firefighter and volunteer for HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service

My name is Petar Prpić, I'm 25 years old and I'm from Hrvatska Kostajnica, just on the Croatian-Bosnian border. My station is in Novska. In my full-time job I'm a professional firefighter. I guess I have two dangerous jobs. Well, one job and one hobby.

I've always been interested in the outdoors – mountaineering, hiking, canoeing. But, that's not why I joined HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service. I just wanted to help people. I don't know, I guess it's just something in me.

We have a lot of rivers in our area. During the times of flood, we get a lot of call-outs. Our part of the country has a high percentage of elderly people in the population. A lot of them live in small villages, on the edge of the forest. We get a lot of call-outs for searches. Especially in the autumn when people go out looking for chestnuts or mushrooms. But, like all the stations in Croatia, we are here year-round if there are any actions in other parts of the country that need us.


In some areas, HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service are frequently called out in response to flooding. This picture shows HGSS members on operation during the 2014 floods. In that year, flooding across the whole region was so bad that HGSS members operated not only in Croatia, but also donated their services to neighbouring Bosnia and Serbia © HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service

I was just on the search in Biokovo. The head of service called me and asked me to go. I first had to get some free days from my job. I called my boss, Zvonimir Ljubičić, chief of the fire department. He's great, very understanding, and he gave me permission. Two years ago I was called to Rab. Very hard operation, very difficult terrain.

Late last summer, we were called out to look for an older man near Glina. It was around 11 o'clock in the evening. He'd gone to look for mushrooms in the afternoon and never came back. Police were there and they sent for us.

The man had a cell phone on him, but there was no signal. There was no location given off the phone. We were a team of four, split into two teams. We went up into the woods above Glina and concentrated our search on areas where we could see there was no telephone signal on our phones. We were yelling in the dark. After an hour of search, someone answered. He'd been missing since 2pm. We found him at 2am. He was just lying there, uninjured but unwell, unable to move.

The reason it sticks in my mind is that the next day, in the morning, his daughter called me. She was so thankful, so emotional. For sure we saved his life. None of the other emergency services who were present could find him. It was down to us. We finished the operation at about 6am and then all four of us had to go immediately to our regular jobs.

Mario Franolić, physician, ex-commando and volunteer for HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service

My name is Mario Franolić and I'm 60 years old. I'm the chief of the mountain rescue service in Istria. I travel throughout Croatia because I'm also an instructor for the medical commission of HGSS. I was born on island Krk. I'm based in Pula although I work in Rijeka. I travel a lot between the two. I've been with HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service for 18 years.

In my day job, I'm a physician. I am a senior mentor at the Institute for Underwater and Hyperbaric Medecine in the Clinical Hospital Rijeka. I'm an expert in my field of emergency medecine. I've been doing it for almost 30 years.

When I was young, I trained to be a physician in Belgrade. It was then the best medical faculty in Yugoslavia. At the same time, I also started spelunking (cave exploration). I've been doing it since 1978. Later, I was a physician in the military underwater commando unit. I lived in Austria for five years, but when I came to Pula, they were just starting the HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service station here. They asked me for help because they didn't have any medical professional on the team. I accepted. It would be a waste not to use all these skills I have.


Specialist teams from HGSS are trained in underwater rescue from caves. Such caves exist all over Croatia in the karst rock, and also on some islands © HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service

Sometimes, our status as volunteers can give us problems. Although we have official duties, we are more like an NGO than something like the police. There can be legal implications. I remember one situation, very acute because a paraglider fell from the sky. None of his colleagues saw him fall. Paragliders go into the air together, but then they each branch off to do their own thing.

We had no idea about the location. We started from the last point of sighting, knowing that it could be very far from the place where he actually fell. But, we had to start somewhere. We had one mobile phone signal direction. But, you need three in order to locate someone. We only had a line on the map.

In the past, HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service sometimes had difficulties because the telephone companies wouldn't give us the information we needed in order to triangulate the position of a missing person. They would only give it to the police. But, it's a race against time. We searched for this man all day and all night. In the morning, some Croatian paragliders made private contact with a guy from the phone company. They begged him to release the information we needed. Although he could lose his job, giving such information to private citizens, he did it.

We found the man about 150 metres from where we were. Sadly, he was already dead. It was very small comfort to see that he had died instantly, on impact. It's unbearable when you reach someone you could have saved if only you had got there quicker, especially in an instance such as this, where we were hindered by a lack of information that was available. I think it moves more quickly now, but still we have to go through the police.


© HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service

One of the most emotional operations I went on was around five years ago, the rescue of a young girl - maybe two and a half to three years old – who got lost in the woods in a small place in central Istria. She chased into the forest after some dogs around 10 or 11 in the morning. The family saw immediately that she had disappeared and started to search. About two hours later, we were called out. It was impossible for the family to find her.

About 300 people came – my station, the Rijeka station, hunters, firemen, police and volunteers. In such an operation, the police are the lead service. But, 99% of the time they leave the organisation of the search to HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service. We are the only organisation who is very well educated in organising searches. When other people do searches, they use intuition. But, people all have different intuition. It can be chaotic. We are highly trained for this. There are procedures, recognised internationally, that we follow. We found her early in the morning, at around 7 o'clock. The dogs were lying on each side of her, giving her warmth.

All photos courtesy volunteers and HGSS The Croatian Mountain Rescue Service

August 17, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for flights to Croatia with updates for Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik, Rijeka, Zadar, and Osijek.

Croatian Aviation reports that Eurowings, a low-budget German airline owned by the Lufthansa Group, has announced its flight schedule for September this year. 

The company was among the first to establish regular traffic to Croatia, but as the end of the summer season approaches, Eurowings will also reduce the number of weekly flights to specific destinations.

Find the complete flight schedule to Croatian destinations below. 

40 operations a week to Split

Split Airport will still have the largest number of Eurowings flights. Moreover, the number of weekly flights in September will be higher than in August!

Split - Dusseldorf will operate 4 times a week (Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays), one flight less per week compared to August,

Split - Hamburg will operate 4 times a week (Mondays, Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays), one flight extra than in August,

Split - Cologne will operate 5 times a week (Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays twice a day and Sundays), one extra flight than in August,

Split - Stuttgart will operate 4 times a week (Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays),

Split - Hannover will operate once a week, on Saturdays,

Split - Berlin will operate twice a week (Tuesdays and Saturdays), one extra flight compared to August.

Rijeka and Zadar see reduced traffic, the line to Osijek is canceled

As for the traffic to the three airports mentioned above, the number of weekly frequencies will decrease in September:

Rijeka - Dusseldorf will operate once a week, on Saturdays (one flight less per week compared to August),

Rijeka - Hamburg will operate once a week, on Sundays,

Pula - Dusseldorf will operate once a week, on Saturdays,

Zadar - Cologne will operate once a week, on Saturdays,

Zadar - Stuttgart will operate twice a week until September 9, after the mentioned date once a week, on Sundays,

Osijek - Stuttgart line will not be in operation in September this year.

Eurowings returns to Dubrovnik

As announced earlier, Eurowings will re-establish traffic to Dubrovnik in September. Initially, the company planned to launch four lines, but canceled the line from Cologne.

The following lines are planned for September this year:

Dubrovnik - Dusseldorf will be in traffic once a week, on Sundays,

Dubrovnik - Berlin will be in traffic once a week, on Sundays,

Dubrovnik - Hamburg line will be open once a week, on Sundays.

Zagreb connected with Stuttgart and Cologne

In September, Eurowings will continue to operate two routes to Zagreb Airport, from Stuttgart and Cologne.

Zagreb - Stuttgart will operate 4 times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays,

Zagreb - Cologne will operate 5 times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Sundays, which is one flight more than in August.

In total, Eurowings will have 76 weekly operations (takeoffs and landings) at 6 Croatian airports in September.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

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August 12, 2020 - The latest news from around Croatia’s airports for flights to Croatia with updates for Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik, Zadar, and Rijeka.

Croatian Aviation reports that Polish LOT airlines have announced its flight schedule for September this year, in which it intends to fly on eight international routes to five Croatian airports. We bring you the flight schedule below. 

Lines from Warsaw to Rijeka and Zagreb

The Warsaw - Zagreb line continues to operate daily in September, on E170 and 175 aircraft, with a capacity of 70 and 82 seats, respectively.

The Warsaw - Rijeka line will be in operation until September 13, once a week as before, on Sundays. In September, smaller capacity aircraft will operate on the route. The line was originally scheduled to run until October 18, but the company will close it in the middle of next month.

LOT lines to Split

Of the currently active LOT lines to Split, only one will operate in September. The Warsaw - Split line continues to operate once a week throughout September, every Sunday, with aircraft type B737-800 and E195. The following lines end in August:

Lublin - Split will be in traffic until August 28, once a week (Friday),

Katowice - Split will be in operation until August 30, once a week (Sunday),

Poznan - Split will be in operation until August 31, once a week (Monday).

Gdansk - Split will be in operation until August 26, once a week (Wednesday).

Two lines to Zadar

LOT will keep traffic on two lines in Zadar through September; the Warsaw - Zadar line continues to operate once a week, every Saturday, as well as the Rzeszow - Zadar line, which will operate until September 19, also on Saturdays. The following LOT lines end in August:

Gdansk - Zadar will be in operation until August 28, once a week (Friday),

Szczecin - Zadar will be in operation until August 27, once a week (Thursday),

Krakow - Zadar line will be in operation until August 25, once a week (Tuesday),

Bydgoszcz - Zadar line will be in operation until August 29, once a week (Saturday).

Three lines to Dubrovnik in September

LOT will keep three lines to Dubrovnik in September this year, two from Poland and one from Hungary. The Warsaw - Dubrovnik line will operate four times a week (Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays), the Krakow - Dubrovnik line once a week, on Saturdays, while the Budapest - Dubrovnik line will operate once a week, on Sundays, until September 27.

The following LOT lines will not operate in September this year:

Katowice - Dubrovnik will be in operation until August 27, (Thursday),

Poznan - Dubrovnik will be in operation until August 30, (Sunday),

Wroclaw - Dubrovnik will be in traffic until August 29, (Saturday),

Gdansk - Dubrovnik will be in operation until August 25, (Tuesday).

Of the 20 currently active lines to Croatia, the Polish national company will operate only eight next month.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

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