Island Korcula-MARKO POLO:

•  Marko Polo birth place.
  
   There you can see beautiful old town and towers from 12-15 century, cathedral, treasury and find sandy and pebble beaches.....ideal for everybody: young, middle age people, couples, couples with children, older couples...
  

Beaches on the island Korcula:

Near to town Lumbarda, 6 km east of Korčula town there are  the most beautiful, Bili Zal and Przina. Przina is a longer beach and in the summer it gets early filled with tourists and locals. Small restaurant offers cold drinks and snacks. Ideal for couples with small children.
If you're staying in place Korcula there is a sandy beach only a 15 minutes walking from the old town in Luka Korculanska Bay which is best choice for the families with small children.

About the island Korcula:

The island covers 276 sq. kilo­meters, and the cost line is 181.7 sq. kilometers long. The highest altitude is 569 meters. It has 17,000 inhabitants in ten settlements. The coast is well indented. The climate is gentle, Mediterranean, with 2,671 hours of sun per year, in sum­mer months it is exposed to fresh maestral (light wind from the sea), tourism has a long tradition here and inhabitants also work in agriculture, fishing and, in lesser extent, in industry. The settlements along the coast are: Korčula, Lumbarda, Vela Luka; while in the inland there are Žrnovo, Pupnat, Cara, Smokvica, and Blato. The larger settlements are connected by the road, the regular ferryboat lines are: Split - Vela Luka; Vela Luka -Lastovo; Orebić - Dominče. There are also regular ship connections with Rijeka, Split and Dubrovnik.

The island was already inhabit­ed in the late Stone Age. In the 4th and 5th centuries B.C., there was a Greek colony on the island. At that time the island was called Korkyra Melaina (the Black Korčula). Since 35 B.C. Korcula is part of the Roman Empire. The traces of the settlements from that time were discovered in surroundings of Lumbarda, Vela Luka (Beneficium), Blato, and on Pelegrin. Shipbuilding (in Korčula and Vela Luka) and stone-cutting (cutting of the white marble from the quarry on the eastern coast, near the is­land of Vrnik) had an important role in the economy of Korčula in the past centuries.

Places on the island Korcula:

KORČULA
The town and harbor that lies on the small peninsula connected to the mainland with narrow isthmus. The surrounding area is covered with pine forest. East of the harbor is small archipelago. There are two beaches in the town, and the coves Srečica, Banja, and Vrbovica, west of the town are also good for swimming.
Inside the walls, in the old part, of the town, at the beginning of the 16th century, lived 6,000 inhabitants. The population was reduced, by the plague in 1529 and by the attack of Ulič-Alija in 1571. The neo-baroque staircase leads from the coast, along the open loggia from 1548, to the old part of the town. There are two obelisks raised in the memory of the rule of the town princes, as well as the stone pillar with an inscription from 1592, that evokes the memory of the Trojan hero Anthenor, the leg­endary founder of Korcula. The cathedral of St. Marko is located on the square in the center of the town. It is a Gothic building from the first half of the 15th century with elements of the Embellished Gothic style. It was finished at the end of the 15th century. The chapel of St. Rok with baroque altar was later built beside the cathedral. Beside the cathedral there is also the church of St. Peter (that was mentioned for the first time in 1338) with the renaissance portal and large number of graves. Opposite to the cathedral is desert­ed Arneri Palace, built in the Embellished Gothic style with renaissance garden. Next to it is the Gabrielli's Palace (present Town Museum), and in front of the pala­ce, beside the small church of Madonna, is the stone holder for the town flag from 1515. Beside the cathedral is the Abbey (former Bishop's Palace) built in the renaissance/baroque style with rich treasury. The longitudinal main street goes over staircase. On the small square, the first paved area in the town (1569), there is the municipality building, with arcades from 1520 on the ground floor. It used to be connected with the Prince's Palace raised in the 14th century. The tower Mali Revelin got its present shape in 1499. At the end of the 15th century the town arsenal was located between that tower and circular town tower Balbi. In 1569, a pillar was raised in front of the municipality building. The exit from the old part of the town is the Land Gates that lead through Revelin to the bridge across former ditch. There begins the road on what used to be town wall that goes beside rotunda of the market place, and in the eastern part of the town, beside the Cappello Tower. Further is the church and seat of the Brotherhood of All Saints. On the northern promontory of the peninsula is semicircular Tiepolo Tower. On the western coast, beside the rub of the harbor, is the Brbarigo Tower. The west coast road leads to the Domi­nican monastery with the church of St. Nikola with two naves. The tra­ditional performance and knight dance with singing is still preserved in the town of Korčula. It is per­formed every year in July in the memory of the Turkish assaults on Korčula. There are two parties of warriors involved in the perfor­mance. They are wearing old, styl­ized costumes (one party is dressed in black and other in red), and through singing and dancing they are fighting for the bride. This dance is one of the tourist attrac­tions of Korćula.
Hotels: Liburna; Marco Pol; Bon Repos; Korčula; Park.
Camps: Kalac.
Marina: ACl KORČULA, located on the eastern part of the coast, with 200 places on the floating docks and 100 places on the dry docks. It has parking lot, technical services, workshops, crane (10 t), slipway. It is open through the who­le year, guests can use toilets, laun­dry, shops, restaurant, bar, apart­ments, exchange office, bank, and rent-a-car.

LUMBARDA
Small town and port on the extreme eastern part of the island. It consists of the older part above the cove Prvi Žal and newer part beside the sea. East of the settle­ment is the Lumbarda field, cov­ered with red and yellow sand soil, extremely suitable for vineyards (famous wine grk). People work in agriculture, fishing, and stone-cut­ting. Lumbarda is six kilometers away from Korčula and connected by the road with all other settle­ment on the island.
A few fragments of the Greek inscription carved in the stone from the 4th century B.C. (today at the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb) were found on the Koludrt hill, north of the village, beside the ruins of the medieval church of St. Ivan. That inscription is in fact psefizma (the legal act of the colony council) about land division bet­ween the inhabitants of the newly founded Greek colony. Beside Greek names, in the list of colonists there are also Illyrian names.
Hotels: Lumbarda; apart­ments »Lumbarda«; pavilions »Lovor«; apartments »Mala Glavica«.
Marina: LUMBARDA, located in the cove near sand beach. It has 170 places on the floating docks and 40 places on the dry docks, and work­shop.
Village and harbor on the north coast, twelve kilometers from Kor­čula. It lies on the south coast of the cove Račišće that is open to the inland of the island. West of the vil­lage are the coves Vaja and Samograd that are good for swimming. Račišće was inhabited at the end of the 17th century by the refugees from the Makarska seaside and Her­zegovina.
Hotel: Mediteran.

BLATO
Blato is largest settlement on the island, four kilometers from the sea. It lies on the east and of the Blato Field, and most of the arable land is under vineyards. The archaeological remains of Roman agricultural estate Junianum were discovered in Blato. The medieval parish church with three naves was enlarged in the 17th century. The renaissance-baroque citadel of the Arnerić family on three floors with sculptures on the front facade is also preserved. In the surrounding area there are small medieval churches of St. Mary in the Field (for the first time mentioned in 1338), St. Martin in Mala Krtinja (from 1346), and St. Michael from 1346. Every year, on 23rd of April, on the main square there is a per­formance of knight dance Kumpanija. Performers are dressed in old national costumes. The first stage is challenge to battle, then review of troops, rhythmic sword fighting, dance, and individual challenging to wrestling games. After the victo­ry, tancerice (the female dancers) come in the performance and per­form finale together with the fight­ers. In Blato is also preserved the tradition of popular gusle-player.
Hotel: Lipa.

PRIŽBA
It is harbor of Blato located eight kilometers from Blato, on the south-eastern coast of the island of Korčula.
Hotels: Alfir; bungalows »Prižba«; apartments »Prišćapac«.

BRNA
Small village on the southern coast. In fact, it is part of the village Smokvica that is located at distance from the sea (four kilometers). There is a cove with medicinal mud in the vicinity.
Hotel: Feral (B).

VELA LUKA
Vela Luka is small town and port on the western part of the island. It is located at the end of the bay of the
same name. Surrounding hills pro­tect it from the north and south winds, and in summer it is exposed to maestral (light wind from the sea). There are fish factories, oil factory, shipyard, wine cellar, and dry-kiln for figs. It has two swim­ming beaches. The coastal area with few small islands is good fish­ing area. The road connects all set­tlements on the island.
Vela Luka was inhabited already in prehistoric times (the finds from Neolithic in Vela Špilja). The re­mains of the Roman architecture were discovered on the site Beneficium (probably villa rustica). The church of St. Ivan (St. John) with one nave is located on the site Gradina. It was mentioned for the first time in 1415, and it has Gothic ceiling and belfry »na preslicu«. The land estate owners from the island of Brač had their magazines on the waterfront - the oldest one is from 1480 has the citadel in the same complex.
Hotels: Posejdon; Korkyra; Adria; Jadran & Dalmacija.
Camp: Mindel.