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The biggest island (the area of 114.4 sq. kilometers) in the Zadar archipelago. The highest hill on the island is Vela Straža (338 m) The island has 2,873 inhabitants in ten settlements. Agricultural areas are covered with vineyards, olive-groves and vegetable gardens. The main settlement is Sali, and the smaller ones are Žman, Zaglav and Božava.
Dugi Otok was mentioned by the Byzantine emperor Constantin Porfirogenet in the middle of the 10th century, and under the name of Veli Otok it was for the first time noted in Glagolitic scripts in 1460. It was early inhabited and the oldest archaeological finds (on the location Žman) are dated in the late Stone Age. On the island there are also the remains of the Illyrian hillforts, grave mounds, the Roman rural palace (villa rustica) and the Old Croatian churches.
It is connected with the mainland by the ferryboat lines: Zadar -Brbinj and Zadar - Zaglav. SALI
The main settlement on the island and port on the north-eastern side beside the cove Sali. The inhabitants are fishermen (the fish-can factory), and there is small shipyard in the town. It was mentioned for the first time in 1105, and the name comes from the former salt-pan. The Gothic church of the Assumption of St. Mary was raised in the 15th century. The interesting houses are the Rančić house (gothic-renaissance), the Guerini house (renaissance), and Petricioli house (baroque). There are also the remains of the Illyrian hillforts.
Hotel: Sali
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TELAŠĆICA
The long cove Telascica is situated on the south-eastern side of Dugi Otok. It is one of the most sheltered and the most attractive coves for nautical tourists on the Adriatic (8 kilometers long, 1,800 meters wide). The coast of the cove is indented with few coves and islands, with abundance of the pine, olive, and fig groves. In the cove Mir, on the southern side there is the Mir Lake with brackish water and area of 0.23 sq. kilometers and depths up to six meters. At that place, very close to Dugi Otok is the small island of Katina, rated only by Mala Proversa -a narrow and shallow channel only meters wide. Velika Proversa is another channel between the small island of Katina and the island of Kornat. It is one of the entrances to the national park of Kornati. BOŽAVA
Small town, port and tourist center that lies near the Božava field. The low coast is surrounded with pine forest.
In the Illyrian times, on the nearby hills Kruna and Gračina, there were two hillforts that continued their lives in the antiquity. The Slavs founded their settlement here probably already in the 9th century. In the written documents it was first time mentioned in 1327 as »Bosane«. The parish church is probably from the 9th century and three Gothic procession crosses from the 14th and 15th centuries are kept in that church.
Hotel: Božava ; with pavilions: Lavanda, Palma, Kadulja, LUKA
A place under the hill Velika Straža in the Luka cove. The inhabitants are fishermen and they also work in agriculture. There are olive-groves, woods and three caves out of which the most beautiful is Kozja peć. The medieval church has been partly reconstructed. The painting »The dead Christ« is part of the earlier poliptych from the 15th century.
Hotel: Luka , with pavilions Oliva and Mendula. |
