The Croatian coastline ranks among the most intricately indented coastlines in the world. Of 1,244 islands, islets, cliffs, and reefs that have remained following the dramatic rise in the level of the Adriatic Sea in about 13,000 B.C., only 50 are inhabited today. One of them is Losinj, but finding it on the map can be rather challenging.
The island, which is about 20 miles long and at most only two and a half miles wide, appears to be attached to the neighboring island of Cres. But in fact, a 36-foot wide artificial canal, built in Roman times as a maritime passage, separates the two. The hand-operated pivot bridge is raised to let yachts through twice a day, in the morning and evening. Just a few minutes after arriving, it’s noticeable how the climate feels milder and the landscape much greener, full of blooming wildflowers and herbs. The scent is spicy and the atmosphere is relaxed.
Coastal Veli Losinj and Mali Losinj are the two largest towns on the island. Originally, the former was the bigger settlement (“veli” means “big”), “but there was too much wind in the harbor, so the port was relocated to Mali Losinj [mali means “small”], which has about 6,500 inhabitants today,” my tour guide, Nikola Marinac, explained. In the 18th and 19th centuries, trade, shipbuilding, and seafaring made the island prosper.
A reminder of this glorious past is the pink parish church of Veli Losinj, the Church of St Anthony the Hermit. The church sits perched on a cliff above the entrance of the harbor, nestled in a most picturesque fashion around a bay with colorful houses from the turn of the century.
“The captains and their families wanted to demonstrate their wealth,” Marinac said. “The building holds treasures such as four side altars from Venice, red marble from Carrara, and a rich collection of Italian paintings. During the Second World War, the most valuable relics were hidden in the bottom of the burial chamber.”
But the local churches are not the only places sheltering riches; the Adriatic Sea also holds onto them tightly, although not forever. In 1997, a Belgian tourist diver discovered a 2,000-year-old Greek bronze statue on the seabed off Losinj, 148 feet below the surface.
The statue of the athlete Apoxyomenos is in better condition than almost any other bronze statue from this period because of the preserving effect of the sand and coral growth. Only the eyes and the little finger on the right hand are missing. The rest is of such artistic excellence, with fine attention to detail, beauty, and aesthetics that an entire museum has been dedicated to it. In a futuristic, bright white, and otherwise completely empty room, Apoxyomenos stands like a deity with his harmonious muscular body in bronze splendor.
Like most of the Croatian coastline, Losinj is dominated by pebbly and rocky beaches. Cikat Bay on the west coast is considered one of the most beautiful on the island. It’s horseshoe-shaped, surrounded by dense pine forest, where magnificent villas from the imperial era peek out. Anyone who slides into the crystal-clear water here will experience the feeling of just floating. The perfect sunset spot is next to a lighthouse at the entrance to the bay. From there, paths wind their way down to secluded spots and pristine beaches otherwise only reachable by boat.
Speaking of boats—a number of operators offer tours to Susak, about a 15-minute ride away. The tiny, car-free island was once covered in vineyards enclosed by reeds (because there are no stones at all). The wines and grapes provided the means to buy everything necessary, from materials to build houses to wool for their colorful folk costumes. Inhabitants speak their own dialect, which is nearly incomprehensible to other Croats. Susak saw a massive exodus in the 1960s (it had more than 1,600 inhabitants in 1948)—surprisingly, many of its citizens settled in Hoboken, New Jersey.
On the way to Susak, it’s not uncommon to be accompanied by some of the roughly 200 bottlenose dolphins that live in the waters surrounding the island.
“It is estimated there are 10,000 dolphins in the entire Adriatic,” said dolphin-watching tour guide Barbara Sucich, who was born in New York, but moved back to her parents’ home of Cres as a child. “The oldest dolphins of Losinj are over 30 years old.”
Healthy Living
Owing to the exceptional characteristics of its Mediterranean climate, Losinj was proclaimed a “climatic health resort” by a decree of the Ministry of Health of the Austrian–Hungarian Monarchy in 1892. It soon became a popular holiday destination for the aristocracy, who built numerous villas and summer residences on the island. Thanks to the island’s positive effect on respiratory diseases, allergies, and the immune system, it became known as the “Island of Vitality.”Scientific studies have confirmed the special composition of the air, which combines several unique factors–the interaction of the onshore Jugo winds and the offshore Bora winds, the evaporation of the seawater, which is very salty and mineral-rich, and the oxygen given off by the many pine forests and their scents.
The color green dominates Losinj all year round as cypresses stand next to palm trees and dense pine forests. In 1886, professor Ambroz Haracic started the forestation of the island karst, which took six years, with half a million Aleppo pine seedlings, of which 300,000 survived. The dense tree canopy stretching down to the sea provides shade and forest walks, accommodates walking paths, and exudes a refreshing, ethereal scent. More than 800 indigenous plants grow on the island, some 200 of them fragrant–from climbers to thorns, shrubs, and trees.
The Fragrant Garden above Mali Losinj is an eco-paradise with fig trees, herbs, donkeys, sheep, and views of the turquoise green of the sea that stretches around the coast.
“My garden invites visitors to breathe in the profuse spicy fullness of the island’s landscapes,” medicinal herb specialist Sandra Nicolich said while serving a homemade myrtle liqueur with a main ingredient that she harvests during the winter months.
The small on-site store sells products from mandarin fruit jam to lavender soap and massage oils. The garden, much like the rest of Losinj, emanates tranquility and calmness. It’s a perfect place to recharge, relax, and enjoy life on the Island of Vitality.
