23 Things You Didn't Know About Croatia
For a country of only four million people, Croatia hides an awful lot of secrets. Partly it’s the geography, a long coast and over 1,000 islands and partly it’s the history, of invasion and uprising. Thrown in an array of strange customs and you have a very interesting mix indeed.
Land of a thousand islands
Lastovo islands
No-one knows exactly how many islands lie off the coast of Croatia. It depends on your definition, the difference between a reef, a rock, an islet and an island often quite arbitrary. At the most recent count, there were 1,185, although the most amazing thing is that of these, only 48 are inhabited. That leaves 1,137 for the wildlife – which is pretty much how Croatia likes it.
1. White truffle record
Restaurant, Croatian
Every nation has its bizarre inventions; Hungary its Rubik’s Cube and Slovakia the parachute. Croatia invented the cravat, forerunner of today’s necktie. The names of the sartorial item and nationality are interlinked thanks to a French bastardisation from the 1600s, when they first appeared. Today Croatia celebrates Cravat Day every October 18 and nationwide chain Croata proffers cravats of every colour.
Money from martens
Though it sounds related to the word ‘crown’, and currencies in Scandinavia, the Croatian kuna is derived from the humble marten, whose pelt was a valuable commodity in medieval times. The noble elite thus called their coins kunas. When Croatia gained its independence in the early 1990s, the dinar was abandoned and the kuna revived.
2. The beach that changes shape
Resort
3. The Croatian town that Mussolini built
Church
4. World’s first psychologist
Natural Feature
World’s oldest Slavic script
Looking completely unlike the Cyrillic script by the same Byzantine monk, Glagolitic is the oldest known Slavic alphabet, and one used around Croatia hundreds of years after it had died out elsewhere. In fact, it was only the influence of Mussolini’s Italy between the wars, particularly in Istria and Kvarner, that wiped it out completely. Today you can follow the seven kilometres (four miles) long Glagolitic Alley between the hilltop hamlets of Roč and Hum in Istria, lined with signs in the medieval vernacular.
5. Walking with dinosaurs
Park
6. Europe’s most beautiful sunset
Natural Feature
7. James Joyce’s first job
Natural Feature
8. Row to Zadar
Natural Feature
9. The Great Wall of Croatia
Ruins
Home of the torpedo
Perfected by British engineer Robert Whitehead, the torpedo was first created and tested out in Rijeka by Habsburg naval officer Giovanni Luppis. The pair had met at the Croatian port in 1864 and worked on the prototype together. You can still see the dock where this all took place, now rusty and abandoned. Rijeka-born Luppis was later bestowed the title of Baron von Rammer and retired on the profits by Lake Como.
10. The Sphinx that lives in Zadar
Villa
11. The Sphinx that lives in Split
Architectural Landmark
12. Murder on the Orient Express
Building
13. World’s most risqué skinny dip
Natural Feature
14. The art gallery delivered from Budapest
Art Gallery
15. Marco Polo’s house
Museum
16. The world’s only Sea Organ
Architectural Landmark
17. Whose big toe brings good luck?
Architectural Landmark
18. Island of mongooses
Forest, Park
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