Gulet, sailing boat and yacht Charter in Croatia 

Culture in Croatia

Croatian culture is based on a thirteen-century-long history during which the country has attained many monuments and cities, which gave birth to a good number of brilliant individuals. The country includes six World Heritage sites and eight national parks. Two Nobel prize winners came from Croatia, as did numerous important inventors and other notable people — notably, some of the first fountain pens came from Croatia.

Croatia also has a place in the history of clothing as the origin of the necktie (cravat). The country has a long artistic, literary and musical tradition. Of particular interest is also the diverse cuisine.

History

The culture of Croatia has roots in a long history: the Croats have been inhabiting the area for thirteen centuries, but there are important remnants of the earlier periods still preserved in the country.

Some of the earliest remaining historical features include:

• 100,000 year old bones of a Neandertal man near Krapina (Krapina-Zagorje county)
• Neolithic excavation sites in Ščitarjevo near Zagreb, Sopot near Vinkovci, Vučedol near Vukovar, Nakovanj on the Pelješac peninsula and elsewhere
• Records of inhabitation of the island of Vis by ancient Greeks (the queen Teuta of Issa)
• Many buildings and ruins from the ancient Roman period, including many Roman cities throughout the Dalmatian coast, notably the aqueduct of Salona, emperor Diocletian's Palace in Split, Euphrasius' Basilica in Poreč and the Amphitheatre in Pula.

The early middle ages brought the great migration of the Slavs and this period was perhaps a Dark Age in the cultural sense until the successful formation of the Slavic states which coexisted with Italic cities that remained on the coast, each of them were modelled like Venice.

By joining the Hungarian state in the twelfth century, Croatia lost its independence, but it didn't lose its ties with the south and the west, and instead this ensured the beginning of a new era of Central European cultural influence. Similarly, the beginning of the wars with the Ottoman Empire caused many problems but in the long term it both reinforced the northern influence (by having the Austrians as the rulers) and also introduced a distinct oriental cultural influence.

The turbulent twentieth century re-oriented Croatia politically on many occasions and affected it in many other ways, but it couldn't significantly alter its already peculiar position at the crossroads of many different cultures.

Education

Croatia has six universities in six larger cities:

• University of Zagreb
• University of Split
• University of Rijeka
• University "Josip Juraj Strossmayer", Osijek
• University of Zadar
• University of Dubrovnik

Each of the universities in Croatia is composed of many independent "faculties" (Croatian fakultet, meaning college or department). Each independent college or department maintains its own administration, professional staff (also known as a "faculty") and campus. The colleges focus on specific areas of learning: Natural Sciences, Philosophy, Law, Engineering, Economy, Architecture, Medicine, and so on. Although a university's colleges or departments are usually located in the same city as the administration of the university, sometimes they are not. For example, Zagreb University's Faculty of Metallurgy is located in the city of Sisak.

There are also a number of scientific institutes, including the Institute "Ruđer Bošković" in Zagreb that excels in physics, or the Energy Institute "Hrvoje Požar" also in Zagreb.

The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb is a learned society promoting language, culture, and science from its first conception in 1836. (The juxtaposition of the words typically seen in English as "Arts and Sciences" is deliberate.)

The Roman Catholic Church was instrumental in the founding of many educational facilities in Croatia. The Church continues to maintain numerous seminaries and theological faculties in the country, as well as the Pontifical Croatian College of St. Jerome for Croatian students in Rome.

People

Some of the people Croatians take special pride in include:

• founder of the first Croatian kingdom King Tomislav
• statesman and soldier Nikola Šubić Zrinski
• poet Marko Marulić
• playwright and prose writer Marin Držić
• inventor of parachutes Faust Vrančić
• physicist and diplomat Ruđer Bošković
• poet Ivan Gundulić
• army general and ban Josip Jelačić
• sculptor Ivan Meštrović
• physicist and engineer Nikola Tesla
  
• inventor of torpedoes Ivan Lupis-Vukić
• chemist Lavoslav Ružička
• inventor of ink pens Eduard Slavoljub Penkala
• parliamentarian Stjepan Radić
• writer Ivo Andrić
• writer Miroslav Krleža
• historian and first president o Republic of Croatia dr. Franjo Tuđman

Places

The UNESCO has marked six places in Croatia as World Heritage:

• Episcopal complex of the Euphrasian Basilica in the historic centre of Poreč
• the cathedral of St. James in Šibenik
• historic city of Trogir
• historic complex of Split with the Palace of Diocletian
• old city of Dubrovnik
• Plitvice Lakes

As far as natural beauty goes, Croatia has eight national parks, mostly situated along the Adriatic coast.