Nature Park Telašćica

Airport and transport – daily ship and ferry line with Zadar (around 30 km); daily hydroplane connection to Zadar; weekly hydroplane connection with Ancona (Italy); airport in Zadar.

History – inhabited since ancient times (numerous archeological remains); the name probably derives from the Latin “tre lagus” (three lakes; morphogenetic Karst sinkholes, ended up under the sea some 10 000 years ago); the oldest document about fishing trade (10th century) shows that the fishing trade in Croatia began on these coasts.

Interesting to see: the small Church of St. Anthony the Abbot originates from the earliest Christian times (4^th/5th century), now is St. Anthony of Padua (rebuilt on its ruins in 1913); in the immediate vicinity of the church Liburnian (Illyrian) graves were found (from 1800 – 1000th BC).

Info – Telašćica bay is one of the safest, the most beautiful and largest natural ports in the Adriatic; the total surface is 70.50 km2 (8200 m long, 150-1500 m wide, and coastal length of 68.78 km with 5 small islets,1 cliff, and 25 small coves); the Cliffs rising up to 198.5 m (peaks Brčastac and Čelinjak; great number of bird species nest here, as Falco peregrinus and Falco eleonore) over the sea, and vertically falling down to 85 m into the sea (where different corals can be found); Salt Lake “Mir” with curative gray silt, is the residence of endemic specie of eel (called “Kajman”); the bottom of the bay is mostly covered with communities of sea-flowering plants and habitats extremely rich on animal life and very important for the reproduction of many fish species; so far recorded 486 land animals (mouflon the biggest; while the snakes are mostly unpoisonous) and 531 kinds of plants (endemic species make up only 0.9%); see fauna recorded 469 species and see flora 658 species.

Curiosities: the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncates; the last sea mammals in the Adriatic, protected species in Croatia); there are 59 legally protected plant species and 4 endemic plants (organisms that live in a certain geographical area and nowhere else in the world); Carnivorus sponge (Asbestopluma hypogea; is the second find of this kind in the world).

Inevitable to see: “Strasna pec” (“fearsomely cave” in Savar; entrance 70m height above sea level; formed in well-layered limestone’s of fossil shells from Cretaceous); Lake “Mir” (900 m time 300 m; maximum depth 6 m; salty; SE part covered with fine grey silt, the curative mud); refuge for donkeys (a Croatian autochthonous breed); the islet Taljurić (looks like a flat plane) a small rock slab (diameter 60 m, height 3 m; upper layers have been destroyed by waves; during a storm the whole rock is covered with sea foam; no vegetation on it), a geological attraction on the islet Taljurić is a cave without a vault (resulted by dissolving and implosion of the vault in the geological past).

Inevitable to taste: traditional fish and meat specialties.

Good to know: breathtaking panoramic view from the belvedere Grpašćak.

For sailors:

Luka Telašćica (bay extends 8 km inside the island; the biggest width is 1.5 km; around is 6 smaller islets): Sheltered: lee from bora (along the N side). Mooring: almost everywhere (depend on winds) in branches of the bay (anchored buoys); bay Mir. Shallow and cliffs: in the bottom of the bay (3 m deep). Warning: fishing is not allowed unless with permission issued by Park Management; Scuba diving is possible also with the permission and only on specific locations (that are changeable).