BRIJUNINATIONAL PARK

THE BRIJUNI ISLANDS

Just off the coast north of Pula lies Brijuni National Park, a group of 14 islands and islets in the Fažana Channel. Together they cover 3,395 hectares, of which only 743 hectares is land and the rest is protected sea. The biggest island, Veliki Brijun, has almost 26 km of coastline, and its neighbour Mali Brijun another 8 km.

For centuries these islands were a quarry, a malaria-ridden outpost, a luxury resort and the private retreat of a president. Today they are one of Croatia’s best-known national parks, visited by around 200,000 people every year.

Here is what makes Brijuni so special.

DINOSAURS AND ANCIENT RUINS

Around 120 million years ago dinosaurs walked here, and more than 200 of their footprints have been found on Veliki Brijun. People came much later, in the Neolithic, and left traces from almost every period since: a Bronze Age hill-fort, a luxurious Roman villa rustica in Verige Bay, and a Byzantine castrum with the basilica of St. Mary, built for the people who lived inside its walls. In the Venetian period, Brijuni stone was shipped across the Adriatic for palaces and bridges.

FROM MALARIA TO LUXURY RESORT

In 1893 the Austrian industrialist Paul Kupelwieser bought the islands. He got rid of malaria, cleared the old quarry stone from the meadows and planted new forests. Then he built a harbour, villas, luxury hotels, heated seawater pools, a tennis court, a riding ground and the first zoo, and for years Brijuni was one of the best-known summer resorts of its time. During the Second World War the islands were occupied by German forces, and Allied bombing destroyed much of Veliki Brijun.

TITO’S SUMMER RESIDENCE

From 1949 Brijuni became the summer residence of Josip Broz Tito, closed to tourists until 1983. Many famous guests came to visit, from presidents and kings to film stars such as Sophia Loren. In 1956 Tito met Nehru and Nasser here, in talks that led to the Non-Aligned Movement. On 1 November 1983 the islands were declared a national park, and the first visitors arrived the following spring.

SAFARI PARK AND NATURE

Many of the animals Tito received as gifts still live in the Safari Park on Veliki Brijun: zebras, zebus, nilgai, waterbucks and the Indian elephant Lanka, a gift from Indira Gandhi. Deer, mouflon and peacocks roam free on the islands. Veliki Brijun is also home to one of the oldest olive trees in the Mediterranean, 6 metres tall with a crown of 22 by 8 metres, and to the first planned Mediterranean garden.

BRIJUNI FROM THE SEA

The best way to see how big and varied the archipelago is, is from the water. On our Swim & Snorkel Brijuni Tour we leave Pula harbour past the Uljanik shipyard, founded in 1856, and cross the Fažana Channel to the islands.

We pass the harbour of Veliki Brijun with its old hotels and golf course, and the north side of the island, where you can sometimes spot animals from the Safari Park on the shore. In the strait between Veliki and Mali Brijun, seagulls follow the boat and you can feed them by hand. We continue past the islet of Vanga, with Tito’s glass villa that is now the summer residence of the Croatian president, the Peneda lighthouse, in service since 1877, and three more of Tito’s villas: Jadranka, Bijela and Brijunka.

The cruise ends at the small island of Sv. Jerolim, where you have about two and a half hours to swim, snorkel and explore.

GOOD TO KNOW

Veliki Brijun can only be visited with the national park’s own boats from Fažana. The guided excursion takes about three and a half hours and includes a tourist train ride, the Safari Park and the museum exhibitions. There are no shops or ATMs on Veliki Brijun.

On our boat tour you see the islands from the sea and spend your free time on Sv. Jerolim. The national park fee is not included in the ticket and is paid in cash directly to the park.