Welcome to CroatiaCroatia UNESCO - 7 sites and 7 cultural traditions

Croatia UNESCO – 7 sites and 7 cultural traditions

Welcome to Croatia — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 19:24:40 +0000

Festa Sveti Vlaho Dubrovnik Croatia

CROATIA has 7 UNESCO protected world cultural heritage sites and 7 UNESCO protected world cultural heritage traditions, making it first in Europe and fourth in the world. UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

The music in the video are traditional and unique Croatian “klapa” songs. First is “Vilo Moja” and second song is “Croatio iz duše te ljubim”.

Croatia UNESCO Sites:

Dubrovnik – The old city
Diocletian’s Palace in Split
Plitvice Lakes
Euphrasian Basilica in Porec
Trogir – The old city
St James Cathedral in Sibenik
Island Hvar Stari Grad plain

Croatian UNESCO Cultural traditions (intangible heritage) all from 2009:

Lace making in Croatia
Spring procession of Ljelje queens in Gorjani
Festival of St Blaise – patron of city of Dubrovnik
Annual carnival Bell Ringers from Kastav region
Traditional manufacturing of wooden toys in Zagorje
Two-part singing and paying in Istrian scale
Procession of the Kross on island Hvar (Holy Thursday)

The fortification of Ston Walls took the longest in Europe’s history

Welcome to Croatia — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 07:31:04 +0000

Ston Walls

After many years of restoration, the Ston walls which are the Europe’s longest fortress system and the also the second largest in the whole world have recently been opened for public viewing. This is the most complete activity in Croatia’s cultural heritage renovations. Fifty years ago the renovation of the walls had begun by the Dubrovnik historian and conservationist Lukša Beritić, and the long term renovations caught speed in 2003. The renovation was carried the same way as the walls were built and this is why they have a long time. The walls have been made by stone sculpting. The Friends of Dubrovnik’s Ancient Sights association has maintained the walls from 1952, and also invested for the renovation project where they have put in around three to five million HRK annually. When the renovations are complete, visitors will have to pay an entrance fee to visit this excellent attraction, which will help the authorities sustain and carry on the renovations and also encourage the tourist and cultural development of Ston. The Ston walls were made in the 14th century, after Pelješac was taken over by the Republic of Dubrovnik in 1334. For protection on the walls a vast defence system was built and it is the biggest urban reinforcement project in Europe of that time. The walls for defence were first constructed on both sides of the Peninsula. The plans were equipped by two towns, northern Mali Ston and southern Ston. Pelješac was detached from the mainland by the Great wall, which has a length of 5.5 km. Now only 5 km of the wall is left as the rest disappeared in the earthquakes of 17th and 20th century.

The walls were supported with 5 fortresses and 40 towers. They started and finished with two large fortresses: Veliki kaštio in Ston Korun in Mali Ston. The most well-known and major fortress is Bartolomeo on the hill. As per the ancient Dubrovnik chronicles, it took one and half year to build the great wall. Within the walls of the town of Ston there are residential houses and palaces in four blocks, a public building, a Bishop’s palace, the church of St. Blaise and a Franciscan monastery. Mali Ston is the oldest preserved plans in Europe. The major buildings in Mali Ston are the salt warehouse, the harbour with the harbour wall, arsenal, parish castle, parish church, Luža bell tower, and also the huge Korun fortress. The Ministry of Culture made an announcement that the Ston walls, Ston and Mali Ston and also the Ston saltpan will be entirely offered as contenders for the UNESCO world cultural heritage list in which recently Croatian cultural heritage phenomena was listed.

Vodice: The 40 year Olympia gets new clothes

Welcome to Croatia — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:24:10 +0000

Hotel Olympia Vodice

Around 12 million Euros have been invested in the last four years, on the renovation of Vodice’s four star hotels Olympia, and the planning is for another 5 million Euros. This should ensure that the forty year hotel, in the future will be able to receive guests for 11 months of the year, unlike the existing seasonal work. Lately the hotel got a new wellness area “Olympia life” for comforting the body and soul with a wide range of spa facilities and a polyvalent hall. The new halls’ centre is designed in a manner whereby the congress hall for 500 participants, can be swiftly turned into a sports hall with just a few small changes. The hall has a translators’ cabin and audiovisual equipment. There were earlier investments in the renovation of the reception area, a hundred rooms, the cleaning up of the beaches and the horticulture. During the tourist season of this year, the hotel is expected to offer a complete range of attractive and interesting beach facilities such as the “Kouha” bar where all through the day many different entertainment programs will be on offer, and there is also a new restaurant and souvenirs. The final phase of renovation will start at the end of this year and around 5 million Euros will be invested in the redecoration of the remaining accommodation units, and the other hotel buildings. In 2010, this hotel will offer the same quality in all 26 apartments, 215 rooms and other hotel areas. This investment is even more important considering that when the world is hit by recession; the majority of investors in tourism have considerably slowed down or even ceased larger investments. Formerly Olympia focused itself on classical or family or classical type of tourism, but it has now planned to become a hotel which will attract rich tourists with its quality and numerous faculties. In order to get ready for this new type of business, the hotel management has started with the additional training of waiters, cooks, sommeliers, receptionists and ice cream makers. With the renovated hotel Olympia, Vodice has been given an impetus to more development.

Dubrovnik- one of the best ports

Welcome to Croatia — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:47:23 +0000

Dubrovnik Port Cruiser Ship

According to the autumn edition of the dream world cruise destination magazine, Dubrovnik is in the tenth place amongst the top 50 most visited world ports. It has been recorded that Dubrovnik is in tenth place according to the number of transit passengers on cruise. When we talk about Mediterranean ports only Naples and livomo have more visitors than Dubrovnik. One of the main reasons why most of the tourists like to visit this area is that the top ten world’s most visited embarkation ports are from the Mediterranean including Barcelona, Barcelona, Civitavecchia, Piraeus, Venice and Palma. The best part of all is that an increase of 38.2% was recorded among the passengers on the ships with more than 890,000 passengers within the ten months.

It was also recorded that including the area of Dubrovnik-neretva most of the foreign cruise ships visited the place and spent an average of two days in Croatia. These ports have recorded the highest number of visits but Dubrovnik is a place in which 642 ships arrived which is truly worth. Well, all these reports have been made by the central bureau of statistics including that the foreign cruise ships and their passengers have spent total 1527 days on Adriatic Sea within a time period of ten months which makes 63.5% more than during the same period of the previous year. Oceanic the first ship was launched in 1945 and was basically built for cruises only around the North America for the home lines company. After the launch of this cruise it was claimed that it would be the beginning of modern cruise but on the other hand, some disagreed to this statement and considered that the beginning of new modern cruise began on 19th December 1966 when the Norwegian Caribbean line became the first company to offer a year round schedule of cruise trips on the sunward ships that were intended for the wider market.

Well, you might be thinking that why a cruise is given such importance and consideration but it is due to the reason that some people are not completely aware of the benefits and use of cruise. A cruiser is actually a floating hotel that helps to transfer passengers from one place to another. This is one the main reasons why these types of ships are given consideration as a primary tourist destination. Usually, the passengers on the ships travel for one day when noticed from destination point of view. Croatia is one the best place to visit; therefore, it has been honored and included on the international cruise destinations list with around twenty destinations along the coast and on the islands. Croatia not only recorded with the highest number of visitors but also recorded a significant increase of foreign cruise ships. The first ports on the list of the cruise are Dubrovnik, Split, Korčula and Zadar because these are the main attraction of visitors and offer conditions necessary for them to dock.

Agro tourism is increasingly getting popular

Welcome to Croatia — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:33:07 +0000

Pakovo Selo - Ethno Village - Sibenik Croatia

Agro tourism in Miljevci was truly unthinkable as tourism in the Šibenik hinterland was unknown at that place. Since time changed, several family farms, two large factories for production of smoked ham on Miljevci including number of other honey, olive oil and cheese producing firms were opened in the Pakovo Selo area and after the these production firms, the place became quite famous when compared to the previous time and this ultimately led to the development of agro tourism on this area. It was reported that in one of the Miljevci, in Brištani, the family of Ante and Danica Bačić had recently opened a country household “Peace” located in the vicinity of River Krka, on the National Park’s very edge.

Some of the speciality features that have been designed in the family house in Brištani are truly amazing and luxury. What makes the house so special is its three rooms and a guest apartment for all such people who are interested in traditional and original values and top quality homemade dishes, homemade wine, therapeutic brandies, figs, almonds, walnuts and many more things. So people go ahead and check out this family house for all these items and comfort that is provided in the house. The main specialty of the house is its meat roasted under an iron bell (peka), cheese and smoked ham because they are offered as appetizers and guests can choose their own salad from the garden. The owners of the agro tourist estate have cultivated 2000 vines and plenty of olive trees so that their guests can relax and take a walk along the vineyards. In addition, you also get an opportunity to have a look at the view of the attractive river krka basin which is also present in the vicinity.

Many other beautiful scenes can also be seen from this place like on the small island of visovac, there is a Franciscan monastery located there which can also be seen with beautiful Roški waterfall that is located nearby. The best part of all is the theme park which is a best place for kids as well as for youngsters. The first theme park of the area is also not very far and can be easily viewed in Croatia, Etnoland Dalmati in Pakovo Selo near Drniš. The park covers an area of 15,000 square meters and provides an opportunity to see and determine what life was in the Dalmatian hinterland during the past periods and this will help you learn about the customs, traditions, lifestyle of that particular area. The complex located nearby consists of an old Dalmatian house, is a fenced area for animals, a threshing floor, Old crafts workshops, a unique area for performances. With all this, you will get to see and visit the garden at Etnoland which is enriched with indigenous herbs and vegetables as a part of its offer and an area reserved only for animals: a pen for sheep and goats, chicken and donkeys. One of the greatest opportunities that should not be missed is that visitors are allowed to meet a stone-mason, a weaver and a woodworker in the workshops of these old, nearly forgotten trades. Etno land offers unique entertainment area (kolarište), in which the visitors will feel the Dalmatian magic. Singing and dancing are some of the other ways to help people enjoy the place and have fun.

Dubrovnik will be more accessible soon

Welcome to Croatia — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 10:15:45 +0000

Flights to Dubrovnik Croatia

From this year holiday in Croatia will become easier to reach and the Dubrovnik will be much more accessible to the tourists. This is because from April or May this year, five low cost airlines have decided and thus, announced that new flights to Dubrovnik will be introduced by them. A German low cost airline called Germanwings, will introduce a direct flight from Hamburg to Dubrovnik and this flight will be started on 2 May, 2010. On the other hand, a British carrier Jer2.com will introduce a direct flight from Edinburgh. Blue1 is a Finnish company and it has announced to introduce a direct flight from Helsinki to Dubrovnik and this flight will be operating Saturdays from April and also on Tuesdays from May. From the end of October 2009 planes which will fly to Dubrovnik twice a week, will be flown by a company which is a part of SAS group since 1998.

Bmibaby is a British company and it has plans to operate flights between East Midlands and Dubrovnik from 30th May every Thursday and Sunday. Flyglobespan is a Scottish airline and it has announced to start a flight from Aberdeen to Dubrovnik and will start in May 2010 and will operate every Wednesday. With so many flights operating between different countries in the world and Dubrovnik, traveling to Dubrovnik will become much easier and more convenient. With better connectivity through different airlines, the number of visitors to this region will increase thus giving a boost to travel and tourism.

Project of “Traditional Food Path”

Welcome to Croatia — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 07:00:42 +0000

Varazdin Croatia

There is a new project which the country of Varazdin has decided to undertake. This project is called “Traditional Food Path” where they will offer to the tourists the awesome culinary and heritage in a completely new way. This will enable the tourists to enjoy the traditional dishes of the country and to add to the pleasure they can also take part in the preparation of the dishes. The visitors can enjoy all this in 1 farms of the region. This project will provide a great platform for the visitors to interact with the producers of the native products of the region. Some of these traditional products that are produced here are protected. Things like honey and brandy made of honey, Varazdin cabbage, oil, pumpkin etc are the ones which are protected. It is planned that by the end of the year all the farms which will be a part of the project will receive an info table which will contain all the necessary information and interesting facts about their products. As a part of the preparations, tourist signs have been put in the area and a catalogue has been made in English and Croatian which will contain details of the products and their manufacturers. A website is also being made, www.put-tradicionalne-hrane.com and after this is a web shop is also being planned for the ease of the tourists. A main aim of this project is promotion of the agricultural farms who can promote certain selected products as they do not produce the protected products. As per the plan this project will eventually connect the wine roads of the country.

Split Hotel Le Meridien Lav Wins Four Awards

Welcome to Croatia — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:51:42 +0000

Hotel Le Meridien Lav

The well known and most sought after World Travel Awards for Tourism in Europe were held recently in Portugal. At these awards the Splits Le Meridien Lav won four awards in different categories. The hotel won awards for leading hotel, leading European conference hotel, Croatian spa hotel and European casino resort. To get these awards is a thing of pride as they reflect the excellence and status of the organizations in the travel and tourism industry. This was the 16th year that the awards were held this year.

There is a voting procedure to select the winners and a round 16,500 representatives of agencies and tourist employees belonging to 175 countries participate. Due to this reason these awards are considered to be equivalent to the Oscars in the field of travel and tourism and are the best reference for any organization or tourist product. The selection is based on a geographical division of eight areas Asia/Pacific, Europe, Caribbean, Latin and Central America, North and South America, near East and Africa. The divisions are made to ensure that all areas are covered and the selection is fair. The Meridien received three awards last year also and like this year was nominated along with other very popular hotels of the world like Kempinski St Moritz, Evian Royal Resort , Spain’s Torrequebrada hotel and casino, Greece’s Divani Apollon, Conrad Istanbul, Conference Centre and Spa Grand Hotel Stockholm, Hotel Okura Amsterdam, Hotel Gothia Towers from Sweden, Sheraton Hotel & Convention Centre Ankara, Renaissance Zurich Hotel, Ritz-Carlton Berlin, and the Sheraton Roma Hotel & Conference Center.

The hotel got the award for the best European conference hotel and this is because of the well planned strategy and the planning of the management, adhering to the aims that are accepted in the industry, timely change and acceptance of the trends and also introduction of new and improved services in the corporate. On the tourism world map, Croatia is placed as a desirable destination and this award has supported this. The country is a preferred destination for those who want to enjoy the nightlife and many other activities. The tourism in the country is booming despite the recession in the world and these awards are jewels in the crown.

Dubrovnik introduces tourist cards

Welcome to Croatia — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:12:47 +0000

Dubrovnik Panorama

The city of Dubrovnik attracts many visitors all the year round. It has now decided on a new way to welcome the tourists. They have introduced tourist cards for the price of EUR 15. With the card, the tourists can take a tour of the city walls, three museums, Revelin fortress, the Dubrovnik Art Gallery, the home of Marin Drzic and the Dulcic-Masle-Pulitika gallery at a discount of 50 percent in comparison to the regular ticket prices. The card has made all the monuments more accessible to the tourists. The daily card was introduced in August and as weekly card will be introduced next year in 2010. These cards are available for sale at the info centres of the City of Dubrovnik tourist board. They are available at many locations, Siroka ulica, Lapad, Lopud, Sipan and the Dubrovnik Airport.
The old city centre of Dubrovnik is on the UNESCO world heritage list and it attracts more than one million visitors every year. Many visitors stay for a day in the city because of the high quality accommodation facilities. Many also visit the city as a part of the Mediterranean cruises, in which the city of Dubrovnik is one of the destinations.

Hotel Regent Esplanade does it again

Welcome to Croatia — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 08:41:49 +0000

Zagreb Hotel Regent Esplanade

The Zagreb Hotel, Regent Esplanade Zagreb has does it again this year by featuring in the list in the prestigious magazine Conde Nast Traveller, which publishes the Golden List every year. The prominent magazine each year publishes a list of the world’s best tourist facilities. Regent Esplanade Zagreb had featured in the list last year also. Nearly thirty three thousand readers poll and rate the accommodation, design, and location, the quality of service and food and drinks. This year the hotel has got the 33rd rank in the list of 100 hotels in the southern part of Europe. The hotel operates under the Regent hotel chain and was built in 1925 for the travellers travelling from Istanbul to Paris. It is known for the high quality service it provides, and this five star hotel is one of the best of the Zagreb hotel industry. Many famous personalities, like Louis Armstrong, Woody Allen, Orson Wells, Josephine Baker, Charles Lindbergh and many others have stayed here and have appreciated the services of the hotel.