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Map of Karlobag

Map of Surroundings

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Karlobag locationA town between the Velebit mountain chain and the sea, located on the important Adriatic Highwayconnecting Rijeka with Dubrovnik, and leading towards the interior, towards Gospk, the PlitviceLakesand Zagreb. Karlobag is a marvelous connection of the Mediterranean and the continent, witha crystal clear sea and the most beautiful Croatian mountain chain reachable by car in only a fewminutes. Next to Karlobag, the center of the municipality, there are wonderful places on its Rivierasuch as:Ribarica, Cesarica, Lukovo Sugarje, Baric Draga and Sv.Marija Magdalena, and on the Velebitthere is BaskeOStarije.Karlobag is a locality of the Mediterranean and the continental Velebit style, with a rich and variedculinary offer. Karlobag has a Mediterranean climate and in September the weather is still pleasantand warm. The average daily temperature in summer is 28°C and the sea temperature in summer isaround 25°C.There are plenty of sunny days even during winter.

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HistoryThe tumultuous past ofKarlobag is shown by theremains of the medievalfortress emerging abovethe town - Fortice andsome churches. There is alibrary and art treasure inthe Capuchin monasterywith the church of St.Joseph containing theparticularly valuableCristoforo Tascapainting ofthe Last Supper.

During the time of theCroatian King Zvonimir, thearea belonged to the coastalparishthatbe~ngedtothe diocese of Rab. DuringVenetian rule there werecaravans from the naturalport of Bag (Baskadraga) tothe central hinterland of Uka,crossing important Velebitpassesand BaskeOStarije.

The Roman settlement calledVegium was of importancefor transport and trade andexisted up to the 4th and 5th

century when, due to attacks

from the Goths, it wasabandoned by its inhabitantswho ran off to the island ofPag. But abandoning thesettlement did not mean

abandoning the memoriesof its existence, and due tothe similarity to the island ofPag,the locality was namedBag.

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In 1480 it was taken

over by King Matija

Korvin and connected

to the Senj military

district.

After peace was

concluded in Sremski

Karlovci in 1699, when

Lika was joined to

Croatia, to the Croatian

Military Border

respectively, Karlobag

was, for some time,

the center of the entire

Lika area. In 1733 the

administrative center

for the entire newly

conquered area was

transferred to the

newly founded center

of Gospic .

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St. Joseph's Church

The single nave church with the lateral chapel of St. Anthony. Behind thealtar there are choir stalls and a wooden stand for the pulpit from the 18th

century from where monks prayed their daily breviary. In the church wefind the valuable painting of the Last Supper by Cristoforo Tasca.

The interior of St. Joseph's Church

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The monastery is of square groundplan with a rectangular yard, cloister,with a large cistern (rainfall water) 6 min diameter of 300-year-long capacityfor the needs of the inhabitants ofKarlobag.The monastery has a library withtheological literature from the 16th,17th and 18th cent.

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The fortress For-tica and Kava- Mediterranean garden

At the beginning of the Middle Agesthe new settlement of Scrissaor Bagdeveloped next to the sea, in the Forticaarea. Remains of a small four-cornerfortress from the 13th or 14th cent aresituated on a higher plateau with adefense tower in the center and at 250meter above sea level. The fortress iscompletely of private ownership.

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Ground plan of Fortica

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A drawingof Karlobagmade byengineer

Martin Stier

in 1660.

A chaplain and a smallcrew were constantlyin the fortress andthey provided for thesecurity of the townand supervised thenavigation of vesselstowards Pag. Remainsof the water supplycistern have beenpreserved.The current andarranged KavaMediterranean Garden

with an exhibition ofprivate owned mosaics.The name Kava (quarry)refers to the possibilitythat there may havebeen a quarry but itis more probable thatin the area there weremilitary dormitories.Today there areluxuriant gardens withsquares and otherbuildings.

Sterne

In the time preceding the water system network, the only source of drink-ing water were the sterne. They also represented the key to unity; the wheelwould often entangle, new love stories and friendships would arise.Today the sterne are reminders of the past and the old way of life which wehave decided to protect ascultural and historical heritage and take you, atleast for a moment, through the past of our locality. Karlobag has 6 localities,city sterne that must be visited.

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Next to the church stands the monumentof Sirne Starcevic, father of the first Croatiangrammar.

St. Karlo Boromejski churchA church from 1710, built on the foundations of the church of St. John(1615). It was badly damaged during the bombings in 1943.The remainswere removed 1958 except for the preserved tower, one part of the walland the entire bell fry.

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A chapel dedicated

to the Blessed Virgin

Mary of the Seven

Sorrows was built

in 1727 on higher

ground above the

town, on Calvary, and

it was consecrated

on September 12

by the bishop of

Senj, Modrus and

Krbava, Nikola

Pohmajevic, The

inhabitants covered

all the expenses and

converted it into a

small church in 1740.

Schoolin Karlobag

The stone building was built

in 1875 through the efforts of

Baron Mollinary, and it was the

most grandiose building of the

time in Karlobag.

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Baske OstarijeBaskeOStarije lie on the Velebit, at 924n NN in the western part of Lika, in themicro-region of the Lika basin of moun-tainous Croatia, at 18 km from Karlobag.The locality bore the name OStarije until1900 when it was changed into BaskeOStarije.The locality is divided into ham-lets: Raketa, Ripiste, Stupacinovo, Takalice,Prpic polje. St. Elisabeth'c Church inOstarije was built in 1855 in the parish ofthe Holy Virgin Mary from BaskeOstarijefounded in 1820.Gospk University Registrar's Office of theGospic-Senj Diocese.

The church of the

Blessed Virgin Mary's

Visit to Mary Elisabeth

(St. Elisabeth's Church)

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KubusThe monument

dedicated to the

building of the

Karlobag- Gospic Road

across the Velebit,

the Cube (Kubus,

Ura) on four spheres

is situated on the

OStarije Saddle or Stara

vrata, at 927 m above

sea level from where

the view extends over

Karlobag, the island

of Pag and the entire

Velebit Channel. In

1846 the Cube was

put up during the

construction of the

road from

Gospic to Karlobag

(1844- 1850). There are

33 steps leading to the

Cube. On one side of

the cube there is the

inscription Ferdinand

I, Austrian Emperor

M DCCCXLVI.

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A fountainmade ofcarved stone(Baske Ostarije)

In memory of the buildingof the Knezic- Kekiceve roadbuilt from 1844 to 1851.An interesting fact to mentionis that people called thissource the source of fertility.

The Theresiana Educational TrailThe Theresiana was built in1786 as a better connectionbetween Gospic, the RegimentHeadquarters of the time, andthe free port of Karlobag. Theorder to build a new, modernroad was given by EmperorJoseph 11. The road was namedafter his mother MaryTheresa.Wishing to inform people of

the culturalimportance ofthe Theresiana, the publicinstitution ofVelebit NatureParkarranged one part of theeducational trail. The trailisexclusively for pedestrians andit is particularly interesting dueto the region it crosseswherein a small area oneexperiencesthe two Velebit faces in

their complete beauty. Theeducational trailbegins inBaskeOStarije (924m above sealevel.), and descends to Konjskovillage (655m/above sea level)3 km in length. Thisis the longerwalking tour and lasts from 2.5- 3 h. A shorter tour of about1.5 h is also offered.

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The Premuzic Trail

The Prernuzic Trail was named after the constructionengineer Ante Prernuzic who designed it in 1930, while theconstruction it self was finished in 1933.The trail crossesthe most beautiful and most interesting parts of the NorthVelebit. A beautiful view spreads over the Adriatic Seaandthe islands of Pag,Rab,Goli, Prvic and Krk, and onto the Likahinterland from the continental side. The cultural heritageof the park manifests itself in the numerous remains of oldcattle lodgings, houses, drystone walls witnesses oftimesgone when this region was settled by a greater number ofpeople that later left and settled around the world leavingonly traces of their presence in this exceptionally beautifuland unique area.

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Dabar and Dabarski CliffsPeople call Dabar the karst basin shaped valleys.The Dabar and Dabar Cliffs region extends along the central part of the mountain massif, fromBacic-kuk opposite Budak mountain to the northwest andup to ljubacki Mountain and to the pertaining cliffs over Ostarije to the southeast, approximately 10km. Shallow and deep valleys follow one another, Bacic duliba,Dosen duliba, Crna duliba, Ravni dabar, Crni dabar. All the Dabars and Dulibes except for CrneDulibe were settled and cultivated in earlier times.

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The Central Velebit region, Ravnidabar locality, is an alpinisticarea where sports climbing ispermitted on the following rocks:- Visibaba/Agin kuk- Celina kuk- Rujicin kuk.Climbers' lodgings with about SObeds are situated in Ravni dabar.

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Cesarica and RibaricaCesarica is situated in a lovely cove at the footof the Velebit in a channel bearing the samename, 7 km northwest of Karlobag and 55 kmsoutheast of 5enj, next to the Adriatic Highway.Few are acquainted with this jewel of theCroatian coast. Up to the Second World War thislocality had a school, church and monastery.Current Cesarica is more of a weekend localitythan a place to live in. It can be proud of itsbeautiful cove, crystal clear seaand the powerfulVelebit in the background inspiring awe withits frequent gusts of the north wind bora .Thechurch of St. Helen with its parish building holdsthe people together( 18.08.).

St. He/en'sChurch Ribarica is situated under the Adriatic Highway, at the

foot of the Velebit in the Velebit Channel. It is locatedat 5 km northeast of Karlobag and 60 km southeast ofSenj.This new locality is only about fifty years old and,thanks to its position, it has developed into one of thetourist centers of the Lika-Senj County.

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ZavratnicaCove

If you are planning an outing from whichyou expect to discover new and interestingdestinations you must visit Zavratnica - "asignificant landscape" and one of the mostbeautiful coves on the Croatian coast.From its first appearance Zavratnica was aflooded valley with 100 meter high canyoncliffs. The length of the bay is about 900 m, andthe width varies between 50 and 150 m. It firstappeared in layers from the Cretaceous Agewhere numerous sandbanks were formed dueto the fragmentation and the planting of treesand underbrushes. 129 types of plants have

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been counted in Zavratnica of which 100 areautochthonous and 29 are alohtone. The uppertrail with a viewpoint and sea promenade werebuilt at the beginning of the 20th cent. At thattime Zavratnica became the sheltered summerresort of the Viennese and Prague elite.How to reach it: You can reach Zvratnica fromJablanac, the ferry port for the island of Rab,ahalf-hour walk along the sea trail. If you have amountaineering and adventurous spirit you candescend into the cove using the mountain trailfrom Zavratnica village.

Lukovo Sugarje-initially a local developmentcenter, south of Karlobag and situated in thecove bearing the same name and a short straitconnects it with the open sea.The settlementdates from the Middle Ages and was abandonedin the 17'h cent. Later it revived with manylocalities on the nude and steep slopes of themaritime Velebit. The church of St. Luke the

LukovoSugarjeThe Church of St. Lukethe Evangelist

Evangelist was built in the 18th century andrenewed in 1873. The parish was establishedin 1809.The local cistern was built next to thechurch in 1840.The elementary school wasopened in 1907 although the inhabitants ofLukovo had demanded it from the militaryheadquarters in Zagreb back in 1875.

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