Location: Map
Area: 140 islands, total 320 km2 (124 sq mi)
Ferry from Biograd, Murter, Primosten, Rogoznica, Vodice, Zadar
Info: (022) 435 740
“On the last day of Creation, God wanted to crown his work and from tears, stars and breath created the Kornati” (JB Shaw)
Kornati Islands National Park takes its name from a main island of Kornat. In total there are 140 islands that cover a total area of 320 square kilometers. You can get here by renting a private boat or taking a safer route by getting a ferry from Biograd, Murter, Primosten, Rogoznica, Vodice and Zadar. Southwestern side of Kornati islands has steep cliffs or "crowns" that are virtually impossible to scale, but are very picturesque. Human residence here is marked by remains and artifacts on Toreta Hill on the island of Kornat that date back to the time when Illyrians and Romans inhabited these lands. At the foot of the mountain covered by olives, citruses and figs you can see ruins of a Christian church that dates to late antiquity.
Another church dating back to the 16th century is located on a Piskera Island. Some minor medieval fortifications are also found on the islet of Panitula.
Kornati Islands National Park is very pristine and have a little human presence other than the ruins. Most of 147 islands of the Kornati Archipelago are uninhabited. Kornat island is one of the largest and most populated of them. Here you can find some small local restaurants that serve local fish that is usually caught just hours before your arrival. There are no hotels or other accommodations in the Kornati Islands National Parkso take plenty of water, get sunscreen and enjoy beautiful Mediterranean Sea.
Interesting places
Crowns are a geological phenomenon
consisting of rocks "growing" directly from the sea. They reach up
to 100 meters, both in the underwater part and on the surface. Crown
climbing is prohibited.
The remains of Illyrian settlements are
located on several islands of the archipelago.
Tureta Fortress -
on the island of Kornat. The oldest structure of the Byzantine era
on the archipelago. Dates back to the 6th century.
The Kornati tragedy
Kornati - on August 30,
2007, they were the site of a great tragedy, in which 12 volunteer
firefighters were killed (along with only one survivor with severe
burns) in extinguishing the fire on the Kornati. After the
investigation, the trial has passed to this day - but the real cause
is still unknown, how and why were the firefighters killed? There
were frequent fires in the Kornati, which were sometimes started by
the islanders themselves, wanting to destroy all the weeds and
saplings of coniferous trees, so that only grass for their sheep
would sprout, so that there was almost no wood on the Kornati,
except in small oases along the coastal harbors. These fires until
the 1990s and did not cause too much excitement, would be sent to
firefighters from nearby DVD boats, who with the help of brents
tried to prevent houses along the coast from burning and sometimes
localize the fire if they arrived early enough. Except for a few
sprained legs — nothing more serious had ever happened to these
firefighters — because those fires didn't have any serious intensity
— mostly dry grass burned, which could be run over in firmer shoes —
without any problem. The expertise carried out after the fire tried
to prove - that an eruptive fire took place at the site of the
tragedy, although many doubt that expertise - because it would have
burned so strongly on the Kornati. After that, theories emerged that
people were burned after clumsily throwing a bag of gasoline, which
was supposed to serve firefighters to fill their devices, but also
that they came across discarded bombs from American planes, which
were returning to Aviano via the Kornati, after actions in Bosnia
and Serbia.