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After five years of careful planning and obtaining the necessary permits, construction of the Adriatica project, a replica of the small tourist town of Supetar on the island of Brac, has recently begun in North Texas. This is a result of the emotional devotion of Jeffory Blackard, president of Blackard Group Inc., who has remained fascinated by Supetar after investing in a hotel and other facilities, and wanted to build a replica of the town nearby, in Texas. After a lengthy search, he found the ideal place in Stonebridge, an 18-hectare piece of land having the additional benefit of a lake that should play the role of the Supetar port. Construction of the Texas Supetar began in September and will go on in several phases. The first one is to build a castle with around 2800 square meters of office space that will hold a real estate agency and several other lessees, a café, a wine bar and a spa, as well as a five-story bell tower where the investor company’s will have its head office. The rest of this year will be used to build the infrastructure and paved streets, while the building of the residential units will begin in the early 2009. The project also includes 13 lakeside villas having surface areas of 230 to 600 square meters, and 62 row houses having surface areas of 130 to 320 square meters. Despite the high prices, the villas have already been sold and the houses are selling very well, which makes the entrepreneurial love for Supetar a very lucrative business. In addition to the design, what makes the Adriatica project different than others is the promised lifestyle, the overall atmosphere and offer of which will, according to Mr. Blackard, remind people of the increasingly appreciated Mediterranean lifestyle. To those who find Texas too far, we recommend enjoying the authenticity of the original Supetar on the island of Brac, as well as many other small towns in Dalmatia and the entire Croatian coastal area and the islands.

Source: press.croatia.hr

 Here are some useful links for you:

• Brac24.com
• travel guide for Brac Island
  
• all about Brac Island
  
• Videos from Brac Island
  
• Vacation in Brac Island

Baska, a popular tourist destination on the Island of Krk, now has yet another high-category hotel – Hotel Atrium Residence Baska, classified as four and five stars. The hotel was built in the place of the former hotels Baska and Velebit. The total value of the investment is 56 million HRK. The hotel has 64 accommodation units, and its luxury suites have a five-star standard. Over the past few years, Hoteli Baska invested almost 100 million HRK in construction and renovation of its facilities, including the annex to Hotel Zvonimir transformed into Hotel Zvonimir, Adria annex transformed into Villa Adria with 12 apartments, reconstruction of Camp Zabla?e and the naturist camp Bunculuka.

The investment also provided for reconstruction of Hotel Baška-Corinthia and the most recent reconstruction of the said Hotel Atrium Residence Baska. The hotel complex was enriched with modern wellness facilities, a multipurpose congress area, and other facilities providing the guests with a pleasant stay. Baska happens to be a tourist center with a long-standing tradition. The beginnings of organized tourism date back to 1904, and the bathing area was developed and formally opened exactly one hundred years ago. The strong tourist orientation is confirmed by the fact that six hotels operated in Baška in 1914, and three more opened before 1930.

Source: press.croatia.hr

 Here are some useful links for you:

• baska24.com
• travel guide for Island Krk
• all about Baska
• Videos from Baska
• Vacation in Baska

After a voyage through many cities in Croatia, the famous statue of Apoxiomen will be on display in the Ethnographic Museum in Split until the end of September. The magnificent ancient statue of a young athlete dating back to the 2nd century B.C. has not ceased to attract the attention of domestic and international public ever since its discovery. In 1996, a Belgian tourist spotted the statue underwater next to the islet of Vela Orjula not far from Mali Losinj, after which it was extracted from the sea and restored by experts from the Croatian Conservation Institute with support of experts from Florence. The statute has so far been exhibited in Zagreb, Osijek and Rijeka, and it has also taken a trip to Florence where around eighty thousand visitors saw it.

The statue is considered to be a true masterpiece of ancient art, it is fully preserved, and was most probably made by Lysippus, a famous ancient sculptor. It is one of the few large preserved Greek bronze statues in the world – a similar one was found in Ephesus in the 19th century and is currently in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, while a head without the body is kept in Texas. There are several more replicas of Apoxiomen in the world, but they are made of different materials. After it completes its voyage across Croatia, the unique statue of Apoxiomen will be permanently exhibited in Mali Losinj, in the area where it was found.

Source: press.croatia.hr

Here are useful links for this theme:

• Losinj24.com
• travel guide for Losinj Island
• all about Losinj
• Videos from Losinj
• Vacation in Losinj

Another luxury hotel was opened in June on the central Dalmatian island of Hvar, known as one of the sunniest Croatian islands, with an offer based on a rich spa offer.

The Adriana Hvar marina hotel & spa, as the hotel’s full name reads, is situated on the very Hvar waterfront and offers a view of the best known Hvar localities – the Cathedral of St. Stephen, the Arsenal, the main square and Hvar harbour. This is actually a newly-renovated facility operating within the Suncani Hvar hotel company, and which offers its guests accommodation in 50 deluxe rooms, nine classic suites and several spa-specific suites.

The hotel has received a high four-star rating, and along with the classic amenities it also offers a range of attractive additional facilities like a covered heated pool with seawater in which guests will be able to swim yearround. A restaurant has been opened on the hotel terrace, a classic bar and an attractive The Top sky garden bar whose luxurious design and unique setting will certainly become another favourite gathering place for the people of Hvar and their guests.

But the most attractive part of the offer is the new Sensori spa centre that offers numerous therapeutic and beauty treatments, massages and many spa programs like yoga and relaxing excursions into the outdoors. The centre stretches over three storeys with about 1,400 square metres housing all of the indoor and outdoor amenities.

The hotel offer is therefore for the large part based on the concept of wellness and spa, and that this is really a top level of quality is attested to by the fact that the Adriana, Hvar marina hotel & spa recently became a full member of the prestigious global group – The Leading Small Hotels of the World.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

In its sixty years of operation Jadranka d.d. of Mali Lošinj has developed into one of the most successful hotel companies in Croatia. It was founded in 1947 by a decision of the People’s District of Mali Lošinj when the hotels Alhambra and Istra were allotted to its management, while the construction of the hotel Helios in Cikat and the hotel Punta in Veli Lošinj started in the 1960s. The hotel Bellevue was built at the end of the 1970s, and in 1977 the hotel complex Suncane uvale was opened which included the hotels Aurora and Vespera. Parallel to the hotel business Jadranka in the 1960s developed its camping offer and later went on to branch out into other activities, among which their property management activity is gaining in importance over the past years.

Up to 2005 Jadranka d.d operated as a hotel and hospitality industry company, and then the Jadranka Group was founded in which Jadranka d.d. is the owner of three sister companies – Jadranka hotels d.o.o., Jadranka camps d.o.o. and Jadranka trade d.o.o. Jadranka is also co-owner of the Lošinj Airport, and Jadranka Yachting, which has this year launched a charter operation with six new vessels in its ownership.

Jadranka currently manages six hotels and several smaller villas, located in three separate and specifically positioned tourist zones and six out-of-accommodation hospitality industry facilities. It recorded about a half million overnight stays last year, with about 35 percent of the guests having stayed in Jadranka hotels more than once.

In its camping sector Jadranka has a total of four caravan parks on the islands of Lošinj and Cres – Slatina, Baldarin, Bijar and Cikat – and given the seafaring tradition of the people of Lošinj, a project that aims to develop nautical charter tourism has been launched with foreign partners.

Over the past sixty years of the development of tourism Jadranka has always nurtured the protection of the natural environment, respecting its cultural and traditional attributes. In this vein on the occasion of its 60th anniversary, instead of the customary letters of thanks and recognitions, it has donated funds to the Apoxiomen exhibit at the Museum of Lošinj. Apoxiomen is a unique statue of a Greek athlete dating to the 4th century BC, found on the seabed just off Mali Lošinj, currently exhibited at the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

Besides being a favoured spot for sailors, the island of Lastovo has also become a new destination for mini cruisers. The island issituated to the south of the island of Korcula in Dubrovnik-Neretva County and is on account of its luxuriant vegetation numbered among the most wooded islands on the Croatian coast. Because of its rich landscape and culture and biological diversity the Lastovo archipelago, which included 46 islands and rocks was last year proclaimed the 11th nature park in Croatia.

And while the oldest existing written documents concerning Lastovo date to the 6th century, traces of human presence date back to the Stone Age. There are currently as many as 46 chapels on the island, dominant among which are the late Medieval chapels of St. Martin, St. Anthony and St. Blasius and the parish church of SS. Cosma and Damian dating from the year 1473.

Because of its projected position in the Adriatic Sea, traditional Mediterranean architecture and the wealth of its flora and fauna, both of the islands and of the surrounding waters, the Lastovo archipelago is the ideal place to offer all kinds of submarine sports and the various attractions that are offered in the setting of a nature park.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

The August issue of the well-known US tourism magazine Travel + Leisure, the magazine‘s faithful readers declared Croatia and it Dalmatian islands among the most beautiful tourist destinations in the world in 2007.

According to the votes cast by readers Croatia took second spot in the Mediterranean in the category of this year‘s most beautiful global destinations, and seventh spot worldwide.

The Dalmatian islands faced the competition of world famous destinations like Bali, Phuket in Thailand, Hawaii, Maui and others.

The magazine is a monthly with a circulation of about 2.5 million copies. Every year the editors select finalists among hundreds of nominated global tourism destinations, and the readers vote for the best among them.

In the selection of the best numerous criteria are taken into consideration like the ecology, cultural heritage and other specific attractions.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

One of the largest islands in the Croatian part of the Adriatic – the Island of Krk – is unique for many a reason. Arriving on the island and situating yourself in one location is a big mistake because in this was you miss out on the opportunity of getting acquainted with the rich island heritage which can also be easily explored by bike.

Krk has a surface area of about 400 square kilometres, its highest peak Obzova is located at a height of 569 metres, and the whole island has 68 settlements. Given the abundance of island locations and activities, the bicycle track construction project which is about 130 kilometres long is drawing to a close and will in this simple way connect nearly all the island attractions.

The “Island transversal” which is the name given to the track, is actually a synthesis of all existing walking-bicycle tracks which with additional construction, mutual linking, marking and mapping with the aid of the GPS system, have resulted in the creation of a very attractive bicycle track. The majority of the track passes through the most attractive areas of Krk – pristine nature in whose vicinity many cultural-historical monuments and archaeological localities are located.

Krk abounds in many natural phenomena, caves like Biserujka near Dobrinja. The coastline is also well indented – with numerous coves, sandy beaches and bays of which the bay Soline particularly stands out with its medicinal mud.

There are two lakes on the island – Jezero and Ponikva, and three rivers – Veli or Dobrinjski potok (stream), Vretenica and Vela Rika. Also especially attractive are the Krk ornithological reserves which are home to the griffon – on the small island of Prvic which is located right next to Krk and on the north-eastern steep part of the coast of the Island of Krk.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

The old town of Osor on the Island of Cres, known among classical music lovers also for the Osor musical evenings, which have been taking place in the cathedral and on the central square of the old town for more than 30 years, is also unique for the number of cultural monuments. The town is lies on the south-western side of the Island of Cres on a narrow strip which connects the Island of Cres and Lošinj in the Primorje-Goranska County. A long time ago these islands were joined, however because of the needs of trade and the Amber path they were separated by an artificially dug out canal at Osor, which today does not serve any function. The town is surrounded by old walls from which the history of Osor can be read which reaches back to ancient times. The centre of the town is dominated by the Parish Church of St. Mary (cathedral) from 1498 and is ranked among the most beautiful Renaissance monuments in Croatia. It is a three-naved structure with a three-leafed façade and Early Renaissance portal with the statue of the Mother of God in a niche, which is the work of the great Croatian sculptor and builder Juraj Dalmatinac. The bell tower of the cathedral is the work of a Krk master Jakov Galeta from 1575, but it was later reconstructed and in 1901 raised to today’s height. In the cathedral there are three altars and pictures from the time period from the XVI to the XVIII centuries, while the treasury guards a wooden gothic sculpture from the XV century, golden and silver liturgical items and dress from the XIV to the XVIII century and in the capitular archives illuminated codices from the XV century. Aside from the beautiful cathedral in Osor there are also a series of structures which were built in the surrounding area in the gothic era and a few Romanesque churches – St. Mark and St. Catherine, Churchof St. Lawerence on a hill to the southwest of the town, the small church of St. Petar at the foot of the Osoršcice and on the peninsula Supaton the pre-Romanesque church of St. Plato with a richly decorated weave, while in the Bijar cove are the remains of a Franciscan monastery and church from the XV century.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?