If you want to meet the best known coral hunters in the Adriatic, set sail for Zlarin. If you wish to see the centre of sea sponge harvesting, then Krapanj is your destination. On the other hand, if you seek an experience like no other, then venture into the open sea and discover the Kornati Archipelago. ‘The gods wanted to set a crown upon their work, so on the last day, out of tears, stars and the breath of the sea, they created the Kornati.’ So wrote George Bernard Shaw when reminiscing about this breathtakingly beautiful archipelago. Talking about this incomparable creation of nature, the largest group of islands in the Mediterranean, it suffices to say that the number of these stellar tears petrified in the sea equals the number of days in a year.

Here, the saying ‘an island for each day of the year’ really does apply, and of the 365 strikingly beautiful isles, 150 form a quite special entity: the Kornati National Park. The sight of the lace-like pattern of island cliffs, bleached by the noble salt of the Adriatic and lashed by the fragrance saturated bora, plummeting into the sea, is one that has no equal anywhere else in the world. At the same time, the mellow, tiny ports and hidden beaches are a true paradise for modern day Robinsons seeking unspoiled nature.

First mentioned in 1066 in documents issued by King Petar Krešimir (hence its name: Krešimir’s town), Šibenik was founded over 1000 years ago. Take a stroll through its streets, alleyways and squares and some of the most precious works of art in Dalmatia will appear right before you. Incidentally, if you are there at the right time in summer, those same streets, alleyways and squares become stages for the only International Children’s Festival in the world, for the Evening of Dalmatian Chanson, and for the colourful (Šibenik) Medieval Fair.

Standing proud with its fortifications and towers, Šibenik, the birthplace of Faust Vrančić (inventor of the parachute) is best known for its largest and most precious sacral monument, the Gothic-Renaissance cathedral of St. Jacob (15th and 16th century) whose dome of white stone dominates the city. Its construction took more than a century. It is constructed solely of stone from the islands of Brač and Korčula. The original method of its construction: using large blocks and slabs of stone, has earned it a place on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Raise your eyes to this audacious edifice, unique in the history of European architecture. While admiring the innovations of the local master builder, Georgius Dalmaticus, try to imagine this: it is the 15th century, there is no sophisticated technology, let alone modern day cranes and hoists. What you are standing beneath is a monumental barrel-vault and a dome that contains no wood or brick, only clean blocks of stone, each weighing several tons, fitted into grooves carved in stone ribs! Impressive, you must admit. If you also take time to wander around the sacristy, which lies like a crypt beneath the cathedral, and view the elegant three-leaved facade and the famous frieze of 88 heads encircling the outer walls of the cathedral apse, you will then understand why St. Jacob’s cathedral is so special. It rightfully carries the appellation of the most beautiful cathedral in Dalmatia and is the most striking sacral building in Croatia.