Island Krk

Island Krk (Italian Veglia, Latin Curicta) is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, located near Rijeka in the Bay of Kvarner and part of the Primorje-Gorski Kotar county.

Krk is the second largest Adriatic island, with an area of 405 km2 (exactly 405,218.994 m2, just slightly smaller than Cres), and also the second most populous one, with numerous towns and villages totalling 16,402 people (2001). Although the recent surveys showed that Cres is the largest Croatian island it is still general opinion in Croatia that Krk is largest.

The coast of island Krk has many bays and naturally pebbly beaches. Mild Mediterranean climate is enables you great vacation – average summer air temperature is 22.8°C and the sea water temperature is 23 - 25°C, during all year there are approximatelly 2,500 hours of sun.

On island Krk you can also find two lakes – Jezero and Ponikva, and three rivers: the Veli or Dobrinja Brook, the Vretenica and the Vela Rika. It is also famous with its cultivated Mediterranean fruit and vegetables, olive groves and vineyards

Economics and infrastructure

Krk is located rather near the mainland and has been connected to it via a 1,430 meter two-arch concrete bridge since 1980, one of the longest concrete bridges in the world. Due to the proximity to the city of Rijeka, Omišalj also hosts the Rijeka International Airport. A monastery lies on the small island of Košljun in a bay off the coast of Krk.

Krk is a popular tourist destination, because of the situation and proximity to southern Germany, Austria, and northern Italy. Since the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, many tourists have appeared from Hungary, Romania, and other former Eastern Bloc countries.

History

The island has been inhabited since before 10th century BCE. The Romans called the island Curicta. During the Roman Civil War, the Bay of Curicta was the scene of sea combat between the fleets of Caesar and Pompeius.

Over a thousand years later, the island was the center of the Vegliot dialect of the Dalmatian language. Krk was also the seat of medieval bishops and important nobility, the Frankopans.

Culture

Krk has historically been a center of Croatian culture. Various literature in Glagolitic alphabet was created and in part preserved on Krk (notably the Baška Tablet, the oldest preserved text in Croatian).

Position of island Krk