Island Lastovo

Lastovo (Italian: Lagosta, Latin: Augusta Insula, Greek: Ladestanos, Illyrian: Ladest) is an island, town and municipality in the Dubrovnik-Neretva county in Croatia. The island has an area of 46 km2 and a population of 835 of which 93% are ethnic Croats. The municipality is slightly bigger because it includes another 45 islands and islets covering a total area of approximately 56 km2.

The island is rich in architecture, featuring many buildings from the 15th and 16th centuries. There are a large number of churches for its relative size, which is a testament to the island's long standing Roman Catholic tradition. The major cultural event, apart from the normal celebrations on the Catholic calendar, is the event known as the Poklad, or carnival. The island today relies mostly on its natural beauty and preservation to attract a reasonable number of tourists each season. Currently the Croatian government is preparing a bill to make the island and its archipelago a nature park.

Lastovo, like the rest of Roman Dalmatia, was settled by Illyrians. The Romans conquered and settled the entire area until the Avar invasions and Slavic migrations in the 7th century. The Croat tribes secured most of the Dalmatian seaboard. Around the year 1000 the Venetians attacked the island destroying the settlement due to the islands participation in piracy along the Adriatic. In the 13th century, Lastovo joined the Dubrovnik Republic where it mostly enjoyed a certain level of autonomy until the republics conquest by the French under Napoleon. Austria then ruled the island for the next two centuries until it finally became a part of Croatia.

The island of Lastovo belongs to the central Dalmatian archipelago lying 13 km south of Korčula. This makes the island one of the most remotely inhabited in the Adriatic. Other islands featured in this group include Vis, Brač, Hvar, Korčula and Mljet. The dimensions of the island are approximately 9.8 km long by up to 5.8 km wide.

The Lastovo archipelago contains a total of 46 islands of which includes the larger islands Sušac, Prežba, Mrčara and a group of islands called Lastovnjaci on the eastern side. Prežba is actually connected to the main island by a bridge at the village of Pasadur (meaning “passage” in the local dialect). The island has a daily hydrofoil service and ferry (trajekt) service linking it to the mainland at Split, stopping along the way at Korčula and Hvar.

The main settlement of the island faces away from the sea. This is unusual compared to other Adriatic islands which are normally harbour side. The town spreads itself over the steep banks of a natural amphitheatre overlooking a fertile field below. Other settlements on the island include the villages of Ubli (also known as Sveti Petar), Lučica, Zaklopatica, Skrivena Luka and Pasadur. During summer season island has also catamaran line with Italian town Termoli couple of times per week. Island also has heliodrome located in middle of the island.

Landscape and coastline

Lastovo has a dynamic landscape consisting also of 46 hills and 46 karstic fields that often contain layers of red soil and quartz sand. The highest point is Hum at 417 m and there are another three hills higher than 400 m, Pleševo Brdo, Gumanca and Mali Hum and another thirteen other hills higher than 200 m. Its dolomitic valleys are located between limy hills and mild calcareous slopes rich in caves. There are five caves on the island — Rača, Puzavica, Pozalica, Grapčeva and Medvidina, with the largest being Rača.

Lastovo, along with Mljet, are among the Adriatic islands richest in forests with a high percentage of coverage, mostly pine and Mediterranean underbrush. This is probably because of the long rule under the Dubrovnik Republic where forests were relatively protected, or less exploited compared to Venice which heavily forested its domains in the rest of Dalmatia.

The coastline is mainly steep and the surrounding sea is deep. On the southern coast is a large deep bay at Skrivena Luka which offers protection from the bora and Westerly winds. The other main deep port is located on the western side at Ubli which is where the main ferry port for the island is located.

Climate

Lastovo possesses all the basic characteristics of the Mediterranean climate, dominated by mild moist winters and warm, long and dry summers. Along with a water temperature around 27 °C in summer, the island receives around 2,700 sun hours per year ranking it among one of the sunniest in the Adriatic and pleasant for tourists. Annual rainfall is approximately 650 mm. Since there are no permanent surface water streams, residents rely on using bores or dams and a fixed water connection to the mainland.

Biodiversity

There are rich communities of falcon and hawk nests, which used to be exploited by the Dubrovnik Republic for falconry and traded to other kingdoms especially to Naples in the Middle Ages. The underwater life surrounding Lastovo’s waters are the richest in the entire Adriatic, featuring lobsters, crayfish, octopus and many high prized fish such as John Dory and Groupers. There are no poisonous snakes on the island.

Position of island Lastovo