Palagruža
Encyclopedia
Palagruža is a small, remote archipelago of dolomite
in the middle of the Adriatic Sea
in Croatia
.
It consists of one main island, called Vela or Velika ('Great') Palagruža, and one smaller one, Mala ('Little') Palagruža, and there are twenty or so other closely associated rocks or reefs. All the main islets are in the form of steep ridges.
The place is some 123 km south of Split
, Croatia
, and 160 east of Pescara
, Italy
. It is visible from land only from other remote islands of Italy and Croatia. The archipelago is the southernmost point of the Republic of Croatia and its most inaccessible part. It can be reached only by chartered motor-boat, requiring a journey of two to three hours from the island of Korčula
.
, on Vela Palagruža , is about 90 metres above sea-level, and on this elevation is a lighthouse. Palagruža is surrounded by dangerous waters, and landing can be difficult. It is uninhabited, except by lighthouse staff and by summer tourists who occupy two units of residential accommodation
. There is one beach of golden sand. The lighthouse is also the site of a meteorological station. Other important islands in this archipelago are Mala Palagruža , Galijula and Kamik od Tramuntane
Palagruža sits in the heart of fish-rich seas, including spawning-grounds of sardines (Božanić 1973). It is a nature reserve, and where there is vegetation it is of the Mediterranean type, for instance oleander
(Nerium oleander) and Tree Spurge (Euphorbia dendroides). There are endemic plant species including a type of knapweed, Centaurea friderici Vis. (Palagruška zečina in Croatian). The algae, and their role in the production of the local mineral pelagosite
, have been the subject of academic study (Montanari et al. 2007). The distinctive local fauna, including the black lizard now classed as Podarcis melisellenis ssp. fiumana and the related Podarcis sicula ssp. pelagosana (primorska gušterica in Croatian), was mentioned first by Babić and Rössler (1912).
, more subtropical on account of its warm winter temperatures and its hot summers. The climate and vegetation resemble those of the south of Crete
, Gibraltar
and even parts of North Africa
. The flora is different from that of the rest of Dalmatia
in that it is subtropical.
. Gruž also means 'ballast' in Croatian, and the term is therefore well known in two ways to seafarers.
Some snakes are poisonous but are mostly harmless.
, king of Argos
, who is reputed to be buried here, though it is hard to imagine where. Speculation is fuelled by the discovery of a painted 6th-century B.C. Greek potsherd with the name Diomed[es] on it (see image on Adriatica). A shrine of the cult of Diomedes here is perfectly thinkable. Authentic archaeological finds of the Neolithic
, Greek, Roman, and early medieval periods have been recorded.
It is reliably recorded that the galley-fleet of Pope Alexander III
landed here on 9 March 1177.
Palagruža is closer to Italy
than to the Croatian mainland, being some 42 km from Monte Gargano
. Before 1861, it belonged to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
, and after 1861 therefore to Italy, but was ceded to Austria-Hungary
by the Dreikaiserbund treaty ('Three Emperors' Alliance') in 1873. The first action of the new authorities was to build the important lighthouse mentioned above, in 1875. It reverted to Italy between the two World Wars, as part of the province of Zara (now Zadar
, Croatia), and was ceded to Yugoslavia
in 1947. Since the break-up of Yugoslavia, it has formed part of the sovereign country of Croatia. It is the centre of a traditional fishing-ground of the community of Komiža
, island of Vis
, Croatia.
Dolomite
Dolomite is a carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate CaMg2. The term is also used to describe the sedimentary carbonate rock dolostone....
in the middle of the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
in Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
.
It consists of one main island, called Vela or Velika ('Great') Palagruža, and one smaller one, Mala ('Little') Palagruža, and there are twenty or so other closely associated rocks or reefs. All the main islets are in the form of steep ridges.
The place is some 123 km south of Split
Split (city)
Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, and 160 east of Pescara
Pescara
Pescara is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. As of January 1, 2007 it was the most populated city within Abruzzo at 123,059 residents, 400,000 with the surrounding metropolitan area...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. It is visible from land only from other remote islands of Italy and Croatia. The archipelago is the southernmost point of the Republic of Croatia and its most inaccessible part. It can be reached only by chartered motor-boat, requiring a journey of two to three hours from the island of Korčula
Korcula
Korčula is an island in the Adriatic Sea, in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia. The island has an area of ; long and on average wide — and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 16,182 inhabitants make it the second most populous Adriatic island after Krk...
.
Topography, economy and ecology
Vela Palagruža is some 1300 metres long and 350 metres wide. The highest point of the archipelagoArchipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
, on Vela Palagruža , is about 90 metres above sea-level, and on this elevation is a lighthouse. Palagruža is surrounded by dangerous waters, and landing can be difficult. It is uninhabited, except by lighthouse staff and by summer tourists who occupy two units of residential accommodation
Lodging
Lodging is a type of residential accommodation. People who travel and stay away from home for more than a day need lodging for sleep, rest, safety, shelter from cold temperatures or rain, storage of luggage and access to common household functions.Lodgings may be self catering in which case no...
. There is one beach of golden sand. The lighthouse is also the site of a meteorological station. Other important islands in this archipelago are Mala Palagruža , Galijula and Kamik od Tramuntane
Palagruža sits in the heart of fish-rich seas, including spawning-grounds of sardines (Božanić 1973). It is a nature reserve, and where there is vegetation it is of the Mediterranean type, for instance oleander
Oleander
Nerium oleander is an evergreen shrub or small tree in the dogbane family Apocynaceae, toxic in all its parts. It is the only species currently classified in the genus Nerium. It is most commonly known as oleander, from its superficial resemblance to the unrelated olive Olea, but has many other...
(Nerium oleander) and Tree Spurge (Euphorbia dendroides). There are endemic plant species including a type of knapweed, Centaurea friderici Vis. (Palagruška zečina in Croatian). The algae, and their role in the production of the local mineral pelagosite
Pelagosite
Pelagosite is a variety of calcite whose type locality is the Croatian island group of Palagruža in the middle of the Adriatic. It was identified by R. Moser in Mineralogische und petrographische Mitteilungen, new series 1 , 174...
, have been the subject of academic study (Montanari et al. 2007). The distinctive local fauna, including the black lizard now classed as Podarcis melisellenis ssp. fiumana and the related Podarcis sicula ssp. pelagosana (primorska gušterica in Croatian), was mentioned first by Babić and Rössler (1912).
Geology
Velika Palagruža is an apical part of subsurface geological complex, composed of carbonate, siliciclastic and evaporite rocks of different ages, ranging from Triassic (approx. 220 mil. years ago), through Miocene (approx. 10 mil. years ago), to Quaternary (recent deposition).Climate
Palagruža has a climate unusual in Croatia due to its maritime location. It is not a Mediterranean climateMediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
, more subtropical on account of its warm winter temperatures and its hot summers. The climate and vegetation resemble those of the south of Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
, Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
and even parts of North Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. The flora is different from that of the rest of Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
in that it is subtropical.
Name
The place is known in Italian as Pelagosa, derived from Greek πέλαγος 'sea'. This is the source of the current Croatian name, as well as of the name of pelagosite. Perhaps the transformation of the third syllable in the island's name is due to awareness of Gruž, the name of the northern harbour of DubrovnikDubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...
. Gruž also means 'ballast' in Croatian, and the term is therefore well known in two ways to seafarers.
Animals
There are not very many types of creatures on this island but the ones that do live there are bright and colourful.Some snakes are poisonous but are mostly harmless.
Legend and history
For some, Palagruža is associated with the Homeric hero DiomedesDiomedes
Diomedes or Diomed is a hero in Greek mythology, known for his participation in the Trojan War.He was born to Tydeus and Deipyle and later became King of Argos, succeeding his maternal grandfather, Adrastus. In Homer's Iliad Diomedes is regarded alongside Ajax as one of the best warriors of all...
, king of Argos
Argos
Argos is a city and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Argos-Mykines, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 11 kilometres from Nafplion, which was its historic harbour...
, who is reputed to be buried here, though it is hard to imagine where. Speculation is fuelled by the discovery of a painted 6th-century B.C. Greek potsherd with the name Diomed[es] on it (see image on Adriatica). A shrine of the cult of Diomedes here is perfectly thinkable. Authentic archaeological finds of the Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
, Greek, Roman, and early medieval periods have been recorded.
It is reliably recorded that the galley-fleet of Pope Alexander III
Pope Alexander III
Pope Alexander III , born Rolando of Siena, was Pope from 1159 to 1181. He is noted in history for laying the foundation stone for the Notre Dame de Paris.-Church career:...
landed here on 9 March 1177.
Palagruža is closer to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
than to the Croatian mainland, being some 42 km from Monte Gargano
Monte Gargano
Gargano is a historical and geographical Italian sub-region situated in Apulia, consisting of a wide isolated mountain massif made of highland and several peaks and forming the backbone of the Gargano Promontory projecting into the Adriatic Sea. The high point is Monte Calvo at . Most of the upland...
. Before 1861, it belonged to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, commonly known as the Two Sicilies even before formally coming into being, was the largest and wealthiest of the Italian states before Italian unification...
, and after 1861 therefore to Italy, but was ceded to Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
by the Dreikaiserbund treaty ('Three Emperors' Alliance') in 1873. The first action of the new authorities was to build the important lighthouse mentioned above, in 1875. It reverted to Italy between the two World Wars, as part of the province of Zara (now Zadar
Zadar
Zadar is a city in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is the centre of Zadar county and the wider northern Dalmatian region. Population of the city is 75,082 citizens...
, Croatia), and was ceded to Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
in 1947. Since the break-up of Yugoslavia, it has formed part of the sovereign country of Croatia. It is the centre of a traditional fishing-ground of the community of Komiža
Komiža
Komiža is a town, harbour and municipality on the western coast of the island of Vis in the Adriatic Sea; population of 1677 residents.Komiža is located at the foot of the Hum hill . An average air temperature in January is . Economy is based on farming, winemaking, fishing and fish processing,...
, island of Vis
Vis (island)
Vis is the most outerly lying larger Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, and is part of the Central Dalmatian group of islands, with an area of 90.26 km² and a population of 3,617 . Of all the inhabited Croatian islands, it is the farthest from the coast...
, Croatia.
Sources
- Babic, K., & E. Rössler (1912) Beobachtungen über die Fauna von Pelagosa. Verhandlungen der kaiserlich-königlichen zoologisch-botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien 62, pp. 220ff.
- Baric, Daniel (2003) Illyrian heroes, Roman emperors, Greek myths: Appropriations and rejections in Dalmatia under Austrian rule (1815-1918). Research project web outline, section III.
- Božanić, Joško (1973) Komiška ribarska epopeja. Komiža (written in the Croatian dialect of Komiža).
- Gamulin, Stjepan (2000) Palagruža, Komiža's fishermen, and fishermen's regatta. Croatian Medical Journal 41 (1), pp. 1-3.
- Kaiser, Timothy, and Staso Forenbaher (1999) Adriatic sailors and stone knappers: Palagruža in the 3rd millennium BC. Antiquity 73 (280), pp. 313–24.
- Kaiser, Timothy. "Ancient Mariners of the Adriatic: Archaeological Perspectives on Early Navigation". Meet the Professors Lecture Series 2007-2008. Orillia Campus, Lakehead University, Orillia, ON. 11 October 2007.
- Montanari, A., et al. (2007) Rediscovering pelagosite. Geophysical Research Abstracts 9.
- Territori irredenti: L'arcipelago di Pelagosa (anonymous, 2003).
- http://www.geologia-croatica.hr/ojs/index.php/GC/article/viewFile/GC.2009.07/65
External links
- Palagruža Light (Adriatic.hr - Lighthouses - Pictures)
- Palagruža Light (Journeys: Croatia - They Keep the Light on for Visitors - Travel - New York Times)
- Palagruza apartments to rent
- http://www.geologia-croatica.hr/ojs/index.php/GC/article/viewFile/GC.2009.07/65