Glavotok – Poljica – Milohnići – Brzac – Glavotok (western hinterland of the city of Krk)

This easy cycling trail that circles Šotovento, the westernmost point of the island, is bound to be popular among cyclists of all ages, due to its total length and terrain configuration, as well as the fact that you will ride through the greenest part of the wider area of the city of Krk, which is exceptionally pleasant even during hot summers.

The trail starts near Glavotok, so before departure or after finishing the ride, recreational explorers can treat themselves to a visit to this picturesque place, which was first mentioned in the late 13th century as a summer house of the Frankopan Dukes of Krk with a chapel. In the final decades of the 15th century, the chapel was given to the Franciscans, after which a monastery was founded, and soon after a church dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built. It is a simple building with Renaissance and Baroque stylistic features. The Franciscan monastery in Glavotok is considered an oasis of culture and literacy, as well as a place of activity of Glagolitic monks, with numerous Glagolitic inscriptions and manuscripts preserved to this day. T

he trail then scales a green oasis of holly oaks around Glavotok and then traverses a downy oak forest towards the northeast in the direction of Čavlena Bay, while passing through Dolinja Drmun Puški, where the largest, oldest and most famous island oak reigns supreme. This amazing 400-year-old tree stands out with a height of 20 metres, a crown diameter of 30 metres and a trunk circumference exceeding five metres. Arriving at the coast, you follow it all the way to the nearby bay and modest port of Čavlena, where cyclists can rest and admire the view of the Srednja Vrata channel and the western coast of the neighbouring Cres Island. After resting, the trail leads through lush vegetation in a pleasant shade through the villages of Poljica, Milohnići and Brzac, which have preserved their original layout typical of smaller island settlements and recognisable for the rows of compact stone houses lining the local roads.

After passing through Poljica, you continue cycling westward all the way to Milohnići, which boasts the Church of Our Lady of Health, characterised by a simple facade with a bell-gable, which was erected in the early 20th century. In the last section, Cyclists will head for the village of Brzac, where they will pass another place of worship, the Chapel of St. Peter, which was built in the late 17th century, and then after cycling through olive groves and cultivated agricultural areas, return whence they departed, the entrance to Glavotok.

Highlights:

– Monastery of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis of Penance and the Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Glavotok

– largest and oldest island oak; two ponds, Dolinji Drmun Puški

– bay and port of Čavlena

– Church of Our Lady of Health, Milohnići

– Chapel of St. Peter, Brzac