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Omišalj

Following the traces of the Frankopans

Karakteristike

Dužina:

21,8 km

Uspon:

560 m

The pilgrimage section on a 21-kilometre-long route from Čižići to Vrbnik will be a valuable history lesson. From Dobrinj, a small town boasting a thousand-year-old culture, via the first Frankopan castle known as Gradec to Vrbnik, the birthplace of the Glagolitic script, you will hear many stories that are still told by the locals.

Start your hike from Čižići, a village located in the deep cove of Soline. Locals harvested and exported salt from Soline’s salt pans since the ancient Roman times. During the period when the Frankopans ruled, the Republic of Venice banned it as they were direct competition to its salt pans on Pag and Rab. The cove is also famous for black medicinal mud. Hike your way up through a thick forest to Dobrinj, a ‘museum town’ and the island’s art centre. There you will find many traces from the past in every corner, such as the Parish Church of St Stephen, a museum with a holding of ethnographic and religious artefacts, and the Infeld art gallery.

A walk through a thick forest will take you to the abandoned village of Dolovo. Stone houses covered in ivy with doors wide open will remind you of a fairy-tale with enchanted fairies. Not far from there, but hidden in the forest, you will find a castle known as Gradec, the first estate of the Krk’s noble family of Frankopan. Today in ruins, in the 15th century it was the administrative, military and political centre of the island. Upon leaving the forest, the trail continues to the quaint hamlet of Risika, offering a panoramic view of the Crikvenica Riviera and Vinodol Channel. As you reach the coast, you will find St Marek’s Cove with the remains of St Mark’s Church from medieval times.

Finally, you will reach Vrbnik, a beautiful town with a rich history spanning for more than 900 years. Perched above a 49-metre-high cliff, it houses a number of historical buildings of cultural and religious relevance. Vrbnik is known for its Glagolitic tradition and Žlahtina and will delight you with its well-preserved old town that boasts the narrowest street in the world, known as Klančić, the Vitezić’s family library, many churches, galleries and souvenir shops.