 |
 |
|
| Brioni |
|
|
Brioni or Brijuni are a group of twelve small
islands in the Northern Adriatic Sea, off the
west coast of the Istrian peninsula in Croatia.
The Brioni Islands are separated from the Pula
on the peninsula by the narrow Fazana Strait
(Italian Canale di Fasana, German Strasse von
Fasana). The largest island is Veli Brijun
(Brion) at 5.6 km² and lies 2 km off the
coast. The Brioni Islands are a famous for
its scenic beauty; The islands are a holiday
resort and a Croatian National Park.
The Brioni
Islands had some Ancient Roman settlements,
but up to the late 19th century the islands
were mainly used for their quarries, which
have been worked on for centuries. The islands
belonged to Venice from the middle ages, and
stone from the islands was used to build the
palaces and bridges of the city. The islands
were part of Napoleon's Illyrian Provinces
after Napoleon's brief annexation.
The islands
are made of horizontal or slightly inclined
layers of limestone from the Cretaceous, on
which in places there are layers of carbonated
brown or red soil. The stone that belongs
to that formation is white in colour, easily
breakable, of marble structure and is abundant
in clay and flint. Therefore it is very solid
and is an excellent building material. Roman
builders appreciated the listed qualities
of these stones and it was used to build
many towns on the Adriatic.
In 1815 the islands
became part of the Austrian Empire, which later
became Austria-Hungary. During this period
the islands' quarries first supplied stone
to Vienna and Berlin. With the erection of
a naval base in the harbour of Pula, the Austrians
erected a strong fortress on Brioni Island,
together with minor fortifications on some
of the others.
The Austro-Hungarian Navy abandoned
the fortress and in 1893 the Viennese business
magnate Paul Kupelwieser bought the whole
archipelago and created an exclusive beach
resort.
The estate was supplemented with first
class hotels, restaurants, beach resorts, a
casino and a yacht harbor and became a focal
point in social life on the Austrian Riviera.
Kupelwieser also established a sailing regatta,
a golf course and due to the flourish of Austrian
Culture various music concert and literature
events. The islands became popular as a vacation
for the Viennese upper class and were visited
by members of the Imerial family and wealthy
European elites and aristocrats.
In 1918 after
World War I Brioni became part of Italy and
got separated from its Austrian hinterland.
Karl Kupelwieser, the son of the founder
of the estate tried to maintain the former
splendor but after the economic crisis following
Black Friday, the estate went bankrupt and
Karl committed suicide. By 1930 the islands
were acquired by the Italian state.
In 1945
after World War II Brioni became part of
Yugoslavia and communist state leader Josip
Broz Tito made Brioni Islands his personal
State Summer Residence. Slovene architect
Jože Plečnik designed
a pavillion for Tito. Almost 100 foreign
heads of state visited Tito on his islands,
along with film stars including Elizabeth
Taylor, Richard Burton, Sophia Loren, Carlo
Ponti, and Gina Lollobrigida. Tito died in
1980, and by 1983 the islands were declared
a National Park of Yugoslavia.
In 1991 Croatia
gained independence and made Brioni Islands
an International Conference Center. Four
hotels on Veli Brijun were re-opened, as
well as a Safari Park, which holds animals
given to Tito. The International Polo Tournament,
dating back to Karl Kupelwieser's Austro-Italian
Brioni in 1924, has been re-continued since
2004.
Another characteristic that makes Brioni
even more valuable in relation to other areas
of this climate is its vegetation. On Veliki
Brijun an extraordinary unity of natural
elements and anthropogenesis has been achieved.
By taking up the farmlands and by clearing
the forests and transforming them into landscape
parks with vast meadows, a unique landscape
on the Croatian Adriatic coast has been created.
The
majority of the flora on the archipelago
of Brioni has the typical Mediterranean
characteristics. The most important plant
associations of Veliki Brijun are:
Macchia
261 ha
Meadows 124 ha
Parks 118 ha
Holm oak forests 68 ha
Holm oak and laurel forests 48 ha
Conifers 18 ha
It is interesting to point
out that on the islands there are some
plant species that are among the endangered
plant species of Istria (marine poppy,
wild cucumber, some grass species etc.),
but on the islands they are quite widespread
and develop freely.
Having a mild Mediterranean
climate, lots of sun and warm weather,
plenty of humidity creating a rich vegetation,
the islands guarantee an extremely pleasant
stay. The average air temperature in winter
is 6,3°C., in spring
12,2°C., summer 22,2°C. and autumn
14,8°C. The sea temperature in summer
is from 22 to 25°C.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
