First tourist guide to underwater cultural heritage in Croatia launched

ZAGREB, 15 February 2020 – The first tourist guide to underwater cultural heritage in Croatia has been launched this week, Morski.hr reports. 

Split-Dalmatia County prefect Blaženko Boban presented the cultural-tourist guide “Underwater Heritage of Split-Dalmatia County” on Wednesday. The guide is written in Croatian and English and aims to promote the maritime identity of central Dalmatia through cultural and historical tourism.

There are more than 200 underwater archeological sites in the underwater area of Split-Dalmatia County, ranging from isolated finds of small artifacts to preserved shipwrecks carrying amphora cargoes and shipwrecks from World War II. 

The goal of developing a cultural and tourist guide for the underwater heritage of Split-Dalmatia County is to promote underwater archeological sites in order to get a complete picture of the richness, diversity and importance of the underwater world in the area, and further develop archeological and diving tourism in the Split-Dalmatia County.

“The underwater heritage of our county stands out as an addition to the value of our tourist offer. Through the guide presented, almost all the localities of our county are listed with all the directions at what depth they are located and what is allowed at these locations,” Boban said, before adding. 

“In addition to tourism, this guide will serve to protect these beautiful sites. I believe that through the Tourist Board of Split and Dalmatia County, tourists who want to see these cultural and tourist values in an organised manner will be acquainted with them. I would also like to thank the authors of the guide, as well as the county officials who have done something extremely valuable and of good quality.”

The guide to the underwater heritage of Split-Dalmatia County presents 28 underwater sites and three museum collections with underwater archeological finds. The guide is designed in such a way that the waters of Split-Dalmatia County are divided into five geographical areas (the waters of Split and the Bay of Kaštela, the waters of the island of Brač, the waters of the island of Hvar, the waters of the islands of Vis and Palagruza), and covers the period from prehistory to the Second World War.

Sutivan (Photo credit: Split-Dalmatia County)

A separate section also deals with the Battle of Vis as the most significant naval battle on the Adriatic and the three wrecks that participated in the battle as one of the most significant underwater finds on the Adriatic. 

During the production of the guide, it was ensured that it represented different types of cultural property from all historical periods, covering the entire waters of the Split-Dalmatia county (ancient remains of architecture and shipwrecks, late medieval shipwrecks and the remains of modern-day wrecks and planes from World War II). In addition to the historical and geographical information, each site has its depth and accessibility for visitors.