Stunning Croatian National Park Turns 53

One of Croatia’s most stunning national parks celebrates its 53rd birthday on Monday. The Mljet National Park, located on the southern Dalmatian island of the same name, celebrates its 53rd year today – a year which has been the most successful in its history...

On November 11, 1960, the north-west part of the island of Mljet was declared a national park, and visitor numbers have seen a steady increase since with Kirsten Raun from Copenhagen becoming the park’s 100,000th visitor this year in October. It was the first time that more than 100,000 people have visited the park. The previous record was set in 2004 when 99,662 tourists visited. Last year 97.148 people visited.

Mljet National Park includes the western part of the island, Veliko jezero, Malo jezero, Soline Bay and a sea belt 500 m wide from the most prominent cape of Mljet covering an area of 54 km2. The central parts of the park are Veliko jezero with the Isle of St. Mary, Malo jezero and the villages of Govedari, Polače, and Pomena.

Monastery of Saint Mary, Mljet