Croatia (Hrvatska) has come a
long way since the summer of 1991,
when foreign tourists fled from a
region standing on the verge of war.
Now that stability has returned,
visitors are steadily coming back to
a country which boasts one of the
most outstanding stretches of
coastline that Europe has to offer.
This return to normality has been
keenly awaited by Croats, but
patriotism - and a sense of the
nation's place in history - remains
a serious business here. Croatia was
an independent kingdom in the tenth
century, fell under the rule of
Hungary in the eleventh, and was
subsequently absorbed by the
Austro-Hungarian Empire before
becoming part of the new state of
Yugoslavia in 1918. Croatian
aspirations were frustrated by a
Yugoslav state which was initially
dominated by Serbs, and then (after
1945) ruled by Communists. Croatia's
declaration of independence on June
25, 1991 was fiercely contested by a
Serb-dominated Yugoslav army eager
to preserve their control over
portions of Croatia in which groups
of ethnic Serbs lived. The period of
war - and fragile, UN-supervised
ceasefire that followed - was
finally brought to a close by
Croatian offensives during the
summer of 1995.
Croatia's capital, Zagreb
, is a typical central-European
metropolis, combining elegant
nineteenth-century architecture with
plenty of cultural diversions and a
vibrant café life. At the northern
end of the Adriatic coast, the
peninsula of Istria contains
many of the country's most developed
resorts, with old Venetian towns
like Porec and Rovinj
rubbing shoulders with the raffish
port of Pula . Further south
lies Dalmatia , a dramatic,
mountain-fringed stretch of
coastline studded with islands.
Dalmatia's main town is Split
, an ancient Roman settlement and
modern port which provides a
jumping-off point to the most
enchanting of Croatia's islands, Brac
, Hvar , Vis and Korcula
, where you'll find lively fishing
villages and the best of the
beaches. South of Split lies the
walled medieval city of Dubrovnik
, site of an important festival in
the summer and a magical place to be
whatever the season.
