Murter

TMurter, that wonderous place ruling over its “overseas colonies” – islands and islets, and, most of all, the pearl of the entire Mediterranean – the Kornati Archipelago. When you say Murter, you are also saying the name of many other islands at the same time. Multiply one island into hundreds and you begin to get the picture of the divine generosity of the landscape in which Nature and the Creator spared no pains. Welcome to Stari Murter (the Old Village), with authentic stone arched alleyways, vernacular and simple houses, stone walls overgrown by climbing plants, and with the modest but inventive features of a valuable architectural ambience.

Murter is a settlement on the northeast part of the island of the same name. Its name was at first Veliko Selo (from the 13 th century) and Srimač; since 1715 it bears its current name. It spreads towards the Hramina Cove, where a marina has been built, and to the Slanica cove, which features the most beautiful beach of the Šibenik Riviera, as well as the camp and hotel “Colentum”. Hramina cove is protected from all winds and makes for a safe shelter for yachts. Murter’s economic basis rests on agriculture, fishing and tourism. It is situated on the regional traffic route and has a population of 2000. In the tourist season the number of inhabitants becomes much greater – approximately four times as great.

The remains of Roman buildings, the remains of the antic settlement Colentum, can be found at the foot of the Gradine elevation, in the Hramina cove and elsewhere. The local graveyard, where Early Croatian graves were found, is situated on the Gradina cape. At the graveyard one finds the church of Our Lady in Gradina, dating from the 17th century. The parish church of St. Michael (reconstructed in 1770) features a Baroque altar, the work of masters Pio and Vicko dall’ Acqua, as well as one Creto-Venetian icon. A Gothic-Renaissance procession cross, as well as a few more valuable pictures, can be found in the parish office. Above the village, on the Vršina hill, is the church of St. Rocco, dating from 1760.