History of Brijuni

Besides its impressive nature, the long history too has left traces worth seeing on the terrain of the national park: from Illyrian times date the five castle ruins that stand on the highest points of Veliki Brijun. Here the Histri built their fortresses, after whom, incidentally, the whole region of Istria is named, and whose designation "Brevona" is still contained today in the variant Brijuni. In 177 the Roman army took over the hotly contested island world, introduced arable farming and slavery and let the economy flourish. This shows in the architecture as well: country houses and administrative buildings were erected, and on Veriga bay the summer residence of the Caesars was built. This palace, with three terraces, three temples and numerous dwellings, thermal baths, an artificial coastline and its own sewerage, radiated all the splendour of the world power Rome. Today it recalls the legendary Atlantis rather more, since it now lies, sadly, beneath the surface of the sea. The following conquerors, the Slavs, moved their centre of life to Dobrika bay in the west of Veliki Brijun. In the castrum established there lived, partly alongside and partly after one another from the fourth century onwards, Romans, Goths, Byzantines, Slavs, Franks and Venetians. From the early centuries one can still visit the remains of a basilica of St Mary and a church of St Peter. In these centuries the economy expanded from field and arable farming to salt extraction and mining as well. The population created considerable prosperity in the salt pans and quarries, whose growth was checked only in 1312 by the first plague epidemic. Further waves of disease followed; in addition malaria broke out, and in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries hardly a soul still lived on the islands of today's national park. The wide, wooded areas were systematically felled to provide material for shipbuilding and house building on the mainland. The medieval buildings on Veliki Brijun itself are — although of stone — not immune to the weather either, so that while the Venetian summer seat with its attached prison and two small churches can still be visited, most of the other buildings survive at best as ruins. The newer buildings that the Austrians erected on the deserted islands of Mali Brijun and Veliki Brijun still bear witness today to the era as a war harbour and naval base. The seven fortresses are among the largest military installations on the Mediterranean. In 1893 the Austrian Paul Kupelwieser devoted himself to an ambitious project whose success seemed, from the standpoint of the time, more than unlikely: on the deserted, mosquito-ridden, militarily used and scenically exploited island he wanted, of all things, to build a new holiday paradise. With the bacteriologist Robert Koch he had all pools and ponds drained, so that malaria too was wiped out, built a windmill to generate energy, cleared the dense maquis and on the other hand reforested the region according to his own ideas, erected accommodation in the shortest of time and welcomed the first guests as early as 1896. From 1899 he also concentrated on the archaeological aspect of his holiday paradise and on preserving the ancient buildings. In parallel, luxurious hotels and generous villas with fine views were built, and from 1908 there was even fresh water piped from the mainland. At the latest when a golf course, a casino, an indoor pool with heated sea water and a stud farm followed as well, the island's owner had surpassed his dream — and Veliki Brijun was further than ever from the status of a national park. For to be declared a national park, at least 50 per cent of the area must be all but untouched by human influence. This is the reason why so much of the surrounding sea area and numerous small islands belong to the Brijuni national park, while interest in the park is concentrated above all on the main island! That Veliki Brijun is a national park today at all, and not still a fashionable spa resort, is due to the fact that in the Second World War the islands fell to Italy, which was well developed for tourism. Holidaymakers preferred to stay on the equally pleasant and far more practically reached mainland, and with the insolvency of the Kupelwieser family the island with all its amenities fell to the Italian ministry of finance. With the outbreak of the Second World War the navy was stationed here; bombardments were the logical consequence. Afterwards Tito chose the island as his summer residence: houses and hotels were restored, and beyond that the white villa "Bijela vila" was built in 1953 and the showpiece "Brijunka" in 1957. Tito extended his residence to the surrounding islands as well, so that on Vanga, for instance, a vineyard with its own winery was established. In Tito's time the people were forbidden any access to the islands. Only invited guests were allowed to visit him here. But after his death the 14 islands were declared a national park, which is why visitors are welcome again today, though no new amenities may be built for them. Only existing facilities are still used, so that hotel rooms are quite scarce and should be booked well in advance.