Sights in Krka

Above the Krka, roughly at the height of the Manastir Krka monastery, one can still visit today the ruins of the Bogocin stronghold. It was erected in the 14th century by the Martinusic family and then later passed to the owners who gave it its name, who with their moving in also promptly changed the history and at the same time propagated the legend that the emperor Bogoje had built this stronghold for his only son, Bogdan. This son was to marry the beautiful Miljeva from Kljucica, but to the wedding celebration came not only the entire nobility near and far, the proud family of the outfitted bride and the happy family of the prince, but also a winged dragon, which immediately snatched the girl and carried her off into the nearby lake. Bogdan leaped after it furiously in order to free his fiancée, but drowned in the attempt to rescue her. The father was so shaken by this tragedy that he gave away his entire wealth, had the monastery erected on the river bank and built the bridge above the Roski slap, on which he demanded two tears of toll from every passer-by in order to honour the memory of the heroic Bogdan. This fee is today mostly generously waived.

In the middle of the lake Visovacko jezero lies the island of Visovac, on which a monastery first mentioned in the year 1400 was erected, and which was extended by a church in the 16th century. Both buildings, as well as the library located within them (with one of the first printings of Aesop's fables!) and the museum, can still be visited today. Excursion agencies offer guided visits daily through the old walls, in the course of which one first enjoys the view from the boat of the lush green of the lake shore, then goes ashore on the monastery island and learns interesting things from the history of the building, hears anecdotes about its inhabitants and can even begin to sense what everyday life in this place, largely cut off from the outside world, must have been like. Today the walls erected as a place of refuge from the Turkish army are still administered and inhabited by eight monks, who in all their solitude are nevertheless thoroughly pleased about visitors! The meditative quiet and the necessity of concentrating on the essential make the monastery island of Viscovac a popular destination for all who are looking for an alternative to the stress and multi-tasking of the working day.

About the nobleman Grgur Utjesinovic hardly anything is known in history until in the year 1445 he takes over the rule of the Kamicak fortress, whose ruins are still to be found today on the shore of Lake Visovac. In order to be able to remain sure of God's grace after this fortunate campaign of conquest, the lord of the castle made the island in the lake a gift to the Franciscan monks - an isle that had itself only come into his possession through his marriage to his wife. At that time hermits from the order of St Augustine had already lived here and had set themselves up with a small church and improvised dwellings. But because of the threat from the Turks they had left the island and left the now deserted isle to the Bosnian Franciscans. The monks were not deterred by the isolated position, but built the present monastery, later also the church, and collected important international writings, most of which can still be viewed today in the library. The collection of Turkish documents in particular is unique in this region, in which the Ottomans were mainly active as war opponents. After all, the clerics succeeded in keeping themselves independent of the occupiers, apart from a brief interruption in the 17th century. Even today the monks' interest in everything new and foreign is unbroken: anyone who does not want to book a paid excursion, for example, can stand on the shore of the Visovacko jezero waving and calling and is usually promptly fetched by one of the brothers of the order in a boat and taken across!

Below the Viscovacko jerezo lie the Roski slap waterfalls. The narrow, flat river valley is interspersed over a length of 600 metres with steps, ledges and cascades, over which the flowing water forms the Roski slap falls. Had nature not created this sight itself, one would almost have to call it "kitschy": glittering, rushing rapids, rocks with grey-red grain flashing out, in places overgrown with shrubs, and on the banks the fauna typical of the country thrives in such splendour that one feels reminded of depictions of paradise - or at least of Winnetou's paradisiacal homeland, which for the film versions was indeed "relocated" here among other places. The older generations of the locals in particular still know a third interpretation: popular lore claims that the characteristic form of the Roski waterfalls is thanks to the legendary, vanished town of Roski, over whose battlements and walls the water flows nowadays. Treacherous: the more one concentrates on making out whether there are stones or walls beneath the rushing water, the less one makes out...

In the picturesque landscape at the lower end of the national park lies today the dreamy place Skradin, which serves many visitors as a starting point for visiting the Krka waterfalls or also attracts holidaymakers. With its own marina, good restaurants and cosy cafes, the settlement offers everything one needs for a relaxed holiday. Beyond that, one has from here a beautiful view of the Skradinski buk waterfalls - a series of irregular rounded rocks over which the water beads down into the valley in the form of a veil. 800 m of length are covered in 17 steps, and in doing so the water permanently reshapes the travertine bed and the rock formations. These falls, however, offer a romantic sight in which it is not hard to sense that inhabitants of earlier centuries might have supposed this to be the home of elves, water spirits and other fabulous beings. And even if you discover none of these figures in the water, you will most probably observe human swimmers, divers and bathers in the refreshing lake basin - and be able to join them!

At Skradinski buk one can see not only what marvels nature accomplishes, but also how people put them to optimal use. In the ethnographic exhibition, for instance, interested visitors are shown a water mill for obtaining flour as well as early forms of today's washing machines: in closed baskets the laundry was hung into the strongest rapids, whirled around there and washed, so that the textiles could afterwards be fished clean out of the river again. The history-versed museum staff are moreover skilled in an almost forgotten style of weaving, which is likewise gladly presented to visitors.

Already in Illyrian times a settlement was known at the foot of the waterfalls later named Skradinski buk - Scardona. The fish-rich deep fjord and the species-rich landscape in the surroundings let the place flourish until it was destroyed by the Slavs in the course of the migration of the peoples. It was above all the early Croatian kings who took pains over the rebuilding of the town, erecting a palace here, and a short time afterwards Skradin became a bishop's seat. Brought once again into the interest of the public, this gem in the fairy-tale landscape did not escape the Turks either, and they occupied Skradin. The economy dried up, numerous people fled, and only under Venetian rule and with the planned settlement of inhabitants from the hinterland did life come into the town again. As if the town had learned from these experiences, in Skradin today people concentrate less on running a strong domestic economy and take pains instead to give all guests from outside as fine a time as possible: quite a few well-to-do Sibenik people have a holiday residence here, the yacht harbour can measure itself against those of the coastal places, and the wooded slopes make a good counterbalance to the often somewhat stuffy climate by the sea, so that Skradin - not only because of its proximity to the Krka waterfalls - is a holiday place worth seeing and worth experiencing.