General Info

Brijuni or Brioni Islands are a National park in the Adriatic Sea on the Croatian Adriatic.

It is important to note that the sea is almost 80 percent of the protected area of ​​National Park and has almost all the elements of the marine ecosystem of the Adriatic. The Brijuni islands stretch along the southwest coast of the Istrian peninsula, from which they are separated by about three kilometers wide Fažanski channel. They are connected with Pula by frequent ferry lines (taking about 15 minutes). Regular boat line Pula - Brijuni is included in the price.
Brijuni Islands today are certainly one of the most attractive tourist destinations in Croatia. Within the scientific tourism are particularly important paleontological discovery of traces of dinosaurs, the magnificent "terrible lizards" that ruled the earth about 160 million years ago.

The two largest islands are Great Brijun (7 km2) and Mali Brijun (1.7 km2), and the smaller islands are Sveti Marko, Gaz, Okrugljak, supine, Šupinić, Gaul, Grunj, Vanga, Madona, Vrsar, Kozada and St. Jerome.

Flora

Brijuni Island are specific an valuable thanks to their vegetation component. On the Great Brijun an extremely valuable harmony of natural and anthropogenic elements it achieved by taking a once agricultural land and coverting it to landscape parks with open meadows. This created a remarkable landscape unique to the Croatian Adriatic coast.
The majority of floristic elements on the Brijuni Islands have true Mediterranean features. Most plan categories on the Great Brijun are bushes, lawns and forests. It is worth saying that on the islands there are even some species of plants that are considered endangered (sea makovica, wild cucumber, and some types of grass).

Marine fauna

The Brijuni archipelago is a significant hatching ground and a representative oasis for a typical marine organisms of the northern Adriatic. Of the marine organisms that are protected by the law of nature preservation are the pen and date mussel. The underwater world is rich in various kinds of sponges, shellfish, sea urchins, crabs, fish and others. Among the most common fish in the sea are the bass, sea bream, mullets, soles, groupers, moray, dentexes and umbers.

Sport activities

The recreational activities on the islands get richer each year. These islands seem to be ideal for outdoor sports. Sporting on the fresh air and in the unspoiled nature, surrounded by deer, mouflon, rabbits and peacocks is a unique experience. From playing golf, tennis, polo, practicing archery, team building programs, to riding rented bicycles and electric cars. The specificity of flora and fauna and the unique microclimate provides an exceptional touch to all sports.

People

Paul Kupelwieser (1843 – 1919) – Austrian industrialist and an expert in steel. In 1893 he aquired the malaria infested Brioni and transformed them into a modern resort and spa.

Alojz Čufar (1852 – 1907) – Grove expert responsible for the landscaping of the islands.

Robert Koch (1843 – 1910) – Doctor, scientist and bacteriologist who discovered the cause of tuberculosis and cholera. He helped Kupelwieser to cleanse the island of colored wings mosquitoes and malaria.