The Elaphiti Islands or the Elaphites ( hr, Elafitski otoci or ''Elafiti'') is a small

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

consisting of several islands stretching northwest of

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...

, in the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

.The Rough Guide to Croatia:Elaphiti Islands
by Jonathan Bousfield The Elaphites have a total land area of around and a population of 850 inhabitants. The islands are covered with characteristic Mediterranean evergreen vegetation and attract large numbers of tourists during the summer tourist season due to their beaches and pristine scenery. Roman author

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...

was the first to mention the islands by the name Elaphiti Islands ( hr, Jelenski otoci or Deer Archipelago) in his work ''

Naturalis Historia The ''Natural History'' ( la, Naturalis historia) is a work by Pliny the Elder. The largest single work to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day, the ''Natural History'' compiles information gleaned from other ancient authors. ...

'', published in the 1st century. The name comes from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

word for

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

(

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

: ἔλαφος; ), which, according to Pliny the Elder, used to inhabit the islands in large numbers. There is, however, no evidence of deer ever inhabiting the archipelago.

Islands

Sources differ on the exact number of the Elaphiti Islands. According to a more recent classification, there are 13 islands in the archipelago, among them 8 larger (Olipa, Tajan, Jakljan, Šipan, Ruda, Lopud, Koločep and Daksa) and 5 smaller ones (Sveti Andrija, Mišnjak, Kosmeč, Goleč and Crkvine).

Main islands

Only the three main islands are permanently inhabited, each of which supports a modest tourist industry. They are connected with the mainland via daily ferry lines operated out of Dubrovnik. *

Šipan Šipan () also Sipano ( it, Giuppana) is the largest of the Elaphiti Islands, northwest of Dubrovnik, Croatia; separated from the mainland coast by the Koločepski Channel; area ; The island is in length, and up to in width. It is the larges ...

– The farthest and largest island in terms of area (15.8 km²) and population of 436 inhabitants. It also has two settlements, Šipanska Luka and Suđurađ, both served by

Jadrolinija Jadrolinija is a Croatian sea shipping company. It is a state-owned company and its main mission is connecting Croatian islands to the mainland by operating regular passenger and cargo transport services. The company mainly operates car ferries on ...

ferry lines. *

Lopud Lopud () is a small island off the coast of Dalmatia, southern Croatia. Lopud is economically the most developed of the Elaphiti Islands, and can be reached by boat from Dubrovnik, Trsteno, Orašac and Zaton. The island is famous for its sandy ...

– Second in size and best known for its sandy beaches, it is located between Šipan and Koločep islands. It's well developed in terms of tourism infrastructure, including the ''Lafodia'' hotel in the town of Lopud. *

Koločep The island of Koločep (; locally known as Kalamota from it, Calamotta) is one of the three inhabited Elaphiti Islands situated near the city of Dubrovnik with an area of . Koločep is the southernmost inhabited island in Croatia. In the 2011 cen ...

– It is the closest island to Dubrovnik, located from the Dubrovnik harbour at

Gruž Gruž ( it, Gravosa - ''Santa Croce'') is a neighborhood in Dubrovnik, Croatia, about 2 km northwest of the Old City. It has a population of approximately 15,000 people. The main port for Dubrovnik is in Gruž as well as its largest market and ...

. It used to be an important shipbuilding site in the

Republic of Ragusa hr, Sloboda se ne prodaje za sve zlato svijeta it, La libertà non si vende nemmeno per tutto l'oro del mondo"Liberty is not sold for all the gold in the world" , population_estimate = 90 000 in the XVI Century , currency = ...

period. It is one of the most indented and the southernmost permanently inhabited Croatian island with a population of 294 inhabitants. It has seven pre-Romanesque churches dating from the 9th to the 11th century.

Other notable islands

* Crkvina – Uninhabited islet. * Daksa – Uninhabited islet. It used to be home to a 13th-century

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

monastery of

Saint Sabina Saint Sabina was a saint and martyr of the early church. Her feast day is 29 August. She lived and suffered martyrdom at the beginning of the 2nd century in Rome. Narrative Sabina was the daughter of Herod Metallarius and the wealthy widow of Se ...

, which was abandoned at the time of Napoleon's conquest in the early 19th century. Later, it became infamous as the site of the Daksa massacre, in which the partisans had executed 48 prominent citizens of Dubrovnik in October 1944. * Goleč – Uninhabited islet. *

Jakljan Jakljan is an uninhabited islet in Croatia, part of the Elaphiti Islands archipelago off the coast of southern Dalmatia. It is located northwest of Dubrovnik and west of the island of Šipan. Its area is 3.4 km2 and its coastline is 14.6 ...

– It has children’s rest and a recreation center. * Kosmeč – Uninhabited islet. * Mišnjak – Uninhabited islet. *

Olipa Olipa is an uninhabited islet in Croatia, part of the Elaphiti Islands archipelago off the coast of southern Dalmatia. It is the westernmost isle in the Elaphites. Olipa is mostly rocky and partially covered in forest. A stone square tower is locat ...

– The westernmost of the Elaphiti islands. It has a lighthouse located on its southern part. * Ruda – Uninhabited islet. * Sveti Andrija – Uninhabited rocky island with a rich fauna, has the status of a bird reserve. The island has a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

, which the

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

government had built in 1873. * Tajan – Uninhabited islet.

Greater Dubrovnik island

Lokrum Lokrum (, it, Lacroma) is an island in the Adriatic Sea from the city of Dubrovnik, Croatia. It stretches from northwest to southeast and receives regular ferry service from the Old City port. Austrian archduke (and short-lived Emperor of M ...

– Some consider it part of the Elaphites.

References

Bibliography

External links

*
Map including the Elaphiti Islands
{{Authority control Islands of Croatia Islands of the Adriatic Sea Landforms of Dubrovnik-Neretva County