Omišalj is a coastal municipality in the north-west of the island of

Krk Krk (; ; ; ; archaic German: ''Vegl'', ; ) is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, located near Rijeka in the Bay of Kvarner and part of Primorje-Gorski Kotar county. Krk is tied with Cres as the largest Adriatic island, depending o ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. The population of Omišalj itself is 1,887 (

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

), while the municipality also includes the nearby village of Njivice, bringing the total population to 2,992. Omišalj is best known in modern times for hosting the

Krk Bridge Krk Bridge () is a long reinforced concrete arch bridge connecting the Croatian island of Krk to the mainland. Carrying over a million vehicles per year, it was the last tolled bridge in Croatia that was not part of a motorway until the removal ...

, the

Rijeka Airport Rijeka Airport (, ; ) is the international airport serving Rijeka, Croatia. It is located near the town of Omišalj on the island of Krk, 17 km from the Rijeka railway station. Most of the traffic to and from the airport occurs during the ...

as well as

Port of Rijeka The Port of Rijeka (, ) is a seaport in Rijeka, Croatia, located on the shore of the Kvarner Gulf in the Adriatic Sea. The first records of the port date to 1281. It was the main port of the Kingdom of Austro-Hungary in the 19th century and the ...

oil terminal An oil terminal (also called a tank farm, tankfarm, oil installation or oil depot) is an industrial facility for the storage of oil, petroleum and petrochemical products, and from which these Petroleum product, products are transported to end u ...

Climate

Since records began in 1970, the highest temperature recorded at the local weather station was , on 19 July 2007. The coldest temperature was , on 10 January 1985.

History

Omišalj is located close to one of the oldest settlements on

, dating from the 1st century when it was built by the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

and named ''

Fulfinum Municipium Flavium Fulfinum was an old Roman settlement on the island of Krk, Croatia, just a few kilometres from the town of Omišalj. Archaeological findings show the first traces of settlement in the area dating back into the 1st century wh ...

''. The town was built on the cliff overlooking the bay of

Kvarner The Kvarner Gulf (, or ; ; or ) sometimes also Kvarner Bay, is a bay in the northern Adriatic Sea, located between the Istrian peninsula and the northern Croatian Littoral mainland. The bay is a part of Croatia's internal waters. The largest i ...

, some 80 meters above sea level. It is the site of an early Christian

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

. Omišalj was first mentioned in 1153 and is one of the oldest places on the island of Krk, an important Glagolitic and cultural center. The town was referred to in the 12th century as "Castri musculi": this is from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''Ad musculi'', meaning "the place of shells". The land between the castles of

Dobrinj Dobrinj is a village and municipality in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County in northwestern Croatia, on the island of Krk. There are 2,150 inhabitants in the municipality, with 91% Croats. The village of Dobrinj itself has 89 inhabitants. Geography ...

and Omišalj, as well as the areas in and around

Dubašnica Dubašnica () was a village in the northwestern part of the island of Krk, now in Croatia, at the south of Malinska and near Poljica. It was first mentioned in the 15th century and became extinct in the 18th century as a result of a malaria epid ...

and Poljica, were settled by

Vlachs Vlach ( ), also Wallachian and many other variants, is a term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate speakers of Eastern Romance languages living in Southeast Europe—south of the Danube (the Balkan peninsula ...

and

Morlachs Morlachs ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Morlaci, Морлаци; ; ) is an exonym used for a rural Christian community in Herzegovina, Lika and the Dalmatian Hinterland. The term was initially used for a bilingual Vlach pastoralist community in the mountain ...

(originally

Romanians Romanians (, ; dated Endonym and exonym, exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group and nation native to Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Sharing a Culture of Romania, ...

who later diverged into

Istro-Romanians The Istro-Romanians ( or ) are a Romance languages, Romance ethnic group native to or associated with the Istria, Istrian Peninsula. Historically, they inhabited vast parts of it, as well as the western side of the island of Krk until 1875. Howe ...

) by

Ivan VII Frankopan Ivan VII or Ivan Krčki (of Krk) was the only prince of the semi-independent united Krk (the Principality of Krk) from 1451 to 1480. He was a prince of the House of Frankopan. As he needed more manpower, Frankopan settled Morlachs and Vlachs (Rom ...

during the second half of the 15th century. They formed a community in the island of Krk that would last until 1875 when the last speaker of the Istro-Romanian dialect of the island died.

Folk Theater Festival

The ("Folk Theater Festival") takes place in Omišalj every year, which is "a kind of celebration of folk dramatic expression." The performances take place on Prikešte Square in Omišalj and in the old castle in the town of Grobnik,

Primorje-Gorski Kotar County Primorje – Gorski Kotar County (, ) is a Counties of Croatia, county in western Croatia, most of it based in the historical and cultural region called Croatia proper and some of it in Istria, including the Bay of Kvarner, the surrounding Northe ...

References

Bibliography

Biology

External links

* * https://web.archive.org/web/20041215023052/http://www.krkinfo.com/omisalj.htm * http://www.croatiainfo.net/e_Omisalj.html * http://www.janaf.hr/ * http://www.islandkrk.com/ Krk Municipalities of Croatia Populated places in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County Seaside resorts in Croatia {{PrimorjeGorskiKotar-geo-stub