Palagruža

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Palagruža (Croatia)
Palagruža
Palagruža
Location of archipelago Palagruža on the map of Croatia.

Palagruža (Italian: Pelagosa) is a small, remote archipelago of dolomite in the middle of the Adriatic Sea, at latitude 42 degrees 23 minutes 5 seconds North and longitude 16 degrees 15 minutes 6 seconds East. It consists of one main island, called Vela or Velika ('Great') Palagruža, and one smaller one, Mala ('Little') Palagruža, and there are twenty or so other closely-associated rocks or reefs. All the main islets are in the form of steep ridges. The place is some 123 km south of Split, Croatia, and 160 east of Pescara, Italy. It is accessed only by chartered motor-boat, requiring a journey of two to three hours from Korčula, Croatia. It is visible from land only from other remote islands of Italy and Croatia. It constitutes the least easily accessible part of the Republic of Croatia.

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[edit] Topography, economy and ecology

Vela Palagruža is some 1300 metres long and 350 metres wide. The highest point of the archipelago, on Vela Palagruža, is about 90 metres above sea-level, and on this elevation is a lighthouse. Palagruža is surrounded by dangerous waters, and landing can be difficult. It is uninhabited, except by lighthouse staff and by summer tourists who occupy two units of residential accommodation. There is one beach of golden sand. The lighthouse is also the site of a meteorological station.

Palagruža sits in the heart of fish-rich seas, including spawing-grounds of sardines (Božanić 1973). It is a nature reserve, and where there is vegetation it is of the Mediterranean type, for instance oleander (Nerium oleander) and wolfmilk (Euphorbia dendroides). There are endemic plant species including a type of knapweed, Centaurea friderici Vis. (Palagruška zečina in Croatian). The algae, and their role in the production of the local mineral pelagosite, have been the subject of academic study (Montanari et al. 2007). The distinctive local fauna, including the black lizard now classed as Podarcis melisellenis ssp. fiumana and the related Podarcis sicula ssp. pelagosana (primorska gušterica in Croatian), was mentioned first by Babic and Rössler (1912).

[edit] Name

The place is known in Italian as Pelagosa, derived from from Greek πέλαγος 'sea'. This is the source of the current Croatian name, as well as of the name of the mineral just mentioned. Perhaps the transformation of the third syllable is due to awareness of Gruž, the name of the northern harbour of Dubrovnik. Gruž also means 'ballast' in Croatian, and the term is therefore well known in two ways to seafarers.

[edit] Legend and history

For some, Palagruža is associated with the Homeric hero Diomedes, king of Argos, who is reputed to be buried here, though it is hard to imagine where. Speculation is fuelled by the discovery of a painted 6th-century B.C. Greek potsherd with the name Diomed[es] on it (see image on Adriatica). A shrine of the cult of Diomedes here is perfectly thinkable. Authentic archaeological finds of the Neolithic, Greek, Roman, and early medieval periods have been recorded (Adriatic Islands Project).

It is reliably recorded that the galley-fleet of Pope Alexander III landed here on 9 March 1177.

Palagruža is closer to Italy than to the Croatian mainland, being some 42 km from Monte Gargano. Before 1861, it belonged to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and after 1861 therefore to Italy, but was ceded to Austria-Hungary by the Dreikaiserbund treaty ('Three Emperors' Alliance') in 1873. The first action of the new authorities was to build the important lighthouse mentioned above, in 1875. It reverted to Italy between the two World Wars, as part of the province of Zara (now Zadar, Croatia), and was ceded to Yugoslavia in 1947. Since the break-up of Yugoslavia, it has formed part of the sovereign territory of Croatia. It is the centre of a traditional fishing-ground of the community of Komiža, island of Vis, Croatia (Bozanić 1973, Gamulin 2000).

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