December 21, 2014

1370 CROATIA (Primorje-Gorski Kotar) - Krk


Krk is an island in the northern Adriatic Sea, located near Rijeka in the Bay of Kvarner, inhabited without interruption since the Neolithic age. According to Greek and Latin sources, it is one of the Apsyrtidian or Electridian islands held by the Liburnians. For many years, Krk has been thought to be the largest Adriatic island, although recent measurements now give the neighboring island of Cres an equal surface area. Anyway, it is the most populous Adriatic island, with numerous towns and villages that contain a total of 19,286 inhabitants. Ruled by the Romans, then by the Byzantines, the island was conquered by Venetians for the first time in 1001, and from then its history was closely linked with the history of the Republic of Venice for seven centuries. In 1822 the Austrians separated the island from Dalmatia and linked it to Istria, so that Krk, Cres and Lošinj came under direct rule from Vienna. This link contributed to the Croatian National Revival and together with Kastav, the town of Krk played a leading role in the spread of Croatian education and culture. after a brief Italian Occupation (1918-1920), it was handed over to Croatia, then in Yugoslavia.

Krk is located rather near the mainland and has been connected to it via a 1,430m two-arch concrete bridge since 1980, one of the longest concrete bridges in the world. Due to the proximity to the city of Rijeka, Omišalj also hosts the Rijeka International Airport. The main settlement on the island, one of the oldest in the Adriatic, is the eponymous city, located on the southwest coast (on the postcard). It was once known for its unique Romance language called Vegliotic (one of the two main branches of the extinct Dalmatian language), which was spoken until the early 19th century. There was a large Italian community in the city but Italy eventually gave up the island in favor of Yugoslavia in 1921 (it was temporarily occupied by D'Annunzio in 1921), and many of its Italian-speaking residents subsequently left.

About the stamps
The stamp is part of the series Croatian Ethnographic heritage, about which I wrote here.

References
Krk - Wikipedia
Krk (town) - Wikipedia

Sender: Dragan Buškulić (direct swap)
Sent from Krk (Primorje-Gorski Kotar / Croatia), on 20.10.2014

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