Backroads of Dalmatia – Imotski and Imotska krajina

(ID: AR-2406)

Opis ponude

The tour of Imotska krajina (“Imotski borderland”) and its centre, the city of Imotski, is a step outside of the beaten path through Dalmatia. Situated just beyond the mount Biokovo, dividing it from the coast of Makarska Riviera, this part of Dalmatian hinterland was for a long time off the standard tourist itineraries. This has changed in recent years and Imotski is more and more becoming a prime destination to visit or even to center one’s vacation around. From 2023. it is being incorporated into UNESCO Geopark Biokovo – Imotska jezera. Aside from famous Red and Blue Lakes, Imotska krajina is a solid tapestry of natural beauty interwoven with history, which cannot be appreciated one without the other. The aim of this tour is to display this artifice of nature and human toil as a seamless whole.

1. Lakes Galipovac and Blato

We start our tour of the heart of Imotska krajina at the north-westernmost part of the ImotskiBekija field, stretching from east to west for 95 square kilometers, almost half of it being across the border, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This geographical nugget is an apt introduction into natural and historical tapestry we’re venturing into. For most of its known history this place was a “borderland” – a borderland both between land and water, and peoples and cultures, all of them not seldom intermixing. Just below the cliffs are lakes Galipovac and Blato. Galipovac is one of 5 sinkholes/lakes in Imotska krajina, most famous of which are, of course, Red and Blue Lake, whereas Blato is a flooded area at the foot of rocky cliffs, circumscribing the Western end of Imotski-Bekija field. In the middle of Blato, there are remains of Franciscan monastery, founded in 1607. during the Ottoman rule. The monastery was abandoned in 1717. in the wake of the liberation of Imotski from Ottoman Empire. The present state border with Bosna and Herzegovina, marks roughly the border between Republic of Venice and Ottoman empire at that time. The cliffs circumscribing the field are dotted with Illyrian burial barrows and hill forts, one of which lays precisely next to the vista above Galipovac and Blato. These original inhabitants of what is now a space between Slovenia and Greece to the East, and Hungary to the North, left their mark in the history of Imotska krajina and, since it is mostly carved in the stone, it is visible to this day. 1. Red Lake On the way from Galipovac to Red Lake, we pass through picturesque back road, entering the city of Imotski at its westernmost side, the final stop before it being precisely the Red Lake. One significant landmark we pass by is canyon Badnjevice with its tall medieval fortress, serving as a watchtower over the northern passage to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Red Lake is one of two biggest and most famous landmarks of Imotski. A second largest sinkhole in Europe, approximately 540 meters deep from top to bottom, with water level, oscillating from 200 to up to almost 300 hundred meters of depth. Waters of the lake are not accessible without special gear, so Red Lake has to be admired only from above. On the eastern side of the sinkhole we can still observe the remains of a large Illyrian hill fort, which was probably a centerpiece of bigger settlement. What we cannot directly observe, but is well known by locals, is that the bottom of the Red lake is a resting place of a dozen of US Airforce airmen. Namely, in the April of 1944. two American B-25 Liberator bombers were shot down by Wehrmacht AA battery and ended up falling into the lake, never to be seen again. (*na ovom mjestu, ukoliko se vodi tura s djecom, treba ispričati legendu o Gavanovim dvorima)

2. Blue Lake

Finally we enter Imotski just at its most famous landmark and tourist attraction – Blue Lake. Blue Lake is situated practically in the midst of the wider city center of Imotski and, in contrast to its red counterpart, it is highly accessible via more than 1000 meters long serpentine trail. As local myth tells us, the first who came up with the idea of building some form of path to the waters of the lake, was Emperor Franz Joseph, who visited Imotski in 1875. Historically, speaking, however, the serpentine were philanthropic project of rich physician dr. Josip Miladinov, and were finished in 1907. Since then, Blue Lake is for all intents and purposes a city beach. Now, when tourism is picking up steam, going to have a swim in its exceptionally clear water is the main motive for those who come to visit Imotski in the summer. Although both Blue and Red Lake got its names from the color of the cliffs, it is interesting to note that original Croatian name of the Blue Lake is not “Plavo”, but “Modro Jezero”. The subtle difference is probably due to unique color its waters get in particular time of the year, since “modro” means “profound blue”. Bigger than Red lake in its breadth and width, Blue Lake, however, has only a fraction of Red Lake’s depth. Water oscillates from on average 70 meters in the spring, to 5 or less in the early autumn, and it is not rarely the case that lake completely dries up. If this occurs, its bottom becomes the football pitch for traditional game of Vukodlaci (“Werewolves”) vs. Vilenjaci (“Elves”), i.e. teams from locals living on north-eastern versus those from the southern side of the lake.

3. Fortress Topana

Fortress Topana (Turkish: “Cannon fort”) is seated on the north-eastern cliffs of the Blue Lake, just a short stroll from the main vista. It is an old Croatian fortress, that is nevertheless named by locals “Turska kula” (‘Turkish fort’), after its penultimate owners. It is highly probable that, like most medieval fortresses in Dalmatia, it was built on the site of Illyrian hill fort or even perhaps a Roman keep. Just beneath the eastern rampart of the fortress, there stretches a football pitch “Gospin dolac” (“Our ladies’ vale”), considered as one of the most picturesque in the world, since it is literally built on the very edge of cliffs of the Blue lake. In Ottoman period, fortress was the seat of Kadija (‘judge’/administrator) and as such it was the nucleus from which modern city of Imotski developed. This process started after the siege and surrender of the fortress to Venetian contingent – an action incited partly by a not insignificant influence of Franciscans from monastery of Blato – in 1717. The first post-Ottoman church in the city of Imotski was fortress chapel and just under its outer walls Venetians had built the stretch of administrative buildings, along the old city market that even to this day retains the name Bazana (from “bazaar” – “marketplace”). From there on, nascent modern city spread downwards, down the hill it resides upon. The first phase was building of long flight of steps that leads us to the old center of the City of Imotski.

4. The City of Imotski

The old centre of Imotski is still called “Pazar”, by the locals, since it is where the original market from Ottoman and early Venetian period relocated, following the logic of the organic urban development. Now it is, together with the main street stretching to the east, a site of numerous caffes and, somewhat less numerous, shops and businesses. If one is to walk back to the Blue Lake by a different path, then one will stroll down the old city “korzo” – a main street which is uniquely for Dalmatian hinterland built in the fashion characteristic for coastal towns. This is probably an echo of substantial Italian influence, because original inhabitants of post-Ottoman Imotski were Italian settlers, whereas locals were for some time lingered at its outskirts. The influence remained among urban elite in the times of Austrian rule, which also left us with a significant municipal buildings, such as Town hall of Imotski, built just a minute stroll from the entrance towards the main vista of the Blue Lake.