Iž


[file:HRV Otok Iž COA.svg|thumb|Island coat of arms]
Iž is an island in the Zadar Archipelago within the Croatian reaches of the Adriatic Sea. Its settlements are located exclusively on island's eastern part, facing Ugljan. The main settlement, Veli Iž, is situated in the bay on the north-eastern shore, while Mali Iž is situated on the south-eastern shore and consists of three hamlets — Muće, Makovac and Porovac — located on three hills, below which are two bays — the bay of Knež below Porovac and the bay of Komoševa below Makovac.

Geography

Geology and topology

The island is situated between Ugljan on the north-east and Dugi Otok on the south-west. Of all the islands of the Zadar Archipelago, the closest one to Iž is the island of Rava, situated between Iž and Dugi Otok. Iž and Rava are separated by the channel Iški kanal. Iž has a length of 12.2 km and average width of 2.5 km. It has an area of 17.59 square kilometers and a population of 615, so it is one of the smallest islands in Zadar's group of islands. The length of the coast is 35.1 km. Iž, like the other islands of Zadar Archipelago, lies in the direction Northwest–Southeast meaning it is parallel with the mainland. Its mineralogy is composed mainly of limestone and dolomite. The highest peak of the island is Korinjak. Iž is surrounded by more than 10 very small, uninhabited islands, largest of which is Knežak.
The main soil types are terra rossa associated with limestone and sandy soils on the dolomites.

Flora and fauna

The vegetation of the island is Mediterranean, as on other islands of Zadar, which means that the forests are composed of coniferous trees. Due to the relatively high temperatures, Mediterranean plants are evergreen. The exploitation of forests created a macchia that is richer in flora in the south-western part of the island than in the north-eastern part. About 60% of the island is covered with pine forest; the first afforestation of the island with aleppo pine begins in the 20th century, more precisely in 1931. The island's oldest and most important cultivated plants are olives, vines and figs.

Climate

Iž belongs to the area which has a borderline humid subtropical and Mediterranean climate. Summers are dry, warm or hot and winters are mild and rainy. Average annual air temperature on the island is 15 degrees Celsius.
The island is relatively low and spatially small so that significant day and night winds can form there. It is relatively far from the mainland, surrounded on all sides by the sea and protected by neighboring higher islands. The most common winds are bora during winter, sirocco during spring, autumn and winter and maestral - a constant humid breeze of moderate intensity - during summer. The strength of bora usually decreases from the mainland towards the open sea; Iž is in the „Srednji kanal“ channel especially protected by Ugljan and Pašman.
The average annual humidity on Iž is about 70% and the annual rainfall is about 880 mm.

History

The island of Iž has been inhabited since prehistoric times; there are traces of an Illyrian hillfort and a Roman settlement. Constantine VII calls it „Ez“ in 10th century. In that time it was under the rule of the Zadar commune, which, as a feud, gave it to the female Benedictine monastery of St. Mary, and later leased to the Zadar aristocracy. Above the bay of Komoševa, at the top of the village of Mali Iž, there is an old romanesque church of St. Mary from the 11th century, circular-shaped with a semicircular apse. It is located right next to the new parish church from the beginning of the 20th century and represents the oldest cultural monument on the island. There are also records of the first Croatian settlers that date from the year 1266.
Since 1409, Iž has been part of the Venetian Republic. In the time of Venetian-Turkish wars during the 15th and 16th centuries, many refugees from the mainland moved to the island, especially from Ravni Kotari.
Both the parishes of Veli and Mali Iž have a thousand-year Glagolitic history, meaning that from their beginning the Roman Rite in the church was celebrated in the Old Church Slavonic language, not in Latin, from liturgical books written in the old Croatian Glagolitic script. History records more than 200 glagolitic priests on the island and many documents in the Glagolitic alphabet from the 15th to 19th century are still preserved, including manuscripts, printed liturgical books and stone epigraphs. In 2019, a Glagolitic inscription in stone from 1685 was discovered in the family house Švorinić, being among the most recently reveled Glagolitic stone inscriptions in the world.
In the 18th and 19th century, Iž became one of the leading maritime and trade centers in the Zadar archipelago.
The castle of the Zadar family Canagietti has been preserved; the castle of the Fanfogna family, originally built in the romanesque style but later rebuilt, was converted into a school in the 19th century.

Religion

List of administrators of Veli Iž parish:
  1. Nikola
  2. Ratko,
  3. Nikola
  4. Pavao Vojvodić, of Veli Iž
  5. Ivan Juanović/Zuanović
  6. Jure Milanić, of Zaglav
  7. Antun Bogdanić, of Veli Iž
  8. Šime Tolić, of Veli Iž
  9. Petar Radinić, of Veli Iž
  10. don Baninović, of Veli Iž
  11. Jakov Bartulović, of Sutomišćica
  12. Nikola Banigonić, of Savar
  13. Nikola Mezić, of Luka
  14. Šime Florinja/Floringović, of Sali
  15. Matij Pribić, of Ugljan
  16. Petar Marelić, of Mali Iž
  17. Grgur Zelenčić, of Kali
  18. Matij Barbić, of Luka
  19. Ivan Švorinić, of Veli Iž
  20. Mate Švorinić, of Veli Iž
  21. Šime Švorinić, of Veli Iž
  22. Mate Vojvodić, of Veli Iž
  23. Dune Sutlović, of Veli Iž
  24. Ivan Štokov, of Veli Iž
  25. Dume Sutlović, of Veli Iž
  26. Frane Belić, of Ugljan
  27. Ivan Letinić, of Savar
  28. Ive Marijan, of Veli Iž
  29. Grgo Burić, of Pašman
  30. Ive Marijan, of Veli Iž
  31. Ive Košta, of Preko
  32. Frane Belić, of Ugljan
  33. Miho Letina, of Veli Iž
  34. Šime Pavlakov, of Božava
  35. Tome Škvarlić, of Veli Iž
  36. Jure Čoban, of Sutomišćica
  37. Ante Sutlović Barićev, of Veli Iž
  38. Tome Marijan, of Veli Iž
  39. Šime Paretić, of Božava
  40. Fausto Smoljan, of Ist
  41. Ivan Marinović, of Silba
  42. Marko Cvitanović, of Veli Iž
  43. Jerolimo Marojević, as chaplain
  44. Ante Oštarić, possibly of Kolan
  45. Ludovik Battig, of Tyrol
  46. Roko Počina, of Ist
  47. Hinko Brnetić, of Silba
  48. Petar Nikolanzi, of Pag
  49. Ivan Milić, of Sali
  50. Bare Vidor, of Kali
  51. Marko Mirković, of Veli Rat
  52. Lujo Pravdica
  53. Ivan Milić, of Sali
  54. Ante Jagić, of Sali
  55. Frane Šiša, of Preko
  56. Ivan Marija Bogdanić, of Silba
  57. Jure Luša, of Silba
  58. Ante Nižić, of Preko
  59. Ignacij Mašina, of Preko
  60. Ivan Silvestrić, of Silba
  61. Jakov Fabijanac, of Kaštel Sućurac
  62. Marijan Milin, of Sali
  63. Šime Meštrović, of Pag
  64. Vladislav Cvitanović, of Veli Iž
  65. Srećko Frka-Petešić, of Sali
  66. Pavao Kero, of Bibinje
  67. Ante Vidaković, of Bosnia
  68. Pavao Kero, of Bibinje
  69. Šanto Bilan, of Veli Iž
  70. Josip Bunić, of Hrvatsko Zagorje
  71. Vinko Šolaja, of Šurkovac
  72. Srećko Petrov, of Bosnia
  73. Stanisław Wieliński, of Pelplin Diocese
  74. Andrzej Stępień, of Częstochowa Archdiocese
  75. Krešo Ćirak, of Posedarje
  76. Slavko Ivoš, of Kali

Economy, culture and tourism

The small population of the island is mainly engaged into olive cultivation, fishing, viticulture and tourism.
The island also is known for its pottery tradition that has survived to this day: the ethnographic collection of Veli Iž preserves numerous examples of island's authentic ceramics and tools of traditional pottery.
Hotel Korinjak, located in Veli Iž, is the only hotel on the island, also representing the only vegetarian hotel in Croatia. The hotel offers meditation and relaxation therapies for mind and body energy, from yoga to pyramide meditation and orgon or ozon therapies. The hotel also offers boat trips and excursions to island Iž hidden bays or small unsettled nearby islets, where visitors can enjoy untouched nature and beaches.
Veli Iž also has a marina that can accommodate up to two hundred boats and the church of Saint Peter and Paul from the 14th century, with elements of romanesque although it is not preserved in its original form.
A traditional festival, Iška fešta, is held in Veli Iž every year on 29 July. The locals then dress in traditional costumes, perform old island dances and songs and prepare local dishes. The highlight of the ceremony is the election of the "King of Iž" with a term of one year.
The revitalisation of the island was stimulated by the construction of the main road connecting Mali Iž and Veli Iž. Construction of the road started in 1980s by the Yugoslav People's Army. It was fully completed and paved in 1996, stretching in direction north-west–south-east, between Veli Iž and the ferry port in Mali Iž, also connecting Mali Iž hamlets Porovac, Muće and Makovac, together with the bays Knež and Komoševa, by the local roads.

Maritime connections

Iž is connected to Zadar and Rava by passenger ship, high-speed craft and car ferry public lines. The two passenger-only lines start at Zadar ferry port in the town center, continue to Mali Iž and Veli Iž, from there they run to the two settlements on Rava: Mala Rava and Rava. After reaching Rava, they sail back in reverse. The car ferry starts at the Port of Gaženica, runs to Bršanj and, on certains days of the week, to Rava and Mala Rava. There is a bus line which connects Veli Iž and Mali Iž to Bršanj when the ferry arrives. On school days, there is an additional high-speed craft connection Zadar – Bršanj – Zadar, docking in the same place on Iž as the car ferry. All lines reach Iž from Zadar within an hour and a half.
The shortest connection of island Iž with Zadar is through the strait of Mali Ždrelac, nowadays used by all public shipping services which operate to the island.
Before World War II, all maritime connections between Zadar and Iž were via the island of Ugljan. Since 1892, Iž has a regular steamship connection with Zadar through the strait of Veli Ždrelac between the islands of Ugljan and Rivanj and from 1980s that connection started to operate through the strait of Mali Ždrelac. Until 2012, only smaller ferries which connected Iž and Zadar could sail through Mali Ždrelac, while the rest of the ferries were sailing through Veli Ždrelac strait. In 2012, the strait was deepened which resulted in allowing all ships that sail to the island to pass through. Since 2014, ferries connecting Iž and Zadar have been using the port of Gaženica south of Zadar instead of original ferry port that was located in Zadar's town center.
The island's ferry terminal opened in the late 1980s. Hosting only a ticket office, it is located in the bay of Bršanj in Mali Iž. It is about 1 km from the center of Mali Iž where all the facilities are. Passenger ships and catamarans, however, use ports of Mali Iž and Veli Iž.

Notable residents

Krsto Novaselić, the father of Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic, lived in Veli Iž before immigrating to the United States.

Nearby islands

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