Palagruža
Palagruža is a small Croatian archipelago in the middle of the Adriatic Sea. It is uninhabited, except by lighthouse staff and occasional summer tourists. Palagruža can be reached only by a chartered motorboat, requiring a journey of several hours from nearby islands like Lastovo, Korčula, or Vis. It is administratively part of the municipality of Komiža.
Etymology
The place is known in Italian as Pelagosa, derived from Ancient Greek Pelagousae. This is the source of the current Croatian name, as well as of the name of pelagosite. Gruž also means 'ballast' in Croatian, and the term is therefore well known in two ways to seafarers. The islands are also associated with the Greek mythology Diomedia or Islands of Diomedes.Lighthouse
On the highest point of the main island 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. Other important islands in this archipelago are Mala Palagruža, Galijula and Kamik od TramuntaneGeography
Palagruža consists of one larger island, called Vela or Velika Palagruža, and a smaller one, Mala Palagruža, as well as a dozen nearby rocks and reefs composed of dolomite. All the main islets are in the form of steep ridges. Vela Palagruža is some long and wide. The highest point of the archipelago, on Vela Palagruža, is about above sea level.The archipelago is south of Split on the Croatian mainland, south-west of Lastovo, Croatia, and north-north-east of the Gargano peninsula in Italy. It is visible from land only from other remote islands of Italy and Croatia. Palagruža is further south than the mainland peninsula of Prevlaka, making it the southernmost point of Croatia.
Geology
Velika Palagruža is an apical part of subsurface geological complex, composed of carbonate, siliciclastic and evaporite rocks of different ages, ranging from Triassic, through the Miocene, to Quaternary.Climate
Palagruža has a weather station, established in 1894, which represents a major indicator of weather, especially wind, waves and precipitation on the open Adriatic. Weather conditions on the central Adriatic are dictated by movements of low-pressure area, which causes frequent changes of bora and scirocco winds. Annually, Palagruža Island has 104 days with strong, and 21 days with stormy winds.The coldest temperature was, on 25 January 1954.
Since records began in 1949, the highest temperature recorded at the local weather station was, on 9 August 2017.
Due to its remote position in the middle of the sea, Palagruža exhibits more Mediterranean climate features than the Croatian coast. Summers are sunny and dry, while most of the rain falls in winter months. There are 2620 sunshine hours annually. Annual precipitation level of is the lowest of all Croatia. Maritime winds temper air temperatures compared with the mainland, with average summer daily highs of ; on the other extreme, winter average daily lows are.
History
Authentic archaeological finds from the Neolithic period have been discovered on Palagruža, including a small number of early Neolithic Impressed Ware pottery dated to the 6th–4th millennia BC, as well as a larger quantity of Ljubljana-Adriatic culture and Cetina culture artifacts.Artifacts indicating human presence on Palagruža from the 2nd millennium BC are rarer, but there are substantial finds from ancient Greek seafarers, including material from the Late Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, and Early Roman periods. There are also recorded archaeological finds from the Late Roman and early medieval periods.
Palagruža is associated with the Island of Diomedes, a location named after the Homeric hero Diomedes, who was reputedly buried there. This speculation is supported by the discovery of a painted 6th-century BC Greek potsherd inscribed with the name Diomed, suggesting the existence of a shrine of the Cult of Diomedes on Palagruža.
It is recorded that the galley fleet of Pope Alexander III landed on Palagruža on 9 March 1177.
The archipelago appears on maps from the early 14th century as Pelagosa, Pellegoxa, and Pelogosa.
In the 15th and 16th centuries, fishing activity in the area increased, making the island the centre of a traditional fishing ground for the community of Komiža on the island of Vis, Croatia.
Following the fall of the Republic of Venice, sanctioned by the Treaty of Campo Formio of 1797 between Napoleon and the Austrian authorities, all the formerly Venetian islands in the Adriatic passed to Austria. In 1806 these islands became part of the Kingdom of Italy, and the Pelagose were specifically mentioned in a decree issued by the General Superintendent of Dalmatia, Vincenzo Dandolo, authorizing fishermen from Komiža to use sardellare nets, or voighe, in the surrounding waters. From 1809 to 1815 the islands were formally part of the Illyrian Provinces of the French Empire, after which they returned to Austrian control following the Congress of Vienna. They were then registered in the district of Lissa, circle of Spalato, in the Kingdom of Dalmatia. Some geographical works of the period described the Pelagose islands as Neapolitan, while others considered them Austrian.
There is no evidence that the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ever took concrete action to establish sovereignty over the Pelagose, while the Austrian authorities continued to exercise it, sending ships and missions aimed at building a lighthouse, particularly in 1858. During this period the archipelago was uninhabited except temporarily; consequently—like nearby Pianosa—there are no entries for it in the civil registry of the district of Serracapriola, to which the Tremiti Islands belonged, while records appear in the parish registers of Komiža on the island of Lissa. The inhabitants of Komiža had built a chapel dedicated to Michael in the 18th century, later reconstructing it in the first half of the 19th century. The new Kingdom of Italy claimed possession of the islands and planned the construction of a lighthouse, leading to opposition from Vienna. After reviewing the documentation within the framework of a joint Italian–Austro-Hungarian hydrographic commission for the Adriatic, sovereignty was recognized as belonging to Vienna, as confirmed by the British consul in Trieste, Richard Francis Burton, who reported that the Komižani had presented documentation in support of this claim.
After Italy's entry into World War I in May 1915, its armed forces occupied the islands on 11 July 1915. The was sunk there on 5 August 1915 by the Austro-Hungarian submarine.
The archipelago reverted to Italian control between the two World Wars, as part of the Province of Zara, and was ceded to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1947. Since the breakup of Yugoslavia, it has been part of the sovereign state of Croatia.
Flora and fauna
Palagruža sits in the heart of fish-rich seas, including spawning grounds of sardines. It is a nature reserve, and the small amount of vegetation is of the Mediterranean type, for instance oleander and tree spurge. There are endemic plant species including a type of knapweed, Centaurea friderici , and Ornithogalum visianicum. The algae, and their role in the production of the local mineral pelagosite, have been the subject of academic study.The distinctive local fauna, including the black lizard now classed as Podarcis melisellenis ssp. fiumana and the related Podarcis sicula ssp. pelagosana, was mentioned first by Babić and Rössler. There are not many types of creatures on this island but the ones that do live there are bright and colourful.
Some snakes are venomous but are mostly harmless.