murter

The municipality of Murter-Kornati is situated at the doors of the Kornati Islands. It is attractive to the yachtsmen, as well as to all the admirers of the silent rest. The islands of the National park Kornati are owned by the residents of Murter.

It is the biggest municipality of an island in the Mediterranean. More than 160 islands including Kornati Islands with the coast line of almost 400 km long belong to it. The islands are spread parallel with the coast line between the towns Šibenik and Zadar, and the island Murter is connected to the mainland by 30m long shifting bridge. The distance by road from Šibenik is 30 km, from Zadar 65 km and from Split 105 km.
The two closest airports are situated in Zadar and Split. 

The municipallity area is located in the zone of the mediterranean climate which characterize the hot and droughty summers, and mild and moist winters. The hottest month is August with an average temperature of 24,7 °C, and the coldest month is January with an average temperature of 6,3 °C. The average tempera-ture of the seawater in summer is 23,7 °C.

The island Murter is surrounded by the sandy beaches that are situated in the beautiful, virgin bays splashed over with the crystal clear sea. The start of the tourism in Murter goes back to 30th years of the past century when the Czech villa was built in the Bay Slanica.

Due to the attractiveness of its position, a turbulent history and the large aquatorium, the island Murter is one of the most unique Croatian islands. 

The history of Murter and Kornati Islands goes back to 1st century B.C. when there was in this area the ancient town under the name Colentum. The remains of this town are today under the sea and are situated at the foot of the Gradina Hill on the northern side of the Hramina Bay. In 6th century A.D. the Bizantyne emperor Justinian built a fortification on the island Kornat above the field Tarac. In 9th century A.D. the Kornati archipelago are populated by Slavs.           

The town Murter was mentioned in the year 1298 as “Villa Magna”. The settlement consisted of 36 houses and 203 residents and had its own parish. And, in the year 1515 the island Kornat got for the first time the Croatian name – Stomorin otok (Stomora Island).
Then, in the period from 1859-1890 the residents of Murter buyed out the Kornati Islands.          

Under the influence of the Croatian National Revival in the second half of 19th century was established in Murter the National library, and in the beginning of 20th century was built the modern oil mill in which was produced olive oil of the highest quality. The proof for it was the gold medal won at the large international exhibition of oil held in Eix, France.
At the same period the tourism started to develop in Murter as one of the basic economic sectors.

At the end of the past century, precisely in the year 1980 the bigger part of the Kornati archipelago was proclaimed the national park.

Photo: TZ Murter / www.tzo-murter.hr