travel and tourism in croatia

The Brijuni Isles, a group of two large islands and twelve small islets of the west coast of Istria, are a National Park due to their spectacular beauty, which was appreciated even in antiquity. The National Park of Brijuni includes the following islands: Veliki Brijun, Mali Brijun, St. Mark, Gaz, Okrugljak, Supin, Supinić, Galija, Grunj, Vanga (Krasnica), Pusti (Madona), Vrsar, St. Jerome and Kozada. (Krasnica), Pusti (Madona), Vrsar, Sv.Jerolim and Kozada. Geologically and geo-morphologically Brijuni are the continuation of western Istria, the so-called “Red Istria”. Since the depth of the channel of Fažana is just 12m, Brijuni were until some 10,000 years ago an integral part of Istria. This is also the home of the famous Brijuni safari park.
The present day boundaries of the National Park were set in 1999 and comprise the land, the surrounding sea with the seabed and cover an area of 33.9km2. The length of the coastline of all the islands is 46.8 km. The most indented islands are Veliki Brijun (25.9km) and Mali Brijun (8.3km). The shores are mostly low and rocky but easily accessible due to the horizontal stratification of the rocks, and in some bays pebbles and sand can be found.
The islands are made of horizontal or slightly inclined layers of limestone from the Cretaceous, on which in places there are layers of carbonated brown or red soil. The stone that belongs to that formation is white in colour, easily breakable, of marble structure and is abundant in clay and flint. Therefore it is very solid and is an excellent building material.