Croatian
GermanHistorical landmarks of Karlobag
THE CAPUCHIN MONASTERY AND THE CHURCH OF SAINT JOSEPH
The church has a single nave with one side chapel dedicated to St. Anthony. Behind the main altar, there is a choir and a wooden stand for the psaltery, the so-called legil, from the 18th century where the friars prayed the daily liturgy of hours. There is also a very valuable painting of the Last Supper by Christopher Tasco.
The monastery has a square floor plan with a rectangular yard, cloister, in which there is a large well (a rainwater cistern), 6 m in diameter and with a capacity of approximately 180,000 litres, which has met the needs of the people of Karlobag in the last 300 years. A fun fact about the cistern is that each family had its own particular place for taking water so that on the edges of the well there are notches from pulling the rope.
The monastery has a library with theological literature from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.
FORTICA AND KAVA – A MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN
At the beginning of the Middle Ages, on the territory of Fortica along the sea, a new settlement called Scrissa or Bag developed. There are the remnants of a smaller four-cornered fortress from the 13th or 14th century on an elevated plateau with a defence tower in the middle, approximately 250 m away from the coastline.
The fortress is entirely privately owned. The fortress was constantly inhabited by the chaplain with a small crew, from where they took care of the safety of the town and supervised the navigation of the ships to Pag. Remnants of the water well have been preserved.
Nowadays, there is a Mediterranean garden Kava with a mosaic exhibition, also privately owned. Thus, today you can see lavender, common thyme, heather, tecoma, boxwood, thyme, rosemary, immortelle, oregano, marjoram, sage, laurel and other overpowering scents there.
The name Kava indicates that this may have previously been a quarry, even though it is more probable that there were military barracks in the area.
Šterne (Wells)
During the times before the waterworks, the only source of potable water were the wells (šterne). Šterne, among other things, were crucial for the community; it was not seldom that people danced there creating love and friendships.
Today the wells are a reminder of the past way of life so we have decided to protect them as a cultural and historic heritage. We can take you, for a moment at least, to see the history of our town. The very town of Karlobag has 6 localities, the town wells that one must visit.
The Church of St. Charles Borromeo
The Church dating back to 1710 was built on the foundations of the Church of St. John. In the bombing of the Allies in 1943, it was severely damaged and in 1958, the remnants were removed except for the protected tower, i.e. a part of the wall and the entire bell tower were preserved. Along the remnants of the Church, a monument to Šime Starčević was erected.
Šime Starčević (1784-1859) is known for having written two grammars, the Nova ricsoslovica ilircska (Croatian language grammar) and the Nova ricsoslovica ilircsko-franceska (translation from German).
Ricsoslovica of Šime Starčević is the first grammar of the Croatian language written in the Croatian language. Until that time, grammars were written either in a different language (Latin, Italian, German) or were bilingual. The first Croatian language grammar, his Nova ricsoslovica ilircska, printed in Trieste in 1812, was written in the ikavian dialect. Šime Starčević was born in Klanac near Gospić on 18 April 1784. He finished the primary school and the gymnasium in Varaždin, studied philosophy in Graz and Zagreb and completed seminary in Senj, where in 1808 he was ordained as a priest.
From 1814 until his death on 14 May 1859, he carried out the priestly service in Gospić, Lički Novi, Udbina and Karlobag. He spoke Latin, French, Italian and German and could read all Slavic languages.
The Calvary
On an elevated area above the town, on the Calvary, a chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Seven Sorrows was built in 1727, consecrated on 12 September by Nikola Pohmajević, Bishop of Senj, Modruš and Krbava.
With the exclusive financial assistance of the populace, in 1740, the chapel was turned into a small church.
The School Building
With the efforts of Baron Mollinary, the stone building was constructed in 1875 and was the most imposing building in Karlobag at the time.
Baške Oštarije
Baške Oštarije are located on Velebit in the western part of Lika, 924 m above the sea, in a micro-region of the Lika basin in the mountainous Croatia, 18 km far from Karlobag.
Until 1900, the name of the town had been Oštarije but was then changed to Baške Oštarije. B. Oštarije are divided into the following hamlets: Raketa, Ripište, Stupačinovo, Takalice and Prpić Polje.
The St. Elizabeth Church in Oštarije was built in 1855, in the parish dedicated to the Visitations of the Blessed Virgin Mary from Baške Oštarije, established in 1820 and belonging to the Deanery of the Gospić-Senj Diocese.
Kubus
This monument to the construction of the Karlobag – Gospić road across Velebit, a cube (Kubus, Ura) on four spheres can be found on the Oštarije saddle or the Old Gate, 927 m above the sea, from where you can see Karlobag, the island of Pag and the entire Velebit canal.
The cube was placed there at the time of the construction of the road from Gospić to Karlobag (1844- 1850), in 1846 to be more precise. There are 33 stairs leading to the Kubus.
On the one side of the Kubus, there is an inscription: Ferdinandus I Austrian imperator MDCCCXLVI.
A Fountain of Carved Stone (Baške Oštarije)
This is a monument to the construction of the Knežić - Kekić road built between 1844 and 1851. The fun fact that should be mentioned is that the water source was known by the people as a source of fertility.
The Teresiana Educational Trail
The order to build a new, more modern road was given by the then Austrian Emperor Joseph II. The road was named after his mother, Maria Theresa.
The Teresiana was built in 1786 in order to replace the existing Karolinska road. Travelling on Karolina became ever more difficult because of its sharp bends and steep sections.
This road was particularly important because of a better connection of the then regimental headquarters in Gospić with the free port of Karlobag. Wishing that as many people as possible should get to know the cultural importance of Teresiana, the Velebit Park of Nature, a public institution organized a part of the Teresiana as an educational trail. The trail is intended exclusively for pedestrians and it is particularly interesting because of the surroundings that it passes through.
Here, in this small patch of land, one can see both faces of Velebit in their full beauty. The educational trail starts in Baške Oštarije (924 m above the sea) and descends to the Konjsko village (655 m above the sea) 3 km long or approximately a 3 h walk. Also offered is a shorter pedestrian tour of approximately 1.5 hours.
On this trail, you will experience most beautiful views of the Adriatic Sea and the island of Pag on one side and the valley of Baške Oštarije on the other. The Teresiana historic road is classified as cultural good.