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Vidalumi

Croatia

Korcula, Croatia

Korčula: A Walled Town on a Dalmatian Island

Korčula is an island in southern Dalmatia, and its old town on the east coast has long been the island's administrative and religious center. Local tradition makes the town Marco Polo's birthplace, though Venice and Constantinople claim him too, so take the house shown to visitors as a story rather than a record.

Good to know

What Cruise Travelers Should Know About Korčula

Korčula town is a port of entry on the island's east coast, with a harbor on each side of the old town's peninsula. Your ship's daily program will say whether you land at the quay or come in by tender.

  • The town looks across a narrow channel to the Pelješac peninsula on the mainland, and the passenger ferry to Orebić on the far side takes about 20 minutes.
  • The western harbor is sheltered from most winds, though not from the bora or northwesterlies.
  • About 2,900 people live in Korčula town itself.
  • Croatian is the local language, and English is spoken in most restaurants and tourist offices.

Korčula on Your Own

The old town is small enough to see well on foot in a few hours. If you want more, a short bus ride reaches Lumbarda and its beaches.

  • The old town: One main street runs up the spine of the peninsula, with narrow lanes branching off it toward the sea, and a pedestrian promenade circles the old town.
  • Around the cathedral square: The Town Museum faces St. Mark's Cathedral across Trg sv. Marka.
  • Marco Polo's House: On Depolo Street, the town shows a house it claims as the explorer's birthplace, although the building dates from at least a century after his death.
  • A short ride: Buses run from the bus station at the southeast corner of the old town to Lumbarda, about 15 minutes away, where there are sandy beaches and Grk vineyards.
  • Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own, so leave extra time if you are coming back by tender.

Getting Around Korčula

Walking covers the whole of Korčula town, and local buses and boats reach the rest of the island and the mainland. Taxis are available too, and some drivers give guided tours of the island.

  • Local buses link Korčula town with Lumbarda and the car ferry terminal at Dominče, and other routes cross the island to Žrnovo, Pupnat, Blato and Vela Luka, about an hour away; Sunday service is much thinner.
  • A passenger ferry crosses from the old town to Orebić on the Pelješac peninsula roughly every hour.
  • Water taxis serve the coastal villages and the small islands offshore.
  • Bikes and scooters can be rented in the old town, and rental shops can suggest quieter routes than the main highway across the island.

What to Eat in Korčula

Korčula's cooking is Dalmatian, with plenty of fish and slow-cooked meat, and the island is known for its white wines. Some dishes take long enough that restaurants need warning.

  • Brodet and pašticada: Brodet is a fish stew, and pašticada is Dalmatian stewed beef.
  • Žrnovski makaruni: This is long, thin pasta served with beef.
  • Peka: This dish is meat and vegetables slow-cooked in the fireplace, and restaurants usually need the order a day ahead.
  • Sweets: Look for klašun, a shortbread pastry filled with chopped nuts, cukarin biscuits, and prikle, fried dough found across southern Dalmatia.
  • Wine: Pošip is a light-bodied white grown mainly around Čara and Smokvica in the middle of the island, and Grk is a white made around Lumbarda that is rarely found in shops.

Tipping and Currency in Croatia

Service charges are not added to the bill in Croatia, so tipping is customary but modest. For a meal, 5 to 10 percent is usual, often by rounding up the total.

  • For a drink, rounding up or leaving a small coin is normal.
  • Taxi drivers are sometimes tipped, usually just by keeping the change.
  • Croatia uses the euro.

The Moreška and Island Traditions

Korčula keeps alive the Moreška, a sword dance with roots in the Middle Ages, along with old church ceremonies, klapa singing and a long tradition of stone carving.

  • Moreška: Two armies led by a Black King and a White King fight a choreographed battle over a captured maiden, each dancer handling two swords. Performers must be native to Korčula, and shortened shows of 20 to 30 minutes are put on for visitors in summer.
  • Sveti Todor: The feast of Saint Theodore on July 29 is the town's day, and it was the traditional occasion for the full Moreška.
  • Kumpanija: Villages around the island dance their own sword dance, the Kumpanija, on their feast days.
  • Klapa: This a cappella singing goes back centuries, and the style heard today took shape in the 19th century.
  • Stone carving: Local masons built the town from island stone, and the craft peaked under Venetian rule.
  • Korkyra Baroque Festival: Since 2012, concerts of Baroque music have been held in the town's historic buildings each year.

Greek Colonists, Venetian Rule, and the Marco Polo Controversy

Greeks, Romans, Croats, Venetians and Austrians have all held Korčula, and many of the old town's grand palaces date from the 15th and 16th centuries, when Venice ruled.

  • Ancient times: Greek settlers called the island Korkyra Melaina, Black Korkyra, and an inscription of the third or fourth century BC found at Lumbarda records a colony founded there by Greeks from Vis.
  • Roman era: After the Illyrian Wars the island became part of the Roman province of Illyricum, and Roman villas spread across it.
  • 1214: Korčula drafted its statute, which regulated life in the town and banned slavery.
  • 1298: Genoa defeated Venice at the Battle of Curzola off the island. A 16th-century tradition says Marco Polo was captured in it, while other scholars place his capture elsewhere in 1296.
  • 1420 to 1797: Venice ruled the town and island, Korčula supplied timber for Venetian ships, and local stonemasons built the cathedral and palaces.
  • 1571: The town held off an Ottoman fleet, and the Pope gave it the title Fidelissima, most faithful.
  • 1813 to 1815: British forces held the island and built the stone west quay and a round Martello tower on the hill above the town.
  • 1815 to 1918: Korčula belonged to Austria, and in 1863 the town's wooden drawbridge was finally replaced.
  • 20th century: Italy held the island from 1918 to 1921 and again from 1941, German forces occupied it in 1943 and 1944, and it was part of Yugoslavia until Croatian independence in 1991.
  • To learn more ashore: The Town Museum, Gradski muzej Korčula, on Trg sv. Marka facing the cathedral, covers the island's history with exhibits on stone carving and shipbuilding, Greek finds and an example of an old merchant's house.

Korčula with Children

Korčula works for families who keep the old town walk short and add some time by the water. Older children can paddle or snorkel around the islets.

  • Younger children: The old town is small enough for short legs, but nearly every street has steps, so a child carrier works better than a stroller.
  • School age: A summer Moreška performance, with its two kings and their armies, is easy to follow, and the Town Museum includes an example of an old merchant's house.
  • Teenagers: Kayaks can be rented from a booth at the beach on the west side of the old town, and the southeast coast of Badija island has a small beach and good snorkeling. For a walk, a stairway of 102 steps between cypress trees climbs to the chapel of Sveti Antun, about 25 minutes on foot from the old town.
  • All ages: Most beaches are rocky and sea urchins are common, so children need water shoes or fins to swim.

Accessibility in Korčula

Korčula's old town is compact but nearly all of it is stepped. The one street without steps runs along the southeastern wall, and the bell tower is reached only by stairs.

  • Almost every street inside the walls is stepped; the exception is the street beside the southeastern wall, called the Street of Thoughts because walkers there did not have to watch for steps.
  • St. Mark's Cathedral sits at the highest point of the peninsula.
  • The cathedral bell tower has steps only and no elevator.
  • If your ship uses tenders, ask whether the tender and the landing can be managed with a wheelchair or walker on the day.

Shopping in Korčula

The island's own white wines are the most distinctive thing to take home from Korčula. One of them is easy to find, and the other takes some looking for.

  • Pošip, the island's main white wine, is the bottle to look for, and Grk is easier to find in restaurants than in stores.
  • Around Lumbarda, signs on the main road on either side of the village point to the Grk vineyards.

Beaches on Korčula Island

Korčula's beaches are mostly rocky, with views across to the limestone ranges of the mainland coast. For sand, head to Lumbarda at the island's eastern tip.

  • Two sandy beaches lie just east of the village of Lumbarda, one facing north and one facing south at a narrow point of the island.
  • Wear water shoes or fins when swimming, because sea urchins are common on the rocks.
  • Small islands such as Badija lie just offshore, and can be reached by kayak or water taxi.
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