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Central Dalmatia, Vis island

Discovery of the of the central Dalmatian archipelago, a visit to the island Vis

Vis is the furthest island from the Dalmatian coast.
There are two towns on the island, Vis with 1960 inhabitants and Komiza with 1677 inhabitants.
The vast Komiza Bay, with sandy bottom, is situated on the western coast of the island. The southern coast is characterized by several smaller inlets. The town and the port of Vis lie on the northern coast of the island with many cliffs, of which Gradac Cliff is most impressive (100 m).
The island has no fresh water sources, apart from several springs near Komiza. Water is supplied in the summer by ships and kept in cisterns. Limestone crests used to be covered with macchia. Fertile valleys, covered with red soils and interspersed with sand dunes, are cultivated with vines. Apart from viniculture (modern wine production plants) and vegetables (early vegetables), fishing (fish cannery in Komiza) is also important. The island has a palm-tree nursery.

history

The island was inhabited since ancient Greece, as Issa. During Venetian domination, the name was Lissa. The sea around the island was the stage of two battles:
On March 13, 1812, the small Royal Navy fleet, under the command of capitain William Hoste, succeded to defeat the outnumbering Franco-Venetian fleet;
On July 20, 1866, the Austrian fleet, under admiral Tegetthoff command, attacked the Italian fleet, under admiral Persano command, sinking the battleship Re d'Italia (see Battle of Lissa (1866)).
During World War II, Vis was at one point the main hideout of Josip Broz Tito, the leader of the Yugoslav resistance movement. After the war, the Yugoslav People's Army used the island as one of its main naval bases. After Croatia became independent, its navy did not reclaim most of the facilities, and the many abandoned buildings are being used for civilian purposes, including modern happennings like 320x240 visual arts festival.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from theWikipedia article "Vis (island)
island Vis
Komiza and dalmatian coast
beach of island Vis
map of Croatia
a pirates oasis

When in the 18th century, French governance replaced the Austrians, island of Vis became pirates oasis. After short English presence, it went back under the Austrian rule. After the first World war, the island was part of Itlay for three years. In the period between two world wars, due to the destryed and sick wine grapes, powerty pressed people to leave the island. In the sedond World War, the island was a fort, from which Josip Broz Tito was creating strategies of fights on the whole state territory. High in cliffs, hidden from the views, stands Tito’s cave, his war residency, living part of the recent history, as a proof of long lasting island’s and country’s fight for independence.