LIGHTHOUSES 2014 - PALAGRUŽA

Palagruža
 
 
The Archipelago of Palagruža is the most distant archipelago - part of the territorial land of the Republic of Croatia and a very important orientation point on the sailing route from Otranto towards the harbours of the Adriatic. On the importance of the sailing route through this corridor testify the remains of many shipwrecks underwater in the Archipelago.  The Archipelago of Palagruža consists of two bigger islands – Great and Small Palagruža – three small islands (Kamik od tramuntane, Kamik od oštra and Galijul) and about fifteen rocks (Pupak, Volići, Gaće, Baba, Cufi etc). The Great Palagruža, with its peak at 87 meters above sea level and an area of 29 hectares is the highest and the largest island of the Archipelago.  The sedimentary rocks of the Archipelago are a result of sedimentations through history and are about 135 million years old. They are remnants of the ancient mainland connected with Gargan, Tremiti, Sušac, Lastovo and Mljet.
The Archipelago was inscribed in nautical charts in the 14^th century.  Palagruža is 52 kilometres away from the Apennine Peninsula. Only 9 kilometres shorter distance to the nearest Croatian island - Sušac has procured to Palagruža Croatian sovereignty.  The area is rich in fish and attracts many fishing companies from the islands of Vis, Lastovo and Hvar. There remained recorded the visit of the Pope Alexander III, who in 1177 disembarked on Palagruža on his way to Venice. The dinner was served to him on the flat area of Small Palagruža, today known as the Pope's Field.
In the time when the lighthouse was built, in 1875, first archaeological remains were found suggesting that Palagruža was inhabited far back in the Neolithic. The building of the lighthouse lasted two years and about two hundred workers worked on it.  The light of a range of 25 nautical miles was lit for the first time in 1876. In the Aquarium of Palagruža many sea battles took place.  In one of them in summer 1915 the Austrian Navy damaged the lighthouse, which was then renewed in 1923 by Italy, according to original projects.
The lighthouse building on Palagruža is the largest such object in the eastern Adriatic. Each floor has about two hundred square metres. In the vast ground floor there are working and side rooms of the lighthouse men while on the first floor there are two apartments. The light rotates at the height of 110 metres above the sea level. The water is brought from the mainland because the rain is scarce on Palagruža.

Neven Šerić, PhD