Town of Cres (Cherso)

The small town of Cres and its harbour is the largest settlement on the island of Cres; pop. 1,866 [circa 1970]. Situated on the western coast of the island in a well-sheltered bay, Cres has a fish-processing plant and a small shipyard. It is also the main tourist centre of the island and is linked by bus services with other settlements in the islands of Cres and Lošinj.

Cres, the res publica Crepsa of Roman times, has been inhabited since prehistoric times. There is an archaeological site from prehistoric and Roman times on the hill Sveti BartuI, while excavations in the Lovreški area have brought to light the remains of an Early Christian basilica from the 6th c. During the Middle Ages the settlement developed on the eastern side of the bay, within defence walls. In 1332 it acquired a statute, and from 1459 it was the seat of the Venetian administration for the islands of Cres and Lošinj which was moved there from Osor.

Venice built a new wall in the 16th c, parts of which are still preserved. Most of the public buildings and houses of noble families were built round the harbour. Notable buildings are the City Gate with the Clock Tower (16th cc.) and, next to it, the City Loggia (15th—16th c.). The city gate leads to a square with a Gothic-Renaissance church (15th c.) and campanile (16th c).

In the church is a wooden Gothic "Pietà" from the 15th c, and a collection of paintints from teh 15th-18th cc.(polyptych "St. Sebastian with Saints" by Alvise Vivarini) in the vestry.

The square extending from the harbour inland ends in a street with the 16th-century City Hall on the left-hand side; in the courtyard of the building is a lapidarium. The same street leads to the remains of the city walls (a stretch of 200 m) with two city gates (16th c). A round tower still stands in the north-western part of the town.

Near the town gate in the harbour stands the 15th-century granary (Fontik, now a hotel). Petris Palace (15th c.) in the small square behind the granary is built in Venetian Gothic style. The maze of narrow streets behind Petris Palace conceals the mediaeval church of St. Isidore (Sv. Sidar) with a Romanesque apse and Gothic portal; in the church a wooden statue of the patron saint of the church (15lh c.) and parts of a Gothic wooden polyptych (15th c). Near by are the ruins of the Gothic Rodinis Palace (15th c).

Outside the town by the sea stands the Gothic chapel of St. Maria Magdalena dating from 1402, a Franciscan monastery with two cloisters, and a church from the 14th-15th cc. (carved choir stalls, specimens of Gothic plastic art, illuminated manuscripts from the 15th c. in the library of the monastery). Not far away the Benedictine nunnery dating from the I5th c.

Excursions

O Dragozetići (20 km by road to the north), a village in the interior of the island of Cres. Built in tiers at a height of 279 m, above a stretch of fertile fields which separates the village from the wooded coastal belt. The cemetery chapel dates from 1497; later additions and the new altar, the work of local masters, date from the 17th and 19th cc. The new parish church dating from 1862-63 contains several works of art (relief of Mary with the Child and a Renaissance marble polyptych) from the 15th c.

— The road runs on (6 km) to Porozina (q. v.). O Valun (by sea to the south-west, 4.5 naut. mi.) from the Bay of Cres (Creski Zaljev) to the wide cove Valunska Draga.

At a short distance from the shore, the parish church famous for the inscription slab (Valunska ploča), the oldest known Glagolitic monument, built into the wall of its sacristy,

From the town of Cres by road south to the village of Vrana (13 km) above Vransko Jezero (Lake Vrana; see island of Cres). From there by road south-west to the village of Martinšćica (q. v.) in a cove of the same name. From Vrana the road turns south to Osor (q. v., 33 km from Cres), along the eastern slopes of Televrina (588 m) through Nerezine (37 km from Cres) to Mali Lošnj (q. v., 55 km). O By ferry-boat from Porozina to Rabac (q. v., 6.5 naut. mi.) on the eastern coast of Istria. See excursions from Rabac.

Source: 

• The Yugoslav Coast, Guide and Atlas, Jugoslavenski Leksikografski Zavod, Zagreb (1972)