Brijuni (Brioni) Archipelago

The Brijuni (Brioni) Archipelago, in Latin times called Pullariae, is relatively small, comprises an area of around 7 km² and consists of two main pine-covered islands and twelve islets off the coast of Istria, along with a few shoals and shallows, in the northern Adriatic Sea and only 6 km. northwest of Pula across the 3km-wide Fažana (Fasana) Channel. The highest peak of the Brijuni islands is only 55 m.

The archipelago contains some one hundred sites and buildings of archaeological and cultural-historical value and is covered by parks, meadows and oak and laurel forests, indigenous plants, remarkably preserved Mediterranean maquis, (including rare plants such as wild cucumber and marine poppy) where non-native and exotic animals such as fallow deer, axis, muflons, zebras, Somali sheep, Indian cattle, dromedaries, llamas and elephants roam to this day that were originally imported as gifts during the Tito regime by his frequent guests: high-profile celebrities (film and opera stars, artists, and writers) and political figures.

Of greater local historical value is the fact that the islands were inhabited in the neolithic era. On the island of Veli Brijuni were discovered as many as 200 dinosaur footprints. The islands then fell under Roman rule in 177 A.D. after they conquered the Histri. Upon the collapse of the Roman Empire, the islands first were ruled by the Ostrogoths, then the Byzantine Empire until 776 A.D. The Franks and the Aquilean patriarchs were the next rulers and in 1331 these fell under the rule of the Venetian Empire. The islands were allowed to deteriorate into malarial swamps until 1893 when thez were purchased by Paul Kupelwieser, an Austrian industrialist, who eradicated the disease with the help of doctors, and then fashioned parks from the Mediterranean scrub.

Thus arose a vacation retreat par excellence — not for wealthy Romans, as had been the case seventeen centuries earlier, but for fin-de-sièclee Viennese and other Europeans of high-society. Archduke Franz Ferdinand summered here, as did such literary figures as Thomas Mann (author of Death in Venice) and Arthur Schnitzler; James Joyce came here to celebrate his 23rd birthday in 1905. Two world wars ensued, however, and the islands' fate grew cloudy as they changed hands — coming under Italian and, later, Yugoslavian, dictatorships. From 1949 to 1979 the largest island, Veli Brijun, served as the official summer residence of Marshal Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslavia's "president for life". It was also here that, together with Nasser of Egypt and Nehru of India, Tito forged the Brioni Declaration, uniting the so-called nonaligned nations (countries adhering to neither NATO nor the Warsaw Pact).

In 1983, three years after Tito's death, the archipelago that had been Tito's private playland was designated a national park and opened to the public. To this day, however, the greater part of the islands remain off-limits.

The islands and islets are:

1. Veli or Veliki Brijun (Brioni Maggiore, Brioni Grande) - the uninhabited and largest island, has an irregular form that extends in its central and southern parts. It consists of 1,700 acres that lie 2 kilometres (1 mile) off the coast and is separated from Mali Brijun (Brioni Minore), 125 m. further north, by Tiscnac (Bocca Stretta).
2. Mali Brijun (Brioni Piccolo, Brioni Minore) - the second largest island, its surface area is 108.85 ha. (1.07 km²) and the length of coastline is 8.28 km. The island is known for its Fort Minor, which is the largest fortification on the Adriatic coast, as well as for the Ulysses Theater which gathers theatre lovers each summer. Although Mali Brijun kept its original landscape full of maquis, you can also enjoy cultivated landscapes, parks, meadows and pastures, and many Austro-Hungarian fortifications can be found hidden from view. Except for setting the stage for Ulysses scenes, the island is otherwise closed for public visits.
3. Galija (Gallia or Galera) - and islet located in a residential area and is closed to the public. Its surface area is 4.94 ha. and the length of the coastline is 0.83 km. It is assumed that the island was named after a galley, an old type of ship propelled by rowing.
4. Gaz (Gaza or Gazza) - an uninhabited islet with surface area of 6.28 ha. and coastline length of 1.13 km. Gaz is not open to the public. Looking from a bird's-eye view, the islet is shaped like a fish, and it is interesting that the logo of the National park is inspired by the appearance of this island.
5. Grunj (Gronghera) - an uninhabitted islet with a surface area of 3.37 ha. and the length of coastline of 1 km. The island was named after a type of fish, conger, known as grunj or ugor. Its Italian name has the same meaning. The island is closed to the public.  
6. Kozada or Kotež (Cosada) - an islet that is open to the public as an excursion destination. Its surface area is 7.84 ha. and the length of the coastline is 1.16 km. During Austro-Hungarian rule, this small island was a hydroplane station and a pilot training center, while today it is uninhabited and full of lush vegetation. 
7. Pusti or Madona (Madonna del deserto) - an uninhabited islet with a surface area of 5.06 ha. and length of coastline of 1.19 km. Madona is closed to the public. The island was named after the monastery of St. Mary in Dobrika Bay on Veli Brijun island. In the mid-50s of the 20th century the name Madona was replaced by the name Pusti otok. Today, guests at Villa Brijunka use the beaches of this island. 
8. Obiljak or Okrugljak (Toronda or Gironda) -  an islet that was recorded in the beginning of the 20th century to be inhabited by seven people, it is now uninhabited and closed to the public. It has a surface area of 4.17 ha. and the coastline length of 0.76 km.
9. Supin or Šupin (Zumpin Grande or Zompin Grande) - an uninhabited islet with a surface area of 1.28 ha. and the length of the coastline of 0.43 km. The name of the island was derived from the former Italian name Zumpin Grande which in the Friulian language of the northern region of Italy means "lameness". The islet is closed to the public.  
10. Supinić (Zumpin Piccolo or Zompinetto) - the smallest islet of the archipelago, its surface area is 0.37 ha. and coastline length is 0.25 km. Just as with Supin island, its name was derived from its former Italian name. It is uninhabited and closed to the public.  
11. Sveti Jerolim (San Gerolamo) - an islet with a surface area of 7.84 ha. and length of the coastline is 1.16 km. It is named after the church and a monastery that once dominated the island. The islet belonged to an Austrian family who built a villa with a garden and two wells there, and later had the chapel built near the villa. The quarry on the islet, already nearly exhausted at the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was used as a refuge by the inhabitants of Stinjan (Stignano) during the bombings of the Second World War. Today, only see the foundations of one of the walls of the sacral building still remain. In the northern part of the islet there is a small harbor enclosed by stone piers with breakwaters which can accommodate a dozen small boats. It is a favourite day-excursion site and beach for the people of Pula and its surrounding areas. Due to its rich underwater world, it is also a popular diving site.
12. Sveti Marko (San Marco) - an uninhabited islet with a surface area of 0.89 ha. and coastline length of 0.34 km. It is closed to the public.  
13. Vanga or Krasica (Vanga) - an islet made up of two parts connected to each other by a short spit of land and looks like an open shell. Oriented in a northwest-southeast direction, it measures 910 m. in length and 390 m. in maximum width. It has an area of 0.194 km²  and a coastal development of 2.695 km. To the north, it reaches a maximum elevation of 8.7 m a.s.l. The islet  consists of northern residential and southtern business sections of government-owned properties where vacation is provided for high-level political officials. Although there are plans to open the Vanga island to the public, it is still closed for visitors. 
14. Vrsar (Orsera) - an islet with a surface area of 6.79 ha. and length of coastline is 1.39 km. A bunker was built here to defend the islands at the end of the 20th century, but is now closed to the public.

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Created: Monday, August 01, 2022; Last Updated: Monday, August 01, 2022
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