Explore and experience

Natural attractions

Šibenik is lucky to have a green velvet carpet behind its back and not harsh karst terrain. This site features a dense Aleppo pine forest, which is sporadically mixed with Holm oak trees. As for the flora of the site, there is Illyrian Iris, which was proclaimed Croatian national flower in 2000 as proposed by the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts. In this area we can often find one of the oldest known species in Croatia and the first and oldest species endemic to Croatia – orchid Ophrys flavicans Vis.

Curiosities

Many visitors to this site are unaware of the fact that about a hundred years ago these hills looked different due to the intensive cultivation of the vine. Numerous dry-stone walls are an eloquent testimony to the past for a close observer. The Aleppo pine that dominates the area was systematically planted as a first-class pioneer species for karst terrain afforestation. This tree is not actually an indigenous species, which can be easily proved by the fact that it was named after the city of Aleppo in the north of Syria. It is interesting that there is a small number of Aleppo pine trees in the region of their origin but it is an extremely widespread species all over the Mediterranean.