Olib (pronounced [ɔ̌lib]) is a Croatian island in northern Dalmatia, located north-west of Zadar, south-west of Pag, south-east of Lošinj and just east of Silba with an area of 26.14 km2.[2]
.jpg) Olib village as seen from the sea | |
 | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Adriatic Sea |
| Coordinates | 44°22′N 14°46′E / 44.367°N 14.767°E |
| Area | 26.14 km2 (10.09 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 74 m (243 ft)[1] |
| Highest point | Kalac[1] |
| Administration | |
| County | Zadar |
| Demographics | |
| Demonym | Olibljanin (hr, male) Olibljanka (hr, female) |
| Population | 113 (2021) |
| Pop. density | 4.3/km2 (11.1/sq mi) |
| Additional information | |
| Time zone | |
| • Summer (DST) | |
| Postal codes | 23296 Olib |
| Area code | 023 |
History
editGreek geographer Strabo mentions a settlement named Aloip, which was inhabited by the Liburnians. During the Roman rule, Aloip was rebuilt in a different location, in the island's south-west.[3]
Croats colonised the island from the mid-7th to the late 8th centuries. Another wave of Croatian inhabitants arrived in the mid to late 15th century, from Vrlika in the Cetinska Krajina region in Split-Dalmatia County, fleeing the Ottoman invasions.[4] The Chakavian dialect of Croatian is spoken on Olib. Residents call themselves Olibljani.
The island has many historic buildings and ruins. Among these are the Assumption of Mary parish church with its collection of antiquities including Glagolitic codices dating back to the 17th century (housed in the treasury of the parish rectory), the stone tower or kula built for protection from pirates, and the ruins of Saint Paul's Church and Monastery which was abandoned in the 13th century.
In addition to the parish church of the Assumption of Mary (Uznesenja Blažene Djevice Marije) built in 1899, Olib has three other churches. Saint Anastasia (Sv. Stošije) is situated inside the village cemetery, built in 1632 and restored in 1868, Saint Nicholas (Sv. Nikola) built in 1888 and is located on the cove of Porat, and Saint Rocco (Sv. Roko) built in 1881 and is close to the port of Samotvorac. [5]
Donato Filippi (1832–1912) of Zadar owned the island until 13 May 1900, when its inhabitants purchased it from him for 50,000 forint.[6]
Modern-day Olib
editThe traditional products of Olib include wine, olive oil, and cheese. Most of the food is consumed locally rather than being sold in the market.[7]
There is no water supply network on Olib so all homes on the island are built with cisterns to capture rainwater. During the summer months, the island receives an additional supply of water carried by ships if needed.[8]
Olib is connected to the mainland by ferry to Zadar via the islands of Silba and Premuda. The journey to the mainland takes approximately two hours on a catamaran and up to three and a half hours by ferry. Cars are forbidden to be used for transport on the island, instead having to be parked in a designated area adjacent to the harbour.
Geography
edit
To the SW of the town lie a number of large but shallow karst dolines, referred to collectively as Ponikve.[9]
Demographics
editAlthough the year-round population hovers around only 100, that number is much larger during the summer months, when both descendants of the island's native population as well as international tourists come to visit. According to the 2021 census, the town of Olib has 113 residents and 64 occupied private households.[10]
| population | 1195 | 1297 | 1256 | 1371 | 1495 | 1331 | 1331 | 1128 | 914 | 805 | 585 | 569 | 226 | 714 | 147 | 132 | 113 |
| 1857 | 1869 | 1880 | 1890 | 1900 | 1910 | 1921 | 1931 | 1948 | 1953 | 1961 | 1971 | 1981 | 1991 | 2001 | 2011 | 2021 |
Important Bird Area
editThe island is part of the northern Zadar Archipelago, which has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports breeding populations of several species of fish-eating seabirds.[11]
Notable people
editThe literary estate of Vinko Pulišić remained at his palace in Olib, inherited by his nephew don Ivan Pulišić, and upon the latter's death in 1962 by his sister Marija "Marušica", who allowed Manfred Paštrović to transport them to his house on Silba in 1973. Today they are kept by the Arhiv Zadarske nadbiskupije.[12]
Gallery
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Satellite view of Olib
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Aerial view of Olib
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Banjve port
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Tower of Olib
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References
edit- ^ a b Magaš & Faričić 2002, p. 37.
- ^ Duplančić Leder, Tea; Ujević, Tin; Čala, Mendi (June 2004). "Coastline lengths and areas of islands in the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea determined from the topographic maps at the scale of 1 : 25 000" (PDF). Geoadria. 9 (1). Zadar: 5–32. doi:10.15291/geoadria.127. Retrieved 2019-12-26.
- ^ Magaš & Faričić 2002, pp. 39–40.
- ^ Magaš & Faričić 2002, p. 41.
- ^ "Olib-Zadarske nadbiskupije". Retrieved 2022-07-05.
- ^ Pulišić 1929, pp. 13, 14; IKA 2009; Ivin 2009b, pp. 84–87; Marijan 2009; Grbić 2009; Goja 2022, p. 128; AZ 2025
- ^ Magaš & Faričić 2002, pp. 49–50.
- ^ Magaš & Faričić 2002, p. 39.
- ^ Državna geodetska uprava (2011). Topografska karta 1:25 000 (TK25) (Map).
- ^ "Results" (xlsx). Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in 2021. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics. 2022. Retrieved 2022-07-05.
- ^ "North part of Zadar Archipelago". BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2024. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
- ^ Perović 2020, p. 118
Bibliography
edit- IKA (2015-06-15). "Umro don Mihovil Cukar". Informativna katolička agencija.
- Perović, Anamaria (2020). "Nekoliko osobitosti sređivanja korespondencije na primjeru osobnog arhivskog fonda Vinka Pulišića, zadarskoga nadbiskupa i metropolita Dalmacije" [Some peculiarities of arranging correspondence on the example of the personal papers of Vinko Pulišić, the Archbishop of Zadar and Metropolitan of Dalmatia]. Arhivski vjesnik (in Serbo-Croatian). 63: 117–139. doi:10.36506/av.63.5. eISSN 1848-3143.
- Goja, Bojan (2022). "Grobnica obitelji Filippi na Gradskom groblju u Zadru – povijest izgradnje i autori" [Tomb of the Filippi family at the City Cemetery in Zadar – the history of its construction and the authors]. Vjesnik dalmatinskih arhiva (in Serbo-Croatian). 3 (published 2023-02-24): 127–142. doi:10.58565/vda.3.1.5. eISSN 2806-8459.
- Magaš, Damir; Faričić, Josip (2002). "Problemi suvremene socio-geografske preobrazbe otoka Oliba" [The Problems of the Contemporary Socio-Geographic Transformation of the Olib Island] (PDF). Geoadria (in Croatian). 7 (2): 35–62. doi:10.15291/geoadria.88. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
External links
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