Getting There and Around
These days regular and express ferries provide services to and from the mainland; Dubrovnik – Sobra (daily connections from Dubrovnik and Pelješac). Two ferry types are available to/from Dubrovnik, a car ferry and a catamaran. Transportation to the island is mostly provided by Jadrolinija ferries. Adding to that is the extra twice weekly ferry service from Rijeka – Dubrovnik – Bari.
Mljet is only 8km away from the peninsula of Pelješac, 18km from Korčula and 30km from Dubrovnik. There are a number of harbour ports in Mljet. Polače is its largest and main port of call in the north. Other harbours include Okuklje, Luka Prožura, Sobra, Kozarica and Pomena which has daily connections to Dubrovnik (watch out for reefs and shallow water), and Lokve or Gonoturska port where you can throw anchor just before the entry canal toward the Veliko jezero.
Sounds of Mljet: A breeze brushing through pine boughs ... the flapping of a sail out in the channel, heard from high on a seaside ridge ... the bray of a donkey. Silence.
Mljet gets a growing share of tourists, but as one of the more remote and less developed islands, with limited ferry service, it lacks the kind of mass tourism of much of the Dalmatian coast and some other more accessible islands. This isn’t the place to come for late night bars, concerts, discos. One might hope it never will be.
And yet, Mljet isn’t that hard to reach, if you try. By catamaran, it’s as close as an hour from Dubrovnik. Ferries from Dubrovnik, are slower but perhaps more appropriate for a leisurely visit to the island (and making a stopover in Šipan) take a couple pleasant hours. Another ferry connects the island with the Pelješac Peninsula.
Be prepared to fall in love with nature all over again, for this island has a stunning quality waiting for you to discover. Croatia’s 8th largest island is approximately 3 km wide and 37 km making attractive to explore for a short or lengthier stop. It has an area of roughly 100 square km with 131 km of coastline and many little niches and coves to discover, so you’d be forgiven for wanting to stay. With five distinct forest tree varieties, abundant fauna and lush vegetation, it’s easy to see why Mljet is called the “Green Island.” Mljet offers a panorama of coastline, cliffs, reefs and numerous islets as well as the rich topography of the hills that rise steeply above the sea and plummet back into deep valleys sheltering
ancient stone villages. The submarine world includes quite an array of fish and several types of corals. With fantastic weather, sailing, recreational sports, swimming, scuba diving, hiking and bicycle paths are only a fraction of the pleasures that you can enjoy here. The western end of Mljet has been protected as a National Park since 1960.
The ancient Greeks who settled here left the first record of the place, calling it Melissa or Melitta, (meaning, bee; honey) because of the many bees that made their home there. Greek settlers became familiar with this island whilst colonising nearby Vis (Issa), Hvar (Pharos) and Korčula (Korkiru).
The Illyrians settled the entire island in the 2nd Century BC, leaving graves and traces of military fortifications and settlements in seven places, on hills near water sources. The best preserved sites are located on Veliki Gradac hill above the Veliko Jezero, and the fort of Vodica near Babino Polje.
The Romans followed, their era lasting from the 2nd Century BC - 7th century AD. After Octavian wiped out the Illyrians in 35 BC, the Romans built their own settlements on the western side of the island. Evidence of their domain is most notable in Polače, where they built a palace. Other Roman ruins are located in Pomena, Žara and Pinjevci.
The Croatian-Slavic nobility settled along the entire Adriatic coast around the end of the 8th and the start of the 9th Century. During this period of weakened Byzantine influence in the region, Croatians descended from the Neretva Valley and some settled on Mljet. The Romans, however, remained on the western end of the mountain for about another 300 years, until they were defeated in a battle on the mountain Bijeđ, between Blato and Polače. Evidence of this battle, including mass graves and remnants of bones, spears, swords and arrows, was discovered in 1938.
In 1151, Prince Desa of the Herzegovinian kingdom of Zahumlje donated the entire island of Mljet to the Benedictine Abbey of St Mary of Pulsano from Apulia. Their arrival saw the construction of a church and grand monastery (1177-1198) on the islet in Veliko Jezero.
Ragusa (later called Dubrovnik), acquired the Pelješac Peninsula in 1333, leaving Mljet isolated for a time. This changed in 1410, however, when Ragusa, now independent of Venice, annexed Mljet. Ragusa held the island until the dissolution of the Republic under Napoleon in 1808.
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