A jewel box that juts like a thumb from the main body of the island, Korcula's Old Town owes much of its architectural heritage to the 15th and 16th centuries, when it was part of the prosperous Republic of Venice.
Narrow streets lined with medieval white-stone buildings spread out from the spire of St. Mark's Cathedral at the center of town. Encircling the densely packed city is a 14th-century wall; sapphire-blue waters surround the entire isle.Biscuit brown in the sun, it is a medieval Venetian architectural miniature whose appearance belies its troubled history, looking – from a distance, at least – as fresh as if the masons had just packed away their tools. A smaller Dubrovnik, say some ...
In 1298 a naval battle between Venice and Genoa took place off Lumbarda, at the south-eastern tip of Korcula. Marco Polo was one of those taken captive by the victorious Genoese.Although Marco was fighting on the side of the Venetians, Korcula claims – with a fair amount of evidence – that it, not Venice, was his birth-place.
We bring to you a story about the people, traditions, language, history, music and festivals of Marco Polo’s Isle, one of the most beautiful in Dalmatia.