Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a sovereign state at the crossroads of Central Europe, Southeast Europe, and the Mediterranean. Its capital city is Zagreb, which forms one of the country's primary subdivisions, along with its twenty counties. The region was settled by Liburnians and Illyrians, while the first Greek colonies were established on the islands of Korčula, Hvar and Vis. In 9 AD the territory of today's Croatia became part of the Roman Empire. Emperor Diocletian built a large palace in Split when he retired in AD 305.
During the 5th century, one of the last Emperors of the Western Roman Empire, Julius Nepos, ruled his small empire from the palace. The period ends with Avar and Croat invasions in the first half of the 7th century and destruction of almost all Roman towns. Roman survivors retreated to more favourable sites on the coast, islands and mountains. The city of Dubrovnik was founded by such survivors from Epidaurum.
The name of the Croats is first documented in a source from the 9th century. The name “Hrvat” itself has no Slavic roots, but most likely arose as a foreign name for Slavs from Iran (Sarmatians). It is believed that the “Hrvati” people come from the area of the Persian river (in the Sarmatian language) “Harahvaiti”, which is now called “Sarasvati” due to the sound shift (“h” to “s”).
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The ancient amphitheatre of Salona
Boat tour on Cetina River next to Omis
New contacts in Shkoder, Omis and Salona
Arrival at Omis and first exploration hike
Exploration hike Omis - reverse trail
Adventure on the Zip Line high above Cetina River
New archaeological concepts in Siculi
Narona - Roman colony and trading town at Neretva River
Hike to the medivial fortress of Starigrad
Descent from Starigrad passing old stone houses
What in the high season between Omis and Split on the coastal highway 8 creates lot of stress for traffic, is now in early autumn quite enjoyable because of silence and serenity: small idyllic coastal villages such as Jenice and Dugi Rat lined up like pearls on a string.
As an extremely interesting day trip destination Željka from Camp Galep had recommended a tour to the sinkholes at Imotski, probably among the most impressive, geological natural sites in the world.
We were coming back from Imotski on the way for camping in Omis on the open fields when we met a collection of stones that immediately took all of our interest.
During our first stay to visit the two sinkholes in Imotzki we had not found the time to concern ourselves with the place itself.
Again and again you meet interesting people on the go, so there was now again an encounter that resulted in a joint trip to the ancient Roman Narona, a former colony and trading town in Dalmatia.
Once again we were on the road to follow some directions to places of interest. Coming from Omis along the coast, we first wanted to visit the newly built museum at the ancient Roman market town Narona, as well as the village Vid itself, which has arisen on the ruins after leaving the trading venue Narona.