Fun & intriguing facts about Croatia

20.09.2016., Tuesday

Author: Dubravka Mićić

So it's official, a comprehensive analysis of Google data shows that Croatia is the most desirable destination in the world. The website search looked at queries made between July 2015 and July 2016 from more than 80 countries in 52 languages and based on the record gathered, they produced maps that reveal the holiday wish lists of various nationalities. Croatia marked the highest score of 2.71 per cent of travel-related searches worldwide and all the other beach favourites followed.

Croatia marked the highest score of 2.71 per cent of travel-related searches worldwide and all the other beach favourites followed: Greece (2.54 per cent), Turkey, Thailand (both 2.47 per cent), Spain (1.99 per cent), Italy (1.9 per cent), Cuba (1.85 per cent), Portugal (1.66 per cent) and Malta (1.65 per cent).

If you're one of the people that pressed the Google search button recently and plan a trip to Croatia in the near future, you might be interested in some fun and intriguing facts about Croatia!

Croatia's currency, kuna, was named after a small agile animal with brown fur, marten in English, based on the use of marten pelts as units of value in medieval trading. Heads of the larger coins feature a running marten.



The city of Zadar is home to the world's first Sea Organ that creates its music only by the action of the wind and waves.

Although it has a population of only 23 people, Hum in Istria, Croatia is officially a town and the Guinness World Record holder for the smallest town in the world.

The largest truffle in the world was discovered by Giancarlo Zigante on November 2, 1999, near Buje, Croatia. It was 19.5cm long, 12.4 cm wide and 13.5 cm tall.

Croatians have their own alphabet or set of letters. It is called "Glagolitic" and emerged in the 9th century and was in daily use, along with the Latin alphabet, up to the 18th century.

The street lighting on Up-town and Kaptol in Zagreb was on gas? Every morning and in late afternoon, two lamp-lighters are manually lighting i.e. extinguishing 217 gas lamps which takes them cca 2 hours.

There is a Ulysses' cave on the island of Mljet. It was named after a story which says that a famous adventurer stranded on the nearby cliff Ogiron, where he met the nymph Calypso with whom he fell in love, and spent unforgettable moments in her company.

Dalmatian dogs

The famous Dalmatian dogs originally came from Croatia. Thanks to its eye catching white coat and black spots, the Dalmatian is one of the most easily recognizable dog breeds in the world. The breed takes its name from Croatia's region of Dalmatia, where it is supposed to have originated.

Croatia is the homeland of the world renowned traveller Marco Polo. 13th century explorer is known as one of the first Westerners to travel the Silk Road to China and visit the Mongol Empire. The journey took 24 years, he passed some 25,000 km - became a confidant of Kublai Khan, and he served 17 years. According to a local tradition, he was born on the island of Korčula in 1254 to a family of merchants. The surname is still found on the island.He alsowrote  the  first ever  travel  book  «The Marco Polo Journeys» and introduced the Croatian name to the world.

Recognizable all over the world, and related only to Croats - characteristic cube-shaped red-white coat of arms which is believed to originate from the Persian original homeland of Croats (red signifies south and white signifies north). That is where the name for two Croatias derives from, i.e. White in north and Red in south. When the Croats have selected Ferdinand Habsburg to be their King in Cetine in 1527, they confirmed that choice with some seals, and one of them was Croatian coat of arms, but with 64 fields, i.e. the complete chess-board. That is where the popular term „šahovnica" derives from, and Šah (chess) in Persian means the Ruler - Tsar.

The first tie came from Croatia and today it is worn daily by 600 million men around the world. The cravat or tie has been a part of the Croatian national costume from ancient times. According to Croatian tradition, before a soldier set off for war, his girlfriend or wife would give him a narrow scarf to wear around his neck to remind him of her love. Its modern variety originated in the 1630’s, when Croatian mercenaries enlisted as a support to the reigning king Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu came to France. One particular detail of their military attire caught the Parisian attention. It was an unusual scarf knotted at their necks. The French readily accepted the new fashion and switched from ruffs to the new loose cravats under the shirt collar. The word cravat itself actually reveals its Croatian origin, since the French version cravat derives from the mispronunciation of the word Croat.

Croatia is also the homeland to a genius inventor Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), the father of alternating current and wireless communication.

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Obzor Holidays Ltd. was established in 1993 as a subsidiary of Croatia’s national air carrier, Croatia Airlines. It is a Destination Management Company specialized in Leisure and MICE services in Croatia. Being a fully-fledged Destination Management Company, Obzor Holidays specializes in tailor-made holidays throughout: Croatia & Southeast Europe (Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, Greece).