INTERESTING ABOUT CROATIA
Largest truffle...
... ever found was discovered by Giancarlo Zigante on November 2, 1999 close to village Livade in Istria. The truffle, holder of Guinness World Record for biggest in the world, was 7.8 inches long, 4.1 inches wide and 5.3 inches tall.
First in the world...
Dubrovnik formally recognized the United States when it declared independence from Great Britan in 1776. At that time, Dubrovnik was an independent republic.
Wimbledon success
Croatian tennis player Goran Ivanisevic won Wimbledon in 2001 after entering the tournament on a wild card.
First Oscar!
First foreigner to win Oscar for short animated film was Croatian cartoonist and director Dusan Vukotić with his Surogat ("Ersatz") in 1961.
Croatia's beginning
Croatia was founded in the first half of 7th century, on the ruins of the Roman Empire.
Mechanical pencil is Croatian invention
First mechanical pencil (1906) in the world and the first solid-inkfountain pen (1907) was invented by Mr. Penkala, a Croatian engineer and inventor.
Botomless cave on Velebit
Lukina Jama, located on Velebit Mountain in Croatia, is one of 20 deepest caves in the world.
Snow Queen
The only woman in the world to win four gold medals in alpine skiing at the Winter Olympics (2002 and 2006), and the only woman to win three alpine skiing gold medals in one Olympics (2002) was Croatian champion in ski racing Janica Kostelic.
Tesla's birthplace in Croatia
Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), the father of alternative current electricity and technology of wireless communications, after whom the unit for magnetic induction was named, was born in Croatia. You can visit his birth house in the village Smiljani.
Korcula - island of Marco Polo
Marco Polo an adventurer, merchant and one of the best known world travelers, whose book "The Travels of Marco Polo" is the first tourist book in the world, comes from island Korcula in Croatia. On this magic island you can visit his old house.
7 Croatian places on World Heritage List
The World Heritage UNESCO List includes 890 pearls and 7 of them are in Croatia:
1. Historical Complex of Split with the Palace of Diocletian
2. Old City of Dubrovnik
3. Plitvice Lakes National Park
4. Episcopal Complex of the Euphrasian Basilica in the Historic Centre of Poreč
5. Historic City of Trogir
6. The Cathedral of St James in Sibenik
7. Stari Grad Plain on island Hvar
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Orient Express ran through Zagreb
Orient Express is Europe's first transcontinental express that ran from Paris to Constantinople (Istanbul) for more than 80 years (1883-1977). In 1919 Simplon Orient
Express ran from Paris to Milan, Venice, Zagreb, Belgrade, and Sofia. Famous Agatha Christie's story "Murder in Orient Express" takes place on Simplon route.
Flying with parachute in 17 century
One of the early inventors of parachute was a Croat Faust Vrancic who constructed a device based on Da Vinci's drawings. In 1617 he successfully jumped from a Venice tower with a rigid-framed parachute.
Our high quality wood
The buildings of Venice are constructed on closely spaced wood piles, which were imported from Croatia, specifically from Lika and Gorski Kotar.
Croatian CSI
Croat Ivan Vucetic was first to begin filing of fingerprints expanding ideas of Francis Glaton.
Croatian scientists on the Moon
Among extraordinary people on the map of the moon are four Croatian scientists Ruđer Bošković, Nikola Tesla, Andrija Mohorovičić i Leo Brenner
Where is the centre of the world?
Have you ever spread the map of the world trying to find out which town is the nearest to the centre of the world? The legend says that Croatian town Ludbreg is the starting point of ancient circles of the earth and that all major European cities are situated around their edges.
Roman palace in Split
The Palace of Diocletian, located in Spit, is one of the best known integral architectural and cultural constructions in the world
Nabokov summer vacation
In his childhood Vladimir Nabokov, well known writter of novel Lolita, always spent summers in Opatija.
A.Christie on her honeymoon
Agatha Christie spent her second honeymoon in Dubrovnik and Split.
J.Joyce taught in Pula
James Joyce, Irish writer and poet, was a teacher of English in Pula from 1904 and 1905. He is widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, but he is best known for his landmark novel Ulysses.
Who was Marin from island Rab?
The founder of San Marino, a small independent republic in the northeast of Italy, was sculptor Marin from the island of Rab.
Flashlight for astronauts
Anthony Maglica, the owner of the well-known company Mag-Lite, comes from Dalmatian island Zlarin. Mag-Lite flashlights are among the ten most famous American export products, used by astronauts and deep sea explorers, amongst others.
Neanderthals close to Zagreb
Zagreb has the world's largest and most extensive collection of Neanderthal man remains found on the same location. Also, close to Zagreb is the first Neanderthal museum in Europe.
Our old friend Mummy
Housed inside Zagreb Archaeological Museum are some of the world's finest collections of human preservation and examples of the oldest Etruscan inscription known to man.
Smallest town in the world
Smallest town in the world is Hum in the central part of Istria, northwest Croatia. The elevation of the town is 349 m. This small fortified habitation has maintained all the features of medieval urban architecture and organization. As the Guinness World Record holder for the smallest town in the world, Hum has a population of only 28 people.
Gric Cannon
Each day at noon in Zagreb you can hear Gric Cannon. Since January 1st 1877 the cannon is fired from the Lotrscak Tower on Gric to mark midday. The cannon was to give the sign for sharp noon for the bell-ringers of the city's churches.
Sea Organ
In Zadar, Croatia, you can see and hear unique Sea organ - an urban art installation designed to add sound to famous Zadar sunsets.
Thousand islands
Croatia has 1185 islands, 66 of them inhabited.
Our talents
The verses for Austrian national anthem were written by Paula Von Preradovic, granddaughter of highly esteemed Croatian Poet Petar Preradovic.
What is common to Argentina and Croatia?
In Argentina some rivers carry same names as rivers in Croatia - Korana, Kupa, Cetina, Una.
Croatian scientist Ivica Frkovic led topographic expeditions in south of Argentina, discovered previously unknown rivers and gave them Croatian names.
G.B.Shaw about Dubrovnik
George Bernard Shaw is reported to have said: "If you want to see a heaven on earth, come to Dubrovnik". He was awarded both Nobel Prize for Literature and Oscar for the play Pygmalion.
Creativity born in Dubrovnik
Famous world designer Ottavio Missioni was born in Dubrovnik in 1921 and part of his childhood he spend in Zadar.
Monument to a dog in Zagreb
Zagreb has a uniqe monument to a dog in the yard of the palace in Ilica 5. In the 19th century during the building construction the dog Pluto was guarding the site and keeping company to construcion workers. Since he died before the end of construction and was the workers' lovely pet they built a relief with his character in the wall of the palace.
St. Trinity Bell
The largest bell in Croatia - Bell St. Trinity, is located in the Zagreb Cathedral tower. It is 2.5 m high and weighing about 6.5 tons. While it was still run by a rope, it took six to eight strong men to properly ring the bell.
Maksimir among first public parks in the world
In the late 18th century, when Zagreb had only 10.000 inhabitants the construction of park Maksimir had begun. Maksimir is one of the first public parks in Europe and worldwide. At that time most parks were private gardens close to the royal and aristocratic residences and public parks were extremely rare.