Krapanj - small island near Brodarica

Not very far from our base in Marina Mandalina in Sibenik you can find the smallest, lowest and most densely populated island in the Adriatic, Krapanj. It is straight across from the little tourist town of Brodarica. From here leaves a ferry to the little harbor on the other side. If you sail with one of the charter yachts from Veritas Croatia, be aware of the reef just in front of the island. It is very sparely marked. Many a yacht has been stranded here.
A noble of Sibenik gifted the island to the order of the Franciscan Monks, with the condition that only monks could live on the island. The monastery (of the Holy Cross) was build 1450. In the 16th Hundredth the monks allowed the civil population to take shelter on the island due to the heavy fighting during the Turkish invasion. In 1652 the monastery was joined to a parish and the monks started to give church services. Part of the old church walls can still be seen today.  The church was extended in 1937. The monastery as well was numerous times extended and renewed. A visit is definitely worth your while.
Krapanj has a long standing sponge diver tradition.  Already during the 17th hundredth it was taught to the settlers of Krapanj by a Greek monk. Sponge diving is a “man’s job”, the woman folk of Krapanj are there to do fishing, farming and looking after the children and the household.
A sponge is classed as a multi cell animal. The especially valuable Adriatic sponge has a round form and a very fine, gold- yellow structure. A sponge needs about three years to grow to about 15cm. If harvested by a professional sponge diver, it will renew itself and grow again.
In 1893 the first diving equipment arrived on the island but before that the sponges were dived with harpoons are some kind of spike. Even today the island has 5 dive teams. With light diving equipment the teams manage to cut 4000kg of Adriatic sponges per year. The hotel “Spangiola”, which is on the harbor front, has a small museum telling the history and tradition of the sponge divers.