{"id":1258,"date":"2021-11-03T11:38:52","date_gmt":"2021-11-03T10:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluecave-bisevo.com\/?page_id=1258"},"modified":"2021-11-30T12:08:47","modified_gmt":"2021-11-30T11:08:47","slug":"bisevo-geotrail","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bluecave-bisevo.com\/en\/bisevo-geotrail\/","title":{"rendered":"Bi\u0161evo Geotrail"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row thb_full_width=”true” thb_row_padding=”true” thb_column_padding=”true” content_placement=”middle” thb_scroll_bottom=”true” thb_scroll_bottom_style=”style3″ thb_scroll_bottom_color=”light” thb_shape_divider=”true” css=”.vc_custom_1625230054647{padding-top: 30vh !important;padding-bottom: 25vh !important;background-image: url(https:\/\/bluecave-bisevo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/geostaza-bisevo-naslovna.jpg?id=578) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}” divider_shape=”triangle” thb_divider_color=”#ffffff”][vc_column thb_color=”thb-light-column”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner offset=”vc_col-lg-5 vc_col-md-8″]\t
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Bi\u0161evo Geotrail<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t[vc_empty_space height=”10px”][vc_column_text animation=”animation fade-in” el_class=”podnaslov-bijelo faux-h2″]Check out the geotrail[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”20px”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”align-center”][vc_column offset=”vc_col-lg-8 vc_col-md-8″ css=”.vc_custom_1617197869899{padding-right: 2vh !important;}”][vc_empty_space height=”60px”][vc_column_text animation=”animation fade-in”]The existing Bi\u0161evo Geotrail, which originated in Mezoporat and lead to Polje, then Salbunara and ended in Porat, has now been added new legs from Polje to the Bi\u0161evo\u2019s highest point Stra\u017ebenica, then Potok, ending at Cape Gatula. Thus the Visitor Centre is now connected to Mezoporat, Porat, Gatula, Salbunara and Stra\u017ebenica.<\/p>\n

Next to the trail, intended for walking and cycling, there are signposts, information panels, cycle stands, gazebos, a viewpoint with a panoramic telescope, as well as two cameras used for observing the nesting of Eleonora\u2019s falcon. Four coastal artillery batteries had been renovated and transformed into rest areas with tables.<\/p>\n

Next to the trails, the visitors can find a total of 25 information panels, presenting the tourist map of Bi\u0161evo and the most important locations of the island, such as the Blue Cave, the Monk Seal Cave, Salbunara cove etc. They also present features of Bi\u0161evo, such as its vegetation, the most important animal species \u2013 the common bottlenose dolphin, the Eleonora\u2019s falcon and the passage birds; the speleological and geological phenomena and objects, historical buildings such as the old Bi\u0161evo school, the Church of St. Silvester, the Roman well and artillery batteries, as well as the traditional agriculture of the island.<\/p>\n

The concept of educational-thematic trails that are used for the interpretation of the natural and cultural heritage, has both an educational and recreational character. The visitors may choose any segment of the educational trail, in line with their preferences, fitness and abilities.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”60px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_tta_accordion active_section=”1″ collapsible_all=”true”][vc_tta_section title=”1. INTRODUCTORY PANEL” tab_id=”1624966691345-a4461e97-72d5″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text animation=”animation fade-in”]You have set your foot on the island of Bi\u0161evo in the Vis archipelago. Bi\u0161evo boasts two monuments of nature. The Blue Cave is the most attractive monument of nature in the archipelago, featuring a unique light effect that simply leaves you breathless. The other monument of nature \u2013 the longest semi-submerged cave in the Adriatic, the Monk Seal Cave, is only a mile away. With the total length of 160 metres, this cave used to be a home of the Mediterranean monk seal species, which reared their young on a small pebble beach at the end of the cave hall.<\/p>\n

This trail describes the geological origin of the island of Bi\u0161evo, as well as the cultural and natural heritage of the inhabitants of this beautiful, exotic island.<\/p>\n

In the end of the Mesozoic or the Age of the Dinosaurs, i.e. at the beginning of the Cenozoic or the Age of Mammals, Bi\u0161evo was located in a tropical belt in the middle of the ancient Tethys Ocean. Bi\u0161evo was a part of a small continent located between Europe and Africa called the Adriatic Carbonate Platform. It was covered by shallow and warm sea teeming with life and numerous organisms.<\/p>\n

Bi\u0161evo\u2019s sedimentary layers were built from numerous shells and remains of these organisms. When the Adriatic Carbonate Platform collided with Europe, these sediments were tectonically elevated, resulting in the formation of the Dinaric mountains and the present-day islands of the Vis archipelago.<\/p>\n

The Quaternary period, when the sea level was 140 meters lower than today, was marked by dry and cold Ice Age. Strong winds carried the sand from the steppes to the surrounding hills and present-day islands. In that manner the fertile soil which yields the finest quality grape and the beautiful sandy beaches of Bi\u0161evo were created.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”886″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”2. THE BLUE CAVE \u2013 BEAUTIFUL BEYOND WORDS” tab_id=”1625058816170-a25d756a-6290″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”888″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]The Viennese painter Eugen baron Ransonnet discovered the Blue Cave on the island of Bi\u0161evo. On Thursday, 7th August 1884, the Viennese daily Neue Freie Presse published the article by Baron Eugen Ransonnet: \u00a0Die blaue Grotte der Insel Busi<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This article sparked a massive interest of the Austrian public in the natural beauty of the coast and islands of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was a sensational news story about the discovery of the natural Adriatic phenomenon \u2013 The Blue Cave on the island of Bi\u0161evo.<\/p>\n

In Ransonnet\u2019s opinion, the beauty of this cave topped the more famous Grotta Azzurra on the island of Capri which was then considered the most beautiful sea cave in the world. As you leave behind a bright summer day and enter the dark tunnel of Bi\u0161evo\u2019s Blue Cave, you soon encounter the deep blue beauty which flashes at us from the sea, that colour which turns all objects and bodies immersed in it into liquid silver.<\/p>\n

And you can tell with certainty that you are in a mythical place, in a temple of beauty, that you have crossed over from reality to a supernatural realm, into an inexplicable mythical ambient of a sea deity which fills us with inexplicable feelings and miraculous strength.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”3. STONE BALLS FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE ANCIENT SEA” tab_id=”1625058784265-8406e1c6-8ab3″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text animation=”animation fade-in”]The newest pages in the stone “book” of Bi\u0161evo island are the limestones formed during the Paleogene, the geological period dominated by mammals.<\/p>\n

Like small pieces of rock tumbling down a snowy slope, these stone balls were formed by the sliding of the sediment down the slope of the sea bottom. Such biogenic limestone is commonly found in the central part of Bi\u0161evo island and can easily be recognised by the coarse (rough) surface and nodular (“ball-like”) layers. They are easily decomposed into calcareous sand which was carried by the wind to the island\u2019s sandy plains and the valleys during the last Ice Age.<\/p>\n

The sand was formed of the millions of tiny calcareous shells of protozoa (foraminifera), algae, sea urchins, shells and their debris. The accumulated grains of sand in the sediment have been subsequently bound by the crystallised carbonate cement, forming solid rock \u2013 the limestone.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”890″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”4. POSIDONIA, A SEAGRASS SPECIES” tab_id=”1624966691371-5bf86380-eb14″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”892″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]Approximately 100-120 million years ago, some land plants became underwater plants again. One of such plants is the Posidonia oceanica<\/em>, commonly known as Neptune grass or Mediterranean tapeweed \u2013 an aquatic plant bearing flowers and fruits, endemic to the Mediterranean Sea. The posidonia seagrass species is the most widespread endemic sea flowering plant of the Mediterranean. It was named by the famous Swedish botanist Linn\u00e9, after the Greek sea god Poseidon.<\/p>\n

Posidonia plays an important role in the ecosystem of coastal waters in multiple ways. Up to 400 various plant species and a couple of thousand animal species live in posidonia meadows. Only upon careful inspection one may notice that the seemingly empty posidonia meadows are actually habitats teeming with marine life. Posidonia\u2019s leaves are a home to a plenitude of plant and animal species called the epiphytes (from the Greek words epi<\/em> meaning “upon” and phyton<\/em> meaning “plant”). They are a food source to fish, molluscs and crustaceans. Due to its elongated leaves and a developed network of rhizomes, posidonia catches sediment particles, adding to the sea transparency. In the autumn, the posidonia seagrass, also known as “la\u017eina” in Dalmatia, protects Bi\u0161evo\u2019s sandy beaches from sand erosion. It has been estimated that Bi\u0161evo island is surrounded by 200 hectares of posidonia, making up the area called \u201cThe Bi\u0161evo Sea\u201d within the ecological network Natura 2000 together with sea caves, coralligenuous reefs, sand beaches and the seabed. Just like continental forests, the posidonia meadows represent the “climax” community (i.e. the final stage in the long ecological succession) in the coastal submarine area, which produces significant amounts of oxygen crucial to life. Due to its slow growth, averaging between 1 and 7 cm a year, posidonia meadows take a long time to restore. It is therefore of exceptional importance to take all preventive measures to protect posidonia by regulating the negative human impact \u2013 by constructing the necessary sewage systems, prohibiting laying pebbles in the sea and the usage of trawl nets as fishing tools, as well as regulating the anchoring.<\/p>\n

The Mezoporat bay on Bi\u0161evo has an ecological mooring system. The boats are tied to the floating buoys in order to avoid the repeated anchoring to the seabed where the sensitive posidonia meadows are located. Throughout history posidonia was used as fertilizer, as a roof-covering material and for the construction of resting mats. In the Lazaret cave in Nice, the remains of a posidonia bed used some 10,000 years ago were found.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”5. TECTONIC FORCES AND THE FAULT PLANE” tab_id=”1625058954152-9f50bd21-0b7d”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text animation=”animation fade-in”]In the hinterland of the Blue Cave the consequences of the violent dynamics of the Earth’s crust can be seen. Due to the action of the Earth’s tectonic forces and the slow movement of large blocks of the upper parts of the crust, the rocks were fractured, resulting in the blocks moving along these fractures \u2013 flat surfaces known as the faults. Traces of tectonic movement or scraping of the Blue Cave\u2019s block against the central mass of Bi\u0161evo island\u2019s rocks can be seen along the sleek fault plane called the paraclasis. This fault intersects the rocks so it can be traced from the southern entrance to the Blue Cave to the narrow northern passage between the shore and a small islet along which the boats with the Blue Cave visitors are sailing.<\/p>\n

The Blue Cave was probably formed through selective erosion (abrasion) during the interaction of the tectonic (diapiric) rise of the island and the rises of the sea level after the last Ice Age. More precisely, the rocks of the terrestrial phase are softer than the surrounding carbonate rock, and that very horizon, i.e. a \u201cpage\u201d from the stone \u201cbook\u201d is presumably located in the level of the submerged parts of the Blue Cave. Massive waves propelled by strong southern winds crashed into the softer rocks, carving out a large hole in them \u2013 the present-day geomorphological phenomenon, the Blue Cave. These rocks are still under the influence of the strong winds and waves that carve them.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”894″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”6. COEXISTENCE WITH THE ROCKS” tab_id=”1625059995019-ad1ed8d8-8f7b”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”896″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]People have been exploiting rocks since prehistoric times. On the island of Bi\u0161evo there are various types of limestone which occur naturally in various forms \u2013 as massive, thickly bedded, nodular (wavy) and platy. That natural material was hence used for the construction of houses and other objects on the island.<\/p>\n

On Bi\u0161evo flatlands there is a spacious plain (Polje, meaning \u201cfield\u201d in Croatian) with the largest settlement in this picturesque countryside, bearing the same name. The Church of Saint Sylvester is the largest building on the island, built from various types of meticulously selected Bi\u0161evo stone (carved blocks, boulders and plates). The second largest building on the island is the former elementary school, the site of the future Visitor Centre. It was also made of the local Bi\u0161evo stone, as are most of the other objects on the island.<\/p>\n

The inhabitants of the island used various types of geological substrates for various crops that supported life on this distant island. Due to the specific geological substrate, the highest quality of the soil is in the Polje area, offering breath-taking views of Svetac island. The area is gorgeous in spring, when macchia turns into a floral oasis.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”7. THE CHURCH OF SAINT SILVESTER ON BI\u0160EVO” tab_id=”1625060034839-76fe850c-c5b7″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text animation=”animation fade-in”]In 1050 a priest from Split by the name of Ivan erected a church on Bi\u0161evo\u2019s plateau and dedicated it to Pope St. Sylvester (314 \u2013 335), the first Pope in the history of Christianity to secure Christians\u2019 right to publicly declare their faith. Father Ivan gave the church over to the Benedictines from the Tremiti Islands. The Church of St. Silvester was built in the pre-Romanesque style, but its original shape had been changed in later centuries. At the period of the construction of the church, the Benedictines arrived to Bi\u0161evo and erected their monastery in the vicinity of the church.<\/p>\n

In the tumultuous period of battles between Venice and the Byzantine Empire over these areas, the monastery of St. Silvester on Bi\u0161evo turned to Pope Alexander III for protection. On 2 May 1181, the Pope signed a privilege under which he placed this monastery. The letter begins with the Pope\u2019s address to the monastery\u2019s superior, abbot Urso: \u201cBishop Alexander, a servant of God\u2019s servants, to his dearest son Urso, abbot of St. Silvester\u2019s monastery on the island of Bi\u0161evo and his monastic brethren, the present and future ones, for times to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the oldest paintings of Madonna in Croatia, the Madonna from Bi\u0161evo, painted in the proto-Venetian style and dating from the 13th century (1220), was preserved in this church on Bi\u0161evo. The painting was believed by the locals to have miraculous powers.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”898″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”8. THE BI\u0160EVO SCHOOL” tab_id=”1625060067634-4ed48581-7422″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”900″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]In 1921, the first elementary school on Bi\u0161evo was founded in a private family home in the village of Porat. In 1937, the inhabitants of Bi\u0161evo built their own school building in the village Polje. The school was operational until 1961, when it had to be shut down due to a small number of school children. Before World War 2, Bi\u0161evo had 350 inhabitants, in comparison to the 2011 population census which registered only 11 permanent residents on the island. Many of its former residents permanently emigrated to the United States, mainly to San Pedro in California, or to Australia.<\/p>\n

A pupil\u2019s notebook from 1956 was found in this building. In it was an essay on the subject of their native island:<\/p>\n

Bi\u0161evo, 14 February 1956<\/p>\n

Fifth school essay<\/p>\n

My village<\/p>\n

\u201cMy village is called Bi\u0161evo, it is in the middle of the Adriatic. People here are farmers and fishermen. My village is surrounded with hills and a small forest. The houses are scattered around and people say it\u2019s quite desolate. My village has no railroad and power stations, no cinemas or theatres. We don\u2019t get the big steamboats as in big cities. My village is small and it has one world-famous cave.\u201d<\/p>\n

These words were written down by a little boy named Petar on a cold winter morning of 1956. A third-grader, he wrote about his island in the middle of the Adriatic, known for its Blue Cave.<\/p>\n

In 1990, the town of Komi\u017ea joined forces with the University of Zagreb, initiating the restoration of the Bi\u0161evo school building with the idea it would eventually house an international research centre. This happened around the time when the island of Vis and its archipelago ceased being an isolated military zone after 45 years and when the first foreign tourists were allowed to the island. A hope flared up that this historically unique moment could be used to start a sustainable development programme on this desolate archipelago. This project was paused by the onset of the Homeland War but the idea remained alive, only to be realized 28 years later, with the Bi\u0161evo school building undergoing renovation that will transform it into a new Visitor Centre on Bi\u0161evo.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”9. THE TERRESTRIAL PHASE ON THE ISLAND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN” tab_id=”1625060095576-88689feb-17d5″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text animation=”animation fade-in”]At the end of the Age of Dinosaurs (the Cretaceous), the wider area of the island of Vis surfaced from the sea. Once exposed, the limestone rocks slowly became subject to the new, terrestrial conditions. Just as present-day muddy rains contain desert dust from the Sahara, back then the openings in the paleokarst were filled with the reddish-brown dust. Today that dust is found in the form of reddish-brown petrified soil.<\/p>\n

Acting as a time capsule, the ground has preserved animal bones as a memorial of the times when, instead of the present-day islands of the Vis archipelago, there was once a large island in the middle of the Tethys Ocean. Dinosaurs, crocodiles and other terrestrial animals inhabited the island.<\/p>\n

The sea life flourished again after the sea flooded this area once more during the Paleogene. During this period an entirely different type of limestone rocks were deposited compared to the limestone rocks of the Cretaceous. These new rocks took the form of biogenic limestones, not reddish-brown but light-brown in colour.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”904″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”10. THE AEOLIAN SAND FROM THE ICE AGE” tab_id=”1625060126251-e16a5183-58d7″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”902″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]In the most recent geological period \u2013 the Quaternary, you would not be able to reach Bi\u0161evo by boat, but by an SUV. During the ice ages of that period, the climate was dry and cold and the sea level was 140 meters lower than today. The Adriatic was not seabed but a vast steppe landscape and the islands were scattered peaks of the hills. The steppe landscape was dominated by sand which the winds scattered over the surrounding hills. The present-day sand fields are just erosive remnants of those larger sandstone roofs. Such specific soil has enabled the cultivation of high-quality grapevines and has become home to a numerous population of land snails. Most of the sand washed by the floods ended up in the valleys that were submerged by the sea following the sea levels rise after the last Ice Age. Due to this reason, some of the most beautiful sandy beaches of the Vis archipelago are found on Bi\u0161evo island: Porat and Salbunara.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”11. PAVAO MARTINIS FROM BI\u0160EVO \u2013 THE US KING OF SALMON” tab_id=”1625060154251-0bdec65f-707c”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text animation=”animation fade-in”]He was born on Bi\u0161evo island in 1893. In order to avoid serving the Austro-Hungarian army, he decided to go to the USA in 1913. He boarded the steamboat Martha Washington in Trieste and, after an eighteen-day journey, disembarked in New York without knowing a word of English and carrying only $22 in his pocket. Nevertheless, arriving to the States, Pavao Martinis possessed enormous fishing experience gained in his homeland, fishing with his father since childhood. He arrived to Astoria, Oregon. Having heard that there were fishermen from Komi\u017ea in Tacoma, he decided to find them. It was a pioneering time of fishing in Alaska, when fishing boats were still powered by sails and oars. They fished salmon under horrible conditions.<\/p>\n

Pavao Martinis went down in history of American fishing not only because of the record catches of salmon in Bristol Bay and the Bering Sea, but also as the first American fisherman who discovered salmon in the rich and dangerous waters of the Aleutian Islands. In 1956, the US President Dwight D. Eisenhower awarded him the title King of Salmon for his fishing endeavours.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”906″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”12. THE \u201cSTONE BOOK\u201d FROM THE AGE OF DINOSAURS” tab_id=”1625060181564-168468bb-50de”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”908″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]Salbunara, one of the three coves on Bi\u0161evo, was named after the Komi\u017ea expression for sand \u2013 \u201csarbun\u201d. On the north-western edge of the island an entire epoch of the Earth\u2019s crust emerged from the sea depths in the form of the \u201cbooks\u201d. The collision of the Adriatic Carbonate Platform and Europe resulted in a tectonic rise that shaped the Dinaric mountains and these hills, present-day islands of the Vis archipelago. Due to this reason, spectacular cliffs can be found all along the coasts of these islands. Each \u201cpage\u201d of this geological \u201cbook\u201d tells us a thousand-year-old story. The rich records of this \u201cPoseidon\u2019s Library\u201d are found all along the Salbunara Bay, and are decorated with fossilized ornaments depicting the contours and textures of prehistoric life. Carbonate sludge and sand, petrified (lithified) later on into a layer of solid limestone rock, formed from ground parts of fossil shells.<\/p>\n

In the lagoons of the then Adriatic Carbonate Platform, a group of bivalve molluscs called the rudists lived burrowed in the muddy bottom of the tropical sea. An asteroid impact some 66 million years ago sealed the fate of these protozoa, together with the dinosaurs. The fine sand was formed of the rudists\u2019 and snails\u2019 shells in the period when the sea level rose. It was swirled around by the sea currents, creating sandbars.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”13. MARTIN BOGDANOVI\u0106 \u2013 BI\u0160EVO FISHERMAN WHO OPENED THE DOOR OF THE OCEAN” tab_id=”1625060207750-e39f2937-fe64″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text animation=”animation fade-in”]The legend of Martin Bogdanovi\u0107, a man from Bi\u0161evo island, tells us how one day Martin was busy tilling his vineyard, breaking the handle of the hoe in the process. He was in a dilemma whether to fix it or simply leave to America. He opted to toss the hoe and go to America. He had just finished his service in the Austro-Hungarian Navy and was free to leave his homeland.<\/p>\n

He became a fisherman in San Diego. Having saved some money from fish trading, he decided to establish a fish-processing factory in San Pedro in 1917. But in order to be able to organise offshore fishing, he had to find a way of preserving the freshness of the caught fish. Book The Port of Los Angeles states that Martin Bogdanovi\u0107 is the innovator who first used crushed ice to preserve fish on a fishing ship. This invention allowed him to fish in the vast Pacific Ocean. The success of his cannery was based on the experience of immigrants from his island whom he employed in his factory. Coming from a poor country, Martin Bogdanovi\u0107 came to a land that offered opportunity of success to the competent and the courageous. Thus, a poor fisherman from Bi\u0161evo island became the greatest name of American fishing industry.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”910″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”14. A PEACEFUL SAND OASIS” tab_id=”1625142529281-e87a80ed-5ddb”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”928″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]The coasts of the island boast a number of interesting geological forms, extinct molluscs from the Age of Dinosaurs, as well as lithified sandbanks built of millions of ammonites. The Salbunara sands are home to the rare and endangered species, the sea daffodil (Pancratium maritimum<\/em>), which is not to be picked. The upper Salbunara sands are home to an abundant snail community and sand vegetation with the stenoendemic species, the woodruff (Asperula staliana<\/em>), that can be found only on Bi\u0161evo island. It is accompanied by the prickly dropseed (Sporobolus pungens<\/em>), the critically endangered cogon grass (Imperata cylindrica<\/em>) and the rock rose (Helianthemum jonium<\/em>), only recently discovered in Croatia.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”15. BI\u0160EVO VEGETATION” tab_id=”1625225569405-cb744c93-f06b”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text animation=”animation fade-in”]Big wildfire of 2003 that engulfed more than three-quarters of the island had a major impact on the forming of the current vegetation cover of Bi\u0161evo. Only the northernmost part of the island was spared. Thus, the island is currently dominated by the rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis<\/em>) and the Mediterranean Heather (Erica multiflora<\/em>) garrigue. Before the fire, the south part of the island was covered in the natural Mediterranean evergreen forest of the holy oak (Quercus ilex<\/em>). Today, only the forest of the Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis<\/em>) has grown on some locations. So far, a total of 485 plant species have been recorded in the terrestrial flora of Bi\u0161evo island. The island boasts 43 plant species that belong to various categories of endangered species, 88 protected plant species and seven endemic species. Although to a lesser extent, Bi\u0161evo vegetation is also represented by the cultivated scenery, mostly covered in vineyards, which once dominated the island.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”932″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”16. PASSAGE BIRDS” tab_id=”1625225735814-7be362e6-eb59″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”914″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]The Mediterranean Sea and its bordering seas pose an obstacle for bird migration, so the birds use islands along the way, especially pelagic islands, to rest. Bi\u0161evo is one of these islands. The best time of the year for bird watching on Bi\u0161evo is autumn, because the autumn migrations are slower and the birds stay at way stations for a longer time. Nevertheless, one should bear in mind that different species migrate at different periods of the year, so the \u201cautumn\u201d begins already in the second half of July, lasting until mid-November. Thus, the autumn bird migration across Bi\u0161evo and other pelagic islands over tens of thousands of years actually created an entirely new ecological niche, to which a new species, Eleonora\u2019s falcon, adapted throughout the years of evolution. Read more about the Eleonora\u2019s falcon on the panel number 25.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”17. THE COMMON BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN” tab_id=”1625226298209-122fc193-5e84″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text animation=”animation fade-in”]Starting from 2007, the Blue World Institute carries out scientific research of the bottlenose dolphins in central Adriatic. Numerous schools of dolphins have been observed in the area ahead of you. Gaze at the sea and try finding a school of dolphins yourself! Several hundred individuals live in the wider Bi\u0161evo area, so you may notice Kulfor, Napuhavac or Babalina, who owe their names to local terms for the species, as well as centuries-old co-existence of people and dolphins in the Vis archipelago. If you visit the island in the spring or early summer, you will get the chance to see the new dolphin calves swimming next to their mothers. Waters immediately surrounding the island and representing an important habitat for those animals have been declared a designated protected area under the Natura 2000 ecological network in order to ensure favourable conditions for the survival of the animal community.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”912″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”18. BI\u0160EVO GEOLOGY” tab_id=”1625225948129-358706f1-181f”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”916″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]The creation of the two most prominent caves, the Blue Cave and the Monk Seal Cave, is related to the tectonic processes that determined the orientation of the caves (the Blue Cave fault, the Biskup fault), while the erosion and corrosion processes expanded and shaped their passages. The creeps in the southern Tre\u0161javac cove have also been formed by the tectonic processes, probably by rising of the salt diapir. In the north of Bi\u0161evo, the elevated and sloping deposits of the former Adriatic Carbonate Platform form a stone book called Libar<\/em>, which keeps records from the Age of Dinosaurs. Significant surfaces of the island are covered in thin, up to 10 m thick cover of aeolian sand, which has been deposited by the wind, as its name suggests (Aeolus, from Greek: \u0391\u1f34\u03bf\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2,\u00a0Aiolos<\/em>, the Greek God of wind). The greatest deposits of aeolian sand are found in Salbunara and Potok.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”19. THE CORALLIGENOUS UNDERSEA WORLD” tab_id=”1625225787008-08d40438-f829″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text animation=”animation fade-in”]Throughout the history, the seas of Bi\u0161evo have been a source of food for the island\u2019s inhabitants, while today they are the source of income for the entire community of the Town of Komi\u017ea. Should there been no Blue Cave as the most recognisable sea phenomenon of the entire story, there would have been neither the Visitor Centre nor the panel you are currently reading. The two most prominent semi-submerged sea caves, the Blue Cave and the Monk Seal Cave, are the most famous tourist attractions of the central Dalmatia. Nevertheless, Bi\u0161evo waters hide even more valuable sea treasure. You can read about posidonia habitats on the panel no. 4 above the Mezoporat and about the aeolian sands of the beaches on the panel no. 15 at Salbunara beach, while the story about the deepest parts of Bi\u0161evo, the coralligenous reefs named after the red algae of Corallinaceae family is kept for the top of Stra\u017ebenica. Those deep rocks are overgrown with corals such as the gold coral (Savalia savaglia<\/em>) and the small polyped gorgonian (Paramuricea clavata<\/em>), while the red coral (Corallium rubrum<\/em>) lives in the greatest depths and in the hidden crevices. The shallower reefs in the tide level are covered in the algal pavements mainly constructed of the \u00a0Lithophyllum byssoides<\/em>\u00a0algae, which serves as an excellent indicator of the median sea level.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”918″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”20. THE DIVINE SANDS OF THE DRY CREEK” tab_id=”1625226455829-8c897f1e-76d4″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”920″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]The composition and the shape of the grains of sand (predominantly grains of carbonate rocks, as well as extra small quantities of minerals from igneous rocks) together with their structure, show that these sands formed in the dry climate conditions. In addition, the fossils of the Quaternary land snails that lived in the arid and relatively cold climate some 25,000 years ago were found in the sands. At that time, the northern hemisphere was predominantly covered in ice and the level of the Adriatic Sea was some 120 m lower than today. Consequently, Bi\u0161evo was only a hill in lowlands, influenced by big rivers Cetina and Neretva that carried material from the distant Dinarides. The wind carried such material, including the material formed by the erosion of small local islands built from igneous rocks, to hills such as Bi\u0161evo.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”21. TRADITIONAL ISLAND AGRICULTURE” tab_id=”1625226579753-e11b7082-c66c”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text animation=”animation fade-in”]Next to the villages there are vineyards and small areas of arable land covered in orchards and vegetable gardens. Fruit cultures grown on the island comprise vineyard peaches, nectarines, sour cherries, plums, olives and citrus fruit. There is a saying: \u201cPraise all wine sorts, but cultivate plavac\u201d. The autochthonous Croatian grape variety plavac mali is the most important variety of the central and south Dalmatia. As it is strong, it is often called \u201cthe wild wine\u201d. Its special taste comes from the aeolian sand, the high-quality substrate it thrives on. The Plavac Mali wine is the first wine to receive the protected geographical indication in the Republic of Croatia. Due to its characteristics, the Bi\u0161evo Plavac was a very popular wine on the European market in the end of 19th<\/sup> and the beginning of the 20th<\/sup> century. In that period, the outbreak of phylloxera (Dactulosphaira vitifoliae<\/em>) struck Europe, destroying almost all European vineyards. Luckily, the phylloxera has difficulties developing in sandy soil, so vineyards of Bi\u0161evo survived the European wine crisis.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”750″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”22. THE DRY \u201cLAKES\u201d OF THE ISLAND” tab_id=”1625226629168-ccfb060c-e973″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”922″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]Smokvina grotto, originally called \u201cgrotto of Gatula\u201d got its name after a big fig tree growing from its opening. The diameter of the opening averages 7 m and the furthest and the deepest SW part of the grotto ends in the impassable narrowing, buried in deposits, suggesting that the grotto was even deeper in history. The second grotto on Gatula, Jezera, is located across the macadam road, some 50 m from Smokvina grotto. It has two entrances, the cave-type entrance and the grotto-type entrance. A few thin stalactites (called the macaroni pasta) are visible on the ceiling of the main cave hall, while following the creeps there are bigger speleothems \u2013 primarily calcite formations, stalagmites and stalactites. The 29 m deep Jezera grotto is the deepest grotto discovered on Bi\u0161evo island so far. It belongs to the habitat type 8310, so the public is banned from visiting the grotto. Protected Chiroptera<\/em> bats inhabit the grotto. It is the typical habitat (locus typicus<\/em>) of the diplopoda class centipede (Eroonsoma Adriatica)<\/em>, first described in 2003.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”23. COASTAL ARTILLERY BATTERY” tab_id=”1625227379219-fce4df9f-b4cb”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text animation=”animation fade-in”]A total of 74 artillery batteries existed along the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea, with 31 located on the mainland and 43 on islands. The island with the largest number of batteries was Vis (7), followed by Kor\u010dula and Lo\u0161inj (4 each), then Veli and Mali Brijun, Cres, \u017dirje, Veli Drvenik, Hvar i Mljet (2 each). A battery is an artillery military unit consisting of artillery weapons. It consists of 50-60 soldiers and 3-6 artillery pieces. It can serve as an air defence, coastal artillery defence etc. There is a stationary artillery battery with four cannons at cape Gatula. Fortification objects are dug in beneath the surface. Masking of the open section of the gun position facilitated the camouflage of the battery into the environment. The illustration shows the sketch of the mines organised in a manner that allowed the soldiers to spend longer periods of time underground. The inventory of the Adriatic coastal artillery dating from 1948 states that the Bi\u0161evo coastal artillery battery had four 80mm cannons of the Czech origin, of \u0160koda brand, with a total of 5088 pieces of ammunition.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”880″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”24. MONK SEAL CAVE” tab_id=”1625227582996-368bc069-9ca2″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”924″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]The only Mediterranean seal, known in the area as \u201cmorski covik\u201d, is currently believed extinct in the Adriatic Sea. Today, the Mediterranean monk seal abides only in the NE Mediterranean Sea, the Cabo Blanco peninsula in West Sahara and the archipelago of Madeira. The monk seal was last seen on Bi\u0161evo in 1964, when a fisherman killed it. The genetic research revealed it was an adult female. The northern, narrower and less passable section of the 160 m long Monk Seal Cave ends in a small pebble beach, ideal for the monk seal to raise their young. The entrance to the cave is impressive, featuring a big, ribbed fault plane (paraclasis), resembling huge, stone sliding doors, the so-called\u00a0tectonic entrance<\/em>, some 27 m high and 7 m wide.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”25. BETWEEN THE SKY AND THE SEA \u2013 ELEONORA\u2019S FALCON” tab_id=”1625227717574-43ca5160-bd83″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text animation=”animation fade-in”]Eleonora\u2019s falcon (Falco eleonorae<\/em>) primarily nests in the Mediterranean and the pelagic islands. The wider area of the Vis archipelago, including Bi\u0161evo island, is one of such areas. The largest number of nests can be seen in the south of the island, surrounding the Tre\u0161javac cove. There are two interesting facts pertaining to Eleonora\u2019s falcon \u2013 its unusual preference for the pelagic islands and the time of its nesting \u2013 summer and early autumn. All other birds nest in the spring. Why is that so? The animal communities are synchronised and intertwined in a miraculous manner, with each species filling its niche. Thus, Eleonora\u2019s falcon \u2013 a small bird of prey feeding on small birds \u2013 set its reproduction in the time and at the location of the highest concentration of small birds which they bring to their hatchlings \u2013 at the pelagic islands in the time of autumn migration. And then, when the young birds spread their wings in October and November, these falcons slowly head south, all the way to Madagascar, where they spend the winter.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”926″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_accordion][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row thb_full_width=”true” thb_row_padding=”true” thb_column_padding=”true” content_placement=”middle” thb_scroll_bottom=”true” thb_scroll_bottom_style=”style3″ thb_scroll_bottom_color=”light” thb_shape_divider=”true” css=”.vc_custom_1625230054647{padding-top: 30vh !important;padding-bottom: 25vh !important;background-image: url(https:\/\/bluecave-bisevo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/geostaza-bisevo-naslovna.jpg?id=578) !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}” divider_shape=”triangle” thb_divider_color=”#ffffff”][vc_column thb_color=”thb-light-column”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner offset=”vc_col-lg-5 vc_col-md-8″][vc_empty_space height=”10px”][vc_column_text animation=”animation fade-in” el_class=”podnaslov-bijelo faux-h2″]Check out the geotrail[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”20px”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”align-center”][vc_column offset=”vc_col-lg-8 vc_col-md-8″ css=”.vc_custom_1617197869899{padding-right: 2vh !important;}”][vc_empty_space height=”60px”][vc_column_text animation=”animation fade-in”]The existing Bi\u0161evo Geotrail, which originated in Mezoporat and lead to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1258","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluecave-bisevo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluecave-bisevo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluecave-bisevo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluecave-bisevo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluecave-bisevo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1258"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/bluecave-bisevo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1683,"href":"https:\/\/bluecave-bisevo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1258\/revisions\/1683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluecave-bisevo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}