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Geographic position
Along the western Istrian coast there are several island groups among which the most interesting, the largest and most indented is the Brijuni island group with its 14 islands and islets covering and area of 742km2
The present day boundaries of the National Park were set in 1999 and comprise the land, the surrounding sea with the seabed and cover an area of 339km2 The length of the coastline of all the islands is 468 km The most indented islands are Veliki Brijun (259km) and Mali Brijun (83km) The shores are mostly low and rocky but easily accessible due to the horizontal stratification of the rocks, and in some bays pebbles and sand can be found
The National Park of Brijuni includes the following islands: Veliki Brijun, Mali Brijun, St Mark, Gaz, Okrugljak, Supin, Supinić, Galija, Grunj, Vanga (Krasnica), Pusti (Madona), Vrsar, St Jerome and Kozada (Krasnica), Pusti (Madona), Vrsar, Sv
Jerolim i Kozada Geologically and geo-morphologically Brijuni are the continuation of western Istria, the so-called "Red Istria" Since the depth of the channel of Fažana is just 12m, Brijuni were until some 10,000 years ago an integral part of Istria
The islands are made of horizontal or slightly inclined layers of limestone from the Cretaceous, on which in places there are layers of carbonated brown or red soil The stone that belongs to that formation is white in colour, easily breakable, of marble structure and is abundant in clay and flint Therefore it is very solid and is an excellent building material Roman builders appreciated the listed qualities of these stones and it was used to build many towns on the Adriatic
Climatically Brijuni are part of the northern Mediterranean type of climate and have all the qualities of the western Istrian coast with a relatively high value of dampness in the air (76%) The average yearly temperature is 139C, the precipitation average is 817mm, while the level of insolation is 2350 hours per year
The main characteristic of the Brijuni archipelago is the extraordinary biological diversity given thanks to its geographical location, its geological base and geomorphology, its diversity of the habitat and its island isolation
The natural biological diversity was enriched by men’s traditional husbandry Veliki Brijun, as the largest island of the archipelago, which was cultivated into a harmonious landscape of meadows and parks, has along with the rich remnants of architectural heritage also the preserved vegetation types typical for the western Istrian climate It is important to underline that the sea forms 80% of the protected area of the National Park and has almost all the elements of the marine eco-system of the Adriatic
Submarine world
The indentation of the coastline, the diversity of the base, the bathymetric configuration and the specific hydrodynamic conditions are reflected in the wide variety of littoral biocoenoses - life communities - that are characteristic for the northern Adriatic region and are still unaffected by direct sources of contamination
The local seas of Brijuni are important hatching grounds and representative oasis (marine park) for the typical marine organisms of the northern Adriatic, that is their colonies andcommunities Of the marine organisms that are protected by the Law on Environmental Conservation in the waters of Brijuni you can find the pen-shell (Pinna nobilis) and the date-shell (Lithophaga lithophaga) Turtles and dolphins, the protected marine vertebrates, can also from time to time be seen in the waters of Brijuni There are also some endemic species like the black tang, Jadranski bračić, and the tunicate, Jadranski ciganin
The seabed abounds in sponges, shellfish, sea urchins, crustaceans, fish etc Among fish the most numerous are sea basses, giltheads, grey mullets, soles, groupers, conger eels, dentexes, black umbers… In the past in the seas of Brijuni were found some species that were never seen in the Adriatic, as well as some species up to then unknown to scientists like the soft coral Alcyonium brionense (Kuekenthal 1906) or the variety of the sponge Ircinia variabilis fistulata (Syzmanski 1904)
How to reach Nacionalni park Brijuni
The Brijuni islands stretch along the south-west coast of the Istrian peninsula; they are separated from the Istrian mainland by the Fažana Channel which is 3 kilometers wide
The islands are situated 7 kilometers from Pula (a road, rail, air and maritime centre) near Fažana which is the terminal for the frequent connections by boat (15 minute ride)
Zagreb - Pula 240 km
Rijeka - Pula 90 km
Trst - Pula 110 km
Ljubljana - Pula 130 km
Beč - Pula 450 km
Milano - Pula 465 km
more on: wwwbrijunihr
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The Brijuni Islands