- Sailing Croatia tips
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by Ultra Sailing Team
“ Freedom, surrounded by the sea, the Croatian Alcatraz ”
National Geographic describes Naked Island as “the Croatian Alcatraz” in which first ended all those convicted of cooperating with the Soviet Union, and later political prisoners accused and convicted of “counter-revolutionary activity”.
Political prison
Named after its visual designation, is located at the foot of the Velebit slopes, between the northeastern part of the island of Rab and the mainland in the northern part of the Velebit channel. Small and gray island, which has only 4,7km2 .
Best known as the island of distress, from 1949. to 1956. there was a political prisoner concentration camp. There was a male camp on Naked Island and a female camp on St Gregory. Most of the buildings on the island are located between the Mala Tetina bay and Melna bay.
If you decide to visit the island, an image of a time when another regime was ruled here will come to your eyes and encourage you to think about life.. You will be fascinated by the stone, and shocked with the camp.
- the island was completely naked, and was afforested and built by the convict
- prisoners were forced to work hard in the quarries and bauxite mines
- the most beautiful building on the island was built by the prisoners, and named it ˝Hotel˝
- during the seventies , a former political prison was transformed into a correctional facility ,where young offenders from all over Yugoslavia came to serve their sentences
- Island for “retraining”
- the prison was surrounded by a wall 3m high, with two observation towers, and the pit ,8 m deep and 25 m wide
- ceased operation in 1988, and a year later, in 1989, was completely abandoned and is now partly in ruins
From pirson to tourist attraction
- Naked island is visited today by tourists, fishermen and shepherds from the island of Rab
- can be reached daily from almost all surrounding islands, as well from larger tourist towns (Rab, Mali Losinj, Krka, Lopar…); the shortest tour from Rab is about 20 euros per person
- the island has no water, it has electricity
- the objective of curious visitors is the numerous ruins and the remains of the darkest period of recent Croatian history
You will hardly miss a visit to the only bar on the island, located in the harbor, offering local specialties and interesting stories about the island itself.
