Sipanska Luka

Sipanska Luka is a village on Sipan island, 17 km north-west of Dubrovnik, one of two on the island. In English it means Sipanska harbor.

It has a very convenient harbor, protected from storms. The ferry connection to the mainland is made from here, although you have to go around the north-western tip of the island. As a result, the path is almost twice as long as from the second island village, Sudurad.

On the island of Shipan there are many architectural monuments of the Middle Ages: the remains of St. Peter's Church of the 11th century at Cape Velia, the Church of St. John with frescoes of the 11th-15th centuries, the Doroman church of St. Michael of the 11th century, the fortress church of the Holy Spirit of 1569. All these were built as part of a Benedictine monastery.

In the 15th century, Sipan was a popular vacation spot for the Dubrovnik aristocracy, who built houses here. One of them, for example, is the summer vacation home of the Sorkocevic family. At the same time, the Gothic palace of the Duke just above Sipanska Luka was built. In the town there is a Gothic church of St. Stephen with frescoes. The remains of Roman villas were found on the island, confirming that the island were inhabited in ancient times.

On the island of Shipan, there are about thirty churches built during the Middle Ages. In the village of Suduraj there is a castle, that available for view only from the outside, because it is private. Also in Suduraj is the absolutely amazing Church of the Holy Spirit in the bastion. The Church of the Holy Trinity is also worth seeing; it is built on top of a mountain and rises above the village.

The village is small, but traces of Croatian nobility can be seen here.

This sycamore tree remembers many of them.

Nature takes her own quickly.

It was from Sipanskaya Luka that I started a tradition of climbing the mountain in the morning, while others were still sleep.

Fortunately, there are mountains almost everywhere in the Mediterranean.

And the cemetery was interesting to look at. They bury them thoroughly, no one escapes for sure.

This is the older part of the cemetery.

It's a cute little donkey.

The white acacia blooms here in early May.

A lot of useless plants with thorns.

There are useful plants, oranges, for example.

And lemons.

Olive trees are there, too.

There are no factories on the island, I did not notice any agriculture either, except for one olive grove. The 250 locals live by fishing and servicing of tourists.