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Sucuraj is a small scenically
fishing and tourist town and (also) a harbour which is located on the east
cape of Hvar Island; where the island reaches the land at it’s nearest point
(5 km). It is located on a place where the crystal clean sea of Hvar Canal
and Neretva Canal are merging in a magnificent décor of Biokovo mountain and
Makarska Riviera, Brac Island, Peljesac Peninsula and Korcula Island.
The town consists of two parts: Gornja Banda and Donja Banda. Gornja Banda is
located on the north side of the harbour, and Donja Banda on a small
peninsula on the south side; between the harbour and Cesminica Cove, where
the main beach is located. A fertile field stretches to the end of the
harbour from its end to the west and it’s highly populated since antiquity.
The Gornja Banda is also populated since the antiquity and Donja Banda since
the 15th century. The inhabitants mostly deal with fishing, tourism and
agriculture (especially olive-growing and viticulture).
Sucuraj is attractive to tourists mostly for its unspoiled nature, thick
vegetation and a large number of beaches. The place is filed with palms,
tamaris, pine trees and other Mediterranean plants. The area is surrounded
with olive groves, vineyards and massive woodland. The climate in Sucuraj is
highly pleasant: the summer period is long, dry and hot and the summer winds
called maestral and tramontana provide pleasant cool refreshment.
Sucuraj is encompassed by sea on its three sides and it has more than 25 km
of shore with a large number of beautiful and scenically beaches. The most
popular beaches in Sucuraj are:
Cesminica – the main local beach (on the south side),
200 m from the centre, with sandy base and a pebble, concrete and rocky
shore. There is a coffee bar on the beach and you can find a shower nearby.
Bilina – a pebble-rocky beach (on the north side),
500 m from the centre, with a view on Makarska Riviera, mostly known for its crystal
sea in all weather conditions.
Perna – a sandy cove on the south side, 1.5 km from
the town, with a shallow bottom, rocky shore and a thick pine wood whose tree
tops are partly above the sea level.
Mlaska – a sandy cove on the north side, 3 km from
the town. The bottom is shallow and sandy and the shore sandy, rocky and
concrete. In Mlaska you can find a camp with a restaurant, shop and some
showers. Mlaska consists of Velika Mlaska (textile area) and Mala Mlaska
(FKK).
Mrtnovik (or Mrtinovik) – a pebble and rocky bay on
the south side, 10 km from Sucuraj.
Accommodation
is available in a hotel, private apartments, family pensions, rooms and in
the camp. The tourist offer includes quality restaurants with fish, meat and
vegetarian specialties. All aforesaid you can find in a few hundred meters
area so there’s no need to use a car. Each day, during the tourist season,
there are boat trips to Makarska Riviera, Peljesac Peninsula and Korcula
Island. Thanks to the close nearness of shore and good traffic connection,
diurnally trips to Dubrovnik, Medjugorje and Split are plausible.
There are many sport-recreational activities offered for tourists in Sucuraj
(fishing, cycling, sailing, diving, football, bowling...). Smaller floating
vessels and bicycles are free to rent. Sucuraj Harbour is sheltered from wind
and well equipped, so many yachtsmen and ferry boats frequently drop there.
Sucuraj exists for more than 2300 years and it has been numerously destroyed
and rebuild through its history. The first known inhabitants of Sucuraj were
the Illyrians and their queen Teuta had a castle in Sucuraj in the 3rd
century BC. In the 7th and 8th century Sucuraj was being populated by the
Croats, who had been living in the town until present time. The oldest well
conserved structure in Sucuraj is the old Augustinian monastery (a Franciscan monastery today).
The exact date of its construction is unknown, but the year 1309 is though to
be the year of its restoration. Sucuraj gained its name by St. George’s Church, which is mentioned by the Hvar
legal statute from the year 1331 (the church was destroyed at the end of the
19th century, when a new one was built.) A large number of Sucuraj
inhabitants came from the coast in the 15th century, while running away in
front of the Turks. The baroque church
of St. Anthony, from the year 1663, has been preserved from that
period. The old Venetian fortress (fortica), from the year 1613, has also been
partially preserved.
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