From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cres (Italian Cherso, Latin Crepsa) is an Adriatic island in Croatia. It is one of the northern islands in the bay of Kvarner (Italian Quarnero) and can be reached via ferry from the island Krk (Italian Veglia) or from the Istrian peninsula (line Brestova-Porozina).

With an area of 405.70 km², Cres is the largest Croatian island, overtaking Krk which is just a bit smaller (but thought to be the largest for years).

Cres and the neighbouring island of Lošinj once used to be one island, but were divided by a channel and connected with a bridge at the town of Osor (Italian Ossero). Cres's only fresh water source is the Lake Vrana .

The town of Cres on the same island is inhabited by 2,959 people (2001), located at 44°57′N, 14°24′E.

Contents 1 Towns of Cres 2 The Town of Cres 3 Construction and Improvements 4 Lake Vrana 4.1 Myth of Lake Vrana 5 External links 6 References

There are many towns on the Island that are all connected by a single road that runs down the middle of the island, on one side is the ferry from the main land (around the city of Pula (Italian Pola)) and on the other side is the bridge to Mali Lošinj (Italian Lussinpiccolo), which was once connected, but are now separated by a water way, when coming on to the island from the side of Pula you will first encounter Porozina, a list of the Towns and Descriptions are right below:

• Porozina (Italian Faresina) - A small town which simply has the ferry terminal and some small shops.
• Beli (Italian Caisole) - This small town at the end of a long and very narrow road is home to a very famous bird, the endangered Griffon Vulture.
• Cres (Italian Cherso) - See below.
• Orlec (Italian Aquilonia) - Another small town at the end of a narrow road, also home to the endangered Griffons.
• Valun (Italian Vallon) - This town can be seen on your way to Lubenice (see below) it costs money to park, no cars are allowed in the town.
• Lubenice (Italian Lubenizze) - An ancient mountain village with a great view of the see and neighboring islands.

• Belej
• Stivan (Italian San Giovanni) - On a side street this small town of 16 people is a beautiful town with a very private beach, old houses and a great church and is on the way to many other towns.
• Miholaščica (Italian San Michele) - A small town that with a small church with its same name (St. Michael), this town has seen some growth in tourism since the arrival of the Zaglav community nearby.
• Martinščica (Italian San Martino) - The home of a very large vacation complex Slatina, along with beautiful beaches and of course, some very nice cafes.
• Osor (Italian Ossero) - A town on the "border" between two islands. Founded by the Romans who also dug the channel thus dividing what was then known as the Osor island into Cres and Lošinj (Italian Lussino). Then a major port and commercial centre started to fade with coming of larger ships that could not pass the narrow channel or dock in the shallow port.
• Punta Križa - famous by their FKK camp and beaches

The town of Cres is more like a city and is a great one at that, its centre filled with shops where tourists can buy Cres' specialties, home made olive oil and wine. The town is not made for cars, it is a walking city, and can be related to many Italian cities due to its narrow streets. Cres also has a marina nearby, which has recently been awarded the blue flag status, with many boats in it. A picture of the town's port can be seen below.

A massive work effort is taking place on the main road, it is being widened and is being brought further away from the cliffs, the road is also cutting out dangerous turns and other threats to those driving. It is also keeping trucks and cars away from Lake Vrana, to keep it clean. As of July 2006, they are about 50%-60% done.

Cres has its very own fresh water lake, which is very highly guarded and illegal to swim or fish in. It supplies water to neighboring Lošinj as well. It is one of the deepest fresh water lakes in Eastern Europe, going down 76 meters at its deepest point (>50 m below sea-level).^[1]

The myth to Lake Vrana is that there is a castle under the water, and that a rich sister wouldn't give her poor sister money, she was punished by her castle being under water, on some windy days you can hear the bell on top of the tower still ring today.

• City of Cres
• Cres Tourist Board
• Island Cres Info
• Whats going on in Cres

edit	Municipalities of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County
Bakar | Baška | Brod Moravice | Cres | Crikvenica | Čabar | Čavle | Delnice | Dobrinj | Fužine | Jelenje | Kastav | Klana | Kostrena | Kraljevica | Krk | Lokve | Lovran | Mali Lošinj | Malinska-Dubašnica | Matulji | Mošćenička Draga | Mrkopalj | Novi Vinodolski | Omišalj | Opatija | Punat | Rab | Ravna Gora | Rijeka | Skrad | Vinodolska | Viškovo | Vrbnik | Vrbovsko