Lastovo

Lastovo is an island municipality in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County in Croatia. The municipality consists of 46 islands with a total population of 792 people, of which 93% are ethnic Croats, and a land area of approximately 53 square kilometres (20 sq mi).The biggest island in the municipality is also named Lastovo, as is the largest town. The majority of the population lives on the 46 square kilometres (18 sq mi) island of Lastovo.
Lastovo, like the rest of the Roman province of Dalmatia, was settled by Illyrians. The Romans conquered and settled the entire area, retaining control until the Avar invasions and Slavic migrations in the 7th century. The Croats and other Slavic tribes subjugated by the Croats secured most of the Dalmatian seaboard. Sometime around the year 1000 the Venetians attacked and destroyed the settlement, due to the island’s participation in piracy along the Adriatic coast. In the 13th century, Lastovo joined the Dubrovnik Republic where for several centuries it enjoyed a certain level of autonomy until the republic’s conquest by the French, under Napoleon. Austria then ruled the island for the next century, then Italy and Yugoslavia until it finally became a part of the independent Republic of Croatia.

The island is noted for its 15th- and 16th-century architecture. There is a large number of churches of relatively small size, a testament to the island’s long-standing Roman Catholic tradition. The major cultural event is the Poklade, or carnival. The island largely relies on its natural beauty and preservation to attract tourists each season. In 2006 the Croatian Government made the island and its archipelago a nature park.

With its 46 small islands, 46 churches and chappels, 46 wineyards and surrounding sandbanks, is a genuine heaven for lovers of nature, sailing, good food and wine, fishers who angle for tuna and other trophy fish.

After fifty years, Lastovo is open to tourists again. In addition to the beauty of its unspoiled nature, the island is famous for its carnival in which all the island residents participate by wearing beautiful folk costumes.

Special tourist attractions of the island are the famous Lastovo chimneys that were once status symbols of old Lastovo families.

Lastovo is well connected by ferries from Split, Dubrovnik, Mljet and Korcula.