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Italian CURZOLA,
Greek CORCYRA MELAINA, island in the Adriatic Sea,
on the Dalmatian coast, in Croatia. With an area of 107
square miles (276 square km), it has a hilly interior
rising to 1,863 feet (568 m). The Greeks colonized it
in the 4th century BC. Korcula was subsequently
occupied by the Romans, Goths, Slavs, Byzantines, and
Genoese; the kings of Hungary and Croatia and the Bosnian
dukes resided there; and such powers as Russia, France,
Britain, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire have held the
island.
The inhabitants of Korcula earn their livelihood
from fishing, agriculture (grapes and olives), and quarrying
(white marble). The principal, though not the largest,
settlement, Korcula, stands on a rock headland
near the eastern end of the island. The old town is completely
walled, and in the early 16th century it was inhabited
by about 4,000 people. A plague devastated the town in
1529, depleting the population. The old town is an almost
perfectly preserved Venetian town of the 16th century
with later Baroque additions. Korcula is the reputed birthplace
of the traveler Marco Polo in about 1254 and is
a popular tourist resort. On 45min with cruising boat
lies National Park "Mljet", natural beauties
worth seeing. Places to see on the web: Korcula,
Vela
Luka, Blato,
National
Park Mljet |
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