KOŠLJUN

The islet of Košljun, or Mostir as the Punat locals refer to it, lies only 750 meters from Punat, in the middle of Puntarska draga. It is known for the Franciscan monastery (Benedictine until the 15th century) where monks have collected and preserved numerous valuable items for centuries. The islet has a museum with an ethnographic collection containing numerous items produced by Krk fishermen and farmers, as well as folk costumes from across the Island of Krk. The monastery also owns a rich zoological collection consisting of a large seashell collection and unique animal specimens, such as the one-eyed lamb. In addition to its numismatic collection, the monastery has a rich library with around 30,000 titles. It includes the Ptolemy’s atlas printed in Venice in 1511 (one of the three preserved copies). There are two churches on the islet – the Church of Blessed Virgin Mary’s Annunciation (containing the largest painting in Croatia: “Heaven, Purgatory, Hell” by Francesco Ughetti) and the Chapel of St. Bernard (a sacral museum).

You can only reach the islet of Košljun by boat – the local boat operators in Punat are always at your service. There is no sailing schedule – the boats sail as necessary. A return ticket costs 18.00 HRK per person; entrance to the museum is charged extra, in amount of 15.00 HRK.

It takes an hour or two to see the whole islet, but there are no catering facilities there.

Beginnings of Tourism in Punat
The tourist activities in Punat started to develop as early as the beginning of the 19th century, and were associated with the Franciscan monastery on the islet of Košljun, visited by numerous excursionists. Among them were Empress Caroline, widow of the Austrian Emperor Ferdinand I, Maximilian Ferdinand, younger brother of the Austrian Emperor Francis Joseph, Romanian King Carol I, and others. The fact that Košljun became interesting early on is confirmed by the letter from the Bishops’ Ordinariate in Krk dated 31 January 1876 and addressed to the Franciscan Monastery Košljun, requesting the Franciscans to maintain a list of foreigners visiting the monastery. The Bathing Society was established as early as 1908. The oldest inn dates back to 1891, and the first hotel, Villa Lucija (later renamed into Kvarner Annex), was erected by the local entrepreneur Nikola Žic in 1924.

source: TZ Punat