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has a fine heritage of great cultural and historical value
dating from prehistory and the Roman era to more recent
times. This is all displayed and explained in the city’s
Maritime and History Museum in the Governor’s Palace.
Old littoral towns scattered across the islands and the
coastline are small architectural pearls harmoniously
blending with the surrounding landscape. Visitors
are encouraged to visit the ancient miniature hilltop
settlements, whose origins date back to prehistory – Brseč,
Mošćenice, Veprinac, Trsat, Bakar – then the old Frankopan
castles in the Vinodol region, where the first Croatian legal
document was written down in 1288 (the Vinodol Law),
and other valuable cultural and historical heritage.
Coastal karst landscapes also abound in wide networks
of picturesque dry-stone walls (“gromače”), terraces and
other testimonies to the long rural tradition of the area.
The people of the County of Primorje-Gorski kotar are
involved in many different economic activities. In the
mountainous areas (Gorski kotar), people mostly live
from potato cultivation, forestry and wood processing.
The greatest part of industry is concentrated in the littoral
area, while the islanders mostly make their living from
tourism. Traditional Mediterranean agriculture (sheep
farming, olive growing and wine production) has
regrettably become rather neglected, especially in the
coastal areas.
People living in the coastal regions have strong roots
here and have always been oriented towards the sea and
seafaring. This is, among other things, a result of the
area’s specific climate. Throughout its history, the greatest
influence on the life of people was probably the winds that
blow on Kvarner, especially the
bura
and
jugo
. Visitors
should be warned about their occasionally evil nature!
The
bura
is a cold, dry wind that gusts off the mountain
slopes, often with ferocious force and speed, mostly from
the north-west. It can start blowing at any time of the year,
but is most common in winter. It creates clouds of sea
foam and salt. The
jugo
blows from the south, bringing
humidity, rain and snow in winter that accumulate on
mountain barriers. It blows continuously and creates
rather high waves. While the
bura
usually brings bright
weather and cheers people up, the
jugo
brings gloomy,
rainy weather and usually has a negative effect on
people’s mood.
The greatest wind speed ever recorded for the
bura
in
the County of Primorje-Gorski kotar was on the 14th
November 2004 when gusts of 215 km/h were measured
at the bridge connecting the island of Krk with the
mainland. Such conditions usually lead to material
damage and represent a danger to human life, especially
for those who find themselves unprotected out at sea.