Our first big long holiday as a family of three away from home and grandparents was matter of pure necessity to be honest. While vacationing in Cres that year, we found out that our building would be subject to a pipe system renovation, starting November. That meant 3 weeks without water and the use of the toilets and bathroom during the weekdays and limited use during the weekend. There would be outdoor toilets but with a baby in the family this solution was out of the question for us.
It might be your favorite childhood place, or a spot where you met your lover. Might be your favorite restaurant or just your home. But it also might be a very important part of your renaissance architecture exam. Bet you didn’t expect that 🙂
Together with the cathedrals in Šibenik and Hvar, the Osor cathedral, which is today the parish church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, is one of the few renaissance cathedrals on the Dalmatian coast with a trefoil façade.
What is a trefoil façade, you wonder? In a simple explaining term, it’s a leaf shaped three part front peace of a building, a church in this case, a symbol of Holy trinity.
The main square
Having this in mind and a fact that Osor is just a short drive from the main town of Island of Cres, we decided on a short visit. Very very short. We took one of the grandmas, the baby and arrived early in the morning, set for a coffee and bagels in the local coffee shop where everybody else was already there.
The town cat
With only about twenty permanent residents currently Osor is actually an ancient town that still lies on a narrow Cavanella channel that separates the islands of Cres and Lošinj. Originally the channel was built by the Romans to make the easier passage for the sailboats, as the two island were a huge mass of land before the channel was cut.
At first the channel was of great importance for the trade sailors, but as of 15th century as the sailors became better in open sea sailing the channel lost its previous importance.
Today there’s a rotating bridge that is connecting the islands but also making a huge traffic jam as there’s only one main road leading through the islands. Very discomforting during the summer season.
One of the main attractions in the village is the Renaissance cathedral built between 1463 and 1498.
During the summer, the cathedral is a stage for the Osor Music Festival dedicated mostly to works by historical and contemporary Croatian composers
The three-nave construction of the building is attributed to the famous builder and sculptor Jurij Dalmatinec and it is considered one of the most beautiful preserved Renaissance monuments in Croatia.
The bell tower of the cathedral, located east of the cathedral, was built in 1575 by Jakob Galeta from the island of Krk.
But the most interesting details about this small village were actually bronze art sculptures representing different real or imaginary characters related to music; like composers Jakov Gotovac and Boris Papandopulo, some of them reproductions made by famous Croatian sculptors like Ivan Meštrović, Frane Kršinića, Vanje Radauša.
Jakov Gotovac; Marija Ujević-Galetović
Memorial to croatian kuna
Small, peaceful, quiet, with it’s rich history and magical details, Osor makes for a perfect day trip if you’re vacating on one of the islands, so make sure to drop here if near.
When you say Norway, the first things that comes to your mind are Vikings, fjords and beautiful nature. So beautiful that you would climb the highest mountains just for the view. The price doesn’t matter, it’s the experience.
It’s no secret that we haven’t traveled Norway as much as we would like to. Apart from short city brakes to Drøbak, Drammen or Tønsberg, we still haven’t seen the west coast, the North or the South. To be completely honest, it’s crazy expensive to travel anywhere in Norway. And with long and hard winters, we always prefer to travel somewhere warm. But….last year we did several short trips around Norway.
