Makarska, history, mountains and renting lighthouses

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Makarska. Off the motorway from Dubrovnik toward Zagreb, Mountains sweeping directly into the Adriatic - every fjord-bay has a town. And its invaders, and deforestation.

Makarska shows the effects of those multiple conquerors, rebuilding, layers. There is a point where people stop re-stuccoing over the stone, and some remain rough now. As you walk about, find the full panoply of conquerors. The coast has a fine harbor, and the town is sheltered by the Biokovo range of mountains,. Lovely beaches, fine old monasteries.

There, in the succession of centuries, Romans ruled, then Goths, then Croatia (finally) until the Turks, then Venice. The town has been bombarded often and rebuilt. See www.st.carnet.hr/dalmacija/makarska/.

You can rent your own Croatian lighthouse here for some 700-1200 euro per week. These are in Croatian waters or at the end of a mainland, all from the 19th Century, says the Financial Times 7/15/2006. Go to adriatica.net/ for rental details and find a spot (say, at Plocica) that sleeps up to 14. Take your friends. Enjoy Christmas, New Year's and the summer. A particularly remote one, says the article, is Palagruza between Italy and Croatia (mid-water?). St. Ivan is near Rovinj.

One, St. Peter Lighthouse here in the photo, is just off the coast here at Makarska. Long promenades at the beach.