Guidebook for Dubrovnik

Elafiti islands Island group includes eight islands and five isles, of which only three are inhabited: Koločep, Lopud and Šipan. The Island of Koločep is the one closest to Dubrovnik. The settlements Gornje Čelo and Donje Čelo are situated in the two largest bays. The eastern and western parts of the island are covered with thick pine woods stretching as far as the sea rocks. The crystal azure sea abounds with fish and shellfish. The dwellers of Koločep used to be the best-known coral divers in the Mediterranean, but today they seldom dive and only for pleasure. Numerous monuments including the remains of sarcophaguses, stone sculptures, chapels and churches show that the island was inhabited in the time of antiquity. Already the first encounter with Kalamota, as the people of Dubrovnik nick-name the Island of Koločep, will not leave you indifferent. You will be intoxicated by its deafening silence, the scent of the Mediterranean herbs and pines, and the blueness of the sea that washes its sandy beaches. The one standing in the middle is the Island of Lopud, which abounds with beautiful sandy beaches.Nature is not the only one who was generous to Lopud. The island also abounds with forts, little churches, summer residences and monasteries housing valuable works of art.The biggest and most inhabited, the Island of Šipan has a large number of vineyards and olive groves. The two biggest settlements are Šipanska Luka and Suđurađ. The inner side of the island abounds with shelters and natural anchorages of immense beauty, where the branches of pine trees reach the surface of the sea. In this small area there is a huge number of monuments, more than thirty churches, several monasteries and about sixty summer residences in gothic-renaissance style.