Odysseus island...
Mljet is an island lost in the open sea called 'green island' because of the exceptional luxuriant of forests of Aleppo Pine wood that is one of the most beautiful woods of its kind on the whole Mediterrenian with all sorts of mediterrenian bushes and unique species of the plants, that grows only here.
The Mljet National Park covers the western section of the island in Dalmatia which is, according to many, one of the most beautiful parts of the Adriatic.
Natural wonder of the National Park are two specific wide gulfs which, due to the very narrow connection with the open sea have been called 'the Lakes'. The salt lakes are a unique geological and oceanographic phenomenon of worldwide importance. They originated approximately 10.000 years ago and until the Christian era, they were freshwater lakes.
The cleanliness of the Big and Small Lake has enabled the survival of the Aurelia, the oldest species of medusa in the world. In the lakes of Mljet there are different shell species: oysters, mussels, pen shells etc…
In the middle of the Great Lake there is a St. Mary islet, with an ancient Benedictictine monastery and a church dating from 12th century.
Two lakes are connected with a narrow channal through whom the sea water exchanges every 12 hours. Above it there is a stone bridge called Small Bridge. In the Great Lake, next to the Small Bridge, thanks to it’s specific natural caracteristics, lives stone coral ( Cladocora caespitosa ).
Soline is the channel by which the lakes are connected with the sea.
Azure color and clarity of the sea are something you just have to experience for yourself.
The sea of Mljet is rich with fish, octopuses, lobsters and seaspider, as well as various types of corals, such as red coral ( Corallium rubrum ).
Some findings are pointing to the possibility that on the south side of the island, hiding during the day in some underwater caves with air pockets, a living specimens of extremely rare and endangered species – mediterranean seal ( Monachus monachus ) can still be found.
You can visit the Ulysses or Odysseus cave where by legend Ulysses was captured after shipwreck and beautiful sand beaches at the eastern end of the island.
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