Dolovo and Vela gromača trail

This is a short but exceptionally attractive walking trail to the abandoned village of Dolovo and the Vela gromača drystone wall. It is 5.4 kilometres long, and its terrain characteristics make it suitable for all ages. The starting point is at the Chapel of St Christopher on the main road from Kras to Dobrinj. Straight ahead, you enter the typical island forest of downy oak and hornbeam, and then descend to the remains of the old mill by the Rakovik stream. In addition to the collapsed walls, there is also a millstone that was once powered by the waterfall behind the mill. Rakovik used to be the main source of water for the nearby Gradec Castle, which belonged to the Counts of Krk. Locals say it still provides a habitat for crayfish.

The trail then circles around the Harbujica hill to Vela gromača, the largest drystone wall on the island. Gromače, or drystone walls, are one of Krk’s most important landmarks. These monumental layers of rock are located at the peak of Kuševica (locally also known as St George), 311 metres above the sea. Nearby are the remains of a Romanesque church from 1230, built in honour of St George, the legendary dragon slayer.

From Vela gromača, the trail descends to the abandoned village of Dolovo, a place referred to as the enchanted island forest or the Machu Picchu of Krk. The open doors of the abandoned houses are the last reminder of life in the village, whose last inhabitants left in the second half of the 20th century. Yet everything in Dolovo seems to have been left as it was on the day the last inhabitant deserted it. No wonder that the lush vegetation, with its thick moss and ivy, now tells its own story. Once you have explored this mystical village, the trail will take you back to the starting point, with the impressions of your walk through Krk’s history, nature and tales forever etched in your memory.