The lives of the local inhabitants of the Paklenica Riviera are deeply intertwined with the mountains. Velebit hides many villages where you can experience the magic of the native cuisine, and in some villages you can spend your entire vacation in the spirit of past times.
The history here has left many trails: rich artefacts from times of antiquity, the Paklarić and Večka fortresses from the times of the Turkish attacks, the Early Croatian Church of St. Peter, as well as the mirila, the stone monument markings connected to the former funeral customs of the local population which is a unique phenomenon of this region.
The Church of St. Mary – a votive sanctuary where there is a traditional pilgrimage on 15 August, the Feast of the Assumption, stands on Veliko Rujno, the highest Velebit plateau.
A medieval church situated on the Adriatic highway between Starigrad and Seline.
In the vicinity, there is a graveyard dating back to the mid-13th century.
Its eye-catching tombstones, made from hefty stone slabs, are still standing, sometimes decorated with simple, shallow relief forms from the period between the 14th and 16th centuries.
In ethno-house Marasović, there is a small exhibition of household furniture and agricultural tools, representing the long tradition, history, customs and beliefs of people from the Velebit area.
A small info-centre and souvenir shop is also in the house.
In authentic atmosphere of the Marasović ethno-house traditional food of this area can be found - simple food but rich in tastes and aromas.
It is a poorly known fact that today’s Starigrad-Paklenica emerged from the foundations of the ancient Roman city of Argyruntum. However, in his work Naturalis historia, Pliny the Elder (Caius Plinius Secundus) included Argyruntum on the list of municipia, which implied that the citizens of the settlement were granted Roman rights.
The city was located on a small 3.5 hectare peninsula and was surrounded by city walls, clearly seen in one epigraphic monument.
Mirila, stone monuments to the departed, can be found along the mountain paths, passes, elevations and clearings of Mt. Velebit. Mirila date from the times of the Velebit hamlets (17th–20th centuries), that mainly survived from animal husbandry.
They preserve the memories of persons who died on the mountain slopes and had to be carried to the village church and then to the cemetery where they were buried.
- Educational Path
- Mesolithic
- Neolithic and Copper Age
- Bronze Age and Iron Age
- Classical Antiquity
- Middle Ages and Modern Age
