Page 189 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL SUMMER 2022 DISCOVERING MADRID

Coastal Veli Lošinj and Mali Lošinj are the two
largest towns on the island. Originally, the for-
mer was the bigger settlement (veli means
“big”), “but there was too much wind in the har-
bor so the port was relocated to Mali Lošinj
(mali means “small”) which has about 6500 in-
habitants today”, Nikola Marinac the tour guide
explains. In the 18th and 19th centuries, trade,
shipbuilding, and seafaring made the island
prosper.
A reminder of this glorious past is the pink
parish church of Veli Lošinj, the Church of St
Anthony the Hermit. The church sits perched on
a cliff above the entrance of the harbor nestled
picturesquely around a bay with colorful houses
from the turn of the century. “The captains’ and
their families wanted to demonstrate their
wealth”, said Marinac. “The building holds trea-
sures such as black marble from Mauretania,
four side altars from Venice, red marble from
Carrara, and a rich collection of Italian paint-
ings. During the Second World War, the most
valuable relics were hidden in the bottom of the
burial chamber.”
But the local churches are not the only places
sheltering the riches, the Adriatic Sea also holds
onto them tightly … although not forever. In
1997, while diving, a Belgian tourist discovered
a 2,000-year-old Greek bronze statue on the
seabed off Lošinj, 148 feet below the surface.
The athlete Apoxyomenos is in better condition
than almost any other bronze statue from this
period, due to the preserving effect of sand and
coral growth. Only the eyes and the little finger
on the right hand are missing. The rest is of such
artistic excellence, with fine attention to detail,
beauty, and aesthetics that an entire museum
has been dedicated to it. In a futuristic, bright
white and otherwise completely empty room
Apoxyomenos stands like a deity with his har-
monious muscular body in bronze splendor.

Croatia's coastline from above
Right: Apoxyomenos in full copyright
Marko Vrdoljak

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