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| Mountain
Of Hum |
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When
you enjoyed yourself to the full with swimming and the sea, there
are many beautiful and interesting areas in Vela Luka that are convenient
for shorter and longer excursions and walks and even for more serious
mountaineer undertakings. If you are in Vela Luka, you will notice
from different points in the town the highest rising ground in the
south-southwest in that western part of the island. That is the
mountain Hum (377 meters altitude above sea-level), covered in greenery
of the Mediterranean vegetation. It is connected with the town with
a beautiful asphalt road. Departing from Vela Luka, at first you
will pass by big and old well warded olive-trees. In spring they
hide in their greenery many rich colors of a great number of plants.
The simple gladiola (Gladiolus communis L.) stands out with its
red color and it can be found in big groups.
The road leads further in a valley that is surrounded by big pine
tree woods with dense greenery. As the road goes up, the woods are
getting wider and in the whole landscape dominate big and old trunks
of pine trees (Pinus helepensis Mill). The lush and diversity of
the vegetation and the great botanic richness are the characteristics
of these parts closer to the top. There are many shades and enough
sun by the road and the mild ascent enables the pleasure of wider
sights and an interesting landscape. During the time of the Austro-Hungarian
ruler ship a fortress called «fortezza» was built on
top of the mountain and there are still traces of the stay of different
armies. The top of the mountain enables wide sights, along the island
and to the high sea with islands and smaller islands. The stay on
the mountain Hum offers the best sight on the unique panorama of
the big bay and the town of Vela Luka.
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| OPHRYS
ARCHIPELAGI |
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Korcula
is an island that is situated in the Mediterranean climate area
and its characteristics are a relatively richness of different plants.
Among the different sorts of plants that were noticed on the island
of Korcula so far, it is especially worth mentioning a sort of plant
from the family of orchids ( Ophrys archipelagi). Vela Luka is mentioned
as «Iocus classicus», respectively the place where the
first example of the plant was found and used as a sample for the
first description of its kind. The sample is being kept in the Botanic
museum in Zurich. It is interesting to mention that the same sample
was only found, except on the island of Korcula, in Italy on the
peninsula Monte Gargano. At the end it should be emphasized that
this kind of plant is spread on a very restrained area. This endemic
example is visually very attractive and beautiful and it represents
for sure a special botanic value. This endemic example of an orchid
emphasizes Vela Luka as the place where it was first found and described
and the island of Korcula, beside other, as an island where the
nature is preserved and rich with rarities and special kinds of
life and that is of great value that should be pointed out but also
preserved.
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| Fortezza |
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| Wilhelm
von Tegetthoff was born in 1827 in Maribor, Slovenia,
and joined the Austrian navy at the age of 13. He was
promoted rapidly and in 1864 he commanded the Austrian
squadron sent to the North Sea. In 1866 he was the commander
of the Austrian fleet that defeated the Italians by
Lissa. He died of cancer in 1871. |
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The
admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff analyzed the defense coverage of
the east aquatorium among the islands of Vis, Hvar, Korcula and
Lastovo and he noticed a gap in it. He came to the conclusion that
a fortress with armor should be built above Vela Luka, called Valle
Grande at that time, on the mountain Hum. The construction of the
fortress started in 1890, after the design documentation was finished.
The main construction works were finished by 1898. The work was
completed in 1902 and it was additionally modernized and equipped
in 1912. The fortress has three cannon towers, whose walls are approximately
1 meter thick. The walls get thinner as they get higher and on the
top of the towers they are 70 centimeters thick. They are arranged
that way that the south-east tower is oriented to the island of
Lastovo, the south-west tower to the islands of Susac and Palagruza,
and the northern tower was the main observation and commanding point,
at the same time. Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff was born in Maribor
on December 23rd 1827 and died in Vienna on April 7th 1871 as the
commander of the Austrian navy. He was 44 years old when he died
and he held the rank of an admiral. On May 5th 1866 he was named
the commander of the Adriatic operation fleet.
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more information and details, please, do not hesitate to contact
us. |
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