Vela Luka

Vela Luka (4464 inhabitants) is the biggest town on the island and is 42 km far away from the town of Korcula. Vela Luka is the oldest and the youngest settlement on the island at the same time.

On the hill spilinski rat, Northeast of the village, on about 100 m attitude above sea-level, is the Vela Spila (the big cave) - the most significant pre-historic deposit of Korcula. the rich Neolithic culture of the “Circle of Hvar” (3200 before Christ) communicated over sea with the neighbours of the Adriatic and the Mediterranean. The attractive collection of discoveries is exhibited in the Homeland museum in the Palace Franulovic-Repak near the parish church.

 Vela Luka developed at the beginning of the 19th century in a deep, protected bay. Beside houses there are a few hotels and the rehabilitation centre for rheumatic diseases and posttraumatical conditions “Kalos”.

The population is dealing with agriculture, fishing, tourism and there is the shipyard “Greben”, the fishprocessing factory “Jadranka” and other smaller industrial and farm plants.

In the big private exhibition gallery of Anka Prizmic-Sege, opened in 1983, are numerous sculptures and paintings of this artist born in Vela Luka. The parish church of St. Joseph is a classical building finished in 1848. The stations of the Way of the Cross - 15 smaller relieves - were made by Anka Prizmic.

The chapel of St. Vicence is from 1589; it was reconstructed several times and it contains the bust sculpture of Don Ivan Oreb, a priest who did a lot for the cultural development of Vela Luka in the 20th century, and it was made by Anka Prizmic, as well.

Vela Spila

Vela Spila, above the Kale Cove in the most protected area of Vela Luka Bay, is characteristically and most likely, the most significant prehistoric archeological site in the Mediterranean region.

The Cave interior measures ca. 15000m2, and thus far only small part has been explored. The continuous inhabitation has been established from the culmination of the last Ice Age (18000 B.C.) to the middle Bronze Age (2000 B.C.), and every now and then to the newer times.

Island of Proizd

At the very entrance to the Vela Luka bay, lies the island of Proizd - one of the true pearls of the Adriatic.
Nature abundantly bestowed upon it its most precious gifts: crystal clear sea, sparkling white pebbles and air rich in the soothing fragrance of Mediterranean vegetation.
The untouched nature and beauty are a feast to the sense and the safest sanctuary from everyday urban living.
Proizd is an oasis where the natural insticts and compulsions find their fill.