In the middle of the Zadar archipelago, surrounded by the crystal-clear blue sea, lies the heart of the Adriatic, the heart-shaped island of Galešnjak, known also as the Island of Love.
It covers 0.132 square meters and is located in the Pašman channel with a view of Pašman to the south and the village of Turanj to the north, i.e. the land. Although the nature of Galešnjak is now pristine and the island is uninhabited and without any man-made dwellings nature, in mid-June 2019, findings were discovered that testify that life once existed on the island.
Namely, according to research by the University of Zadar, there is evidence that the island was inhabited in the early Neolithic era, a little more than 7,000 years ago. Galešnjak and the nearby island of Ričul were connected by a stone structure that enabled smooth communication between the two islands. The structure itself is considered an extraordinary achievement of that past period.
This discovery also confirmed that this is the oldest underwater structure in this part of the Adriatic. It is interesting fact that the construction of this rather complex structure for that time dates back to around 6100 and 5400 years B.C. This makes it the fourth site from the early Neolithic along with Crno vrilo, Smilčić and a site near Nin.
The heart-shaped Galešnjak is an islet in the Pašman Channel that was first entered into maps by Napoleon’s cartographers 200 years ago.
However, it became world-famous primarily because of Google Earth, which put the island on the list of several heart-shaped natural phenomena in the Republic of Croatia in 2008 and thereby made it known to the public and one of the most prominent islands of the Zadar archipelago. Galešnjak has also been included on Forbes list of the most romantic Valentine’s Day destinations.
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