The Galevac Isle is a real Mediterranean garden. The local people of the village of Preko call the islet Školjić and it is a favourite vacation spot for all those who enjoy peace and quite in the nature. Galevac can be reached by a small wooden boat – barkajola since it is only about 80 meters away from the coast of Preko. In 1410, a Zadar nobleman Milanje gifted the islet to the Franciscans, and to this day they have preserved their tradition and heritage there. The Church of St. Paul the First Hermit was built in the 15th century, but it was extended and renovated throughout the centuries. Today, the small church, a monastery and a museum form a complex that hides ample cultural treasures worth exploring. The library collection has been entered in the Register of Cultural Property of the Republic of Croatia. Both the museum and the monastery are open for visits during the summer months. It should also be mentioned that the Glagolitic script was preserved on the island until the 19th century.
On the coast of Galevac, there is the first monument built to honour the laundresses, i.e. the women from Preko who worked for the Zadar noblemen and died in a marine accident near Galevac, after their boat overturned and sunk in a storm. During the plague outbreak the islet was turned into a lazaretto, where the Franciscans selflessly took care of the sick. If you visit the monastery cometary, you will find the grave of PhD Ante Kuzmanić, a Zadar intellectual, physician, philologist, publicist and national revivalist.
In 1863, Friar Dragutin Parčić took the first photograph of Preko from the shores of Galevac. He is known as one of the first photographers in Croatia, and he even photographed a solar eclipse.
In the 20th century during the siege of Zadar, there was even a grammar school open on Galevac. Both Preko and Galevac are very proud of that fact, because it was the only secondary school with Croatian as the teaching language in the area between Šibenik and Senj during the siege of Zadar. At that time, one of the students made a replica of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in stone. The replica has been restored, and it can be seen today. Clever priests even founded a printing house for their own needs on Galevac. The printing house of Don Ivo Prodan called Jadran operated on Galevac from 1930 to 1945. Školjić also hides an impressive cemetery where many of the Zadar’s intellectual elite were buried. The best time to visit Galevac is in spring or during the summer months. The coast and the underwater of Galevac offer plenty of spots for swimming and diving.
The best months to visit
