Between Prvic isle and the mainland the shortest distance is only 0.8 km hence you could literally swim to get there. Or maybe not? Due to numerous speedboats running around in the channel it is very dangerous to swim there nowadays.
Prvic island has been inhabited since Roman times. During the medieval period it was a hideaway from plague for many noble families from Sibenik. In 15th century, escaping the Ottoman invasion, the people from mainland founded villages Sepurina and Prvic Luka.
Aerial photo of Prvic Sepurine and Vodice
Prvic is also known as the island of Faust. Faust Vrancic (or Fausto Veranzio) was a “Croatian Leonardo da Vinci”. This Renaissance man was a famous inventor and theoretician. He lived part of his life in Prvic Sepurine and was buried in a church in Prvic Luka.
One of his most famous inventions is Homo Volans, a first functional solution of a parachute whose construction resembles the modern ones.
It is believed that Faust performed an actual parachute jumping experiment.
According to the story passed on, Veranzio, in 1617, at over sixty-five years of age, implemented his design and tested the parachute by jumping from San Marco campanile in Venice.
In conclusion, even though he is famous as an inventor of the Homo Volans (the flying man), we shouldn’t forget that he wrote many other works which reflect his Renaissance spirit.
A portrait of Faust
Today Prvic is mainly the island of summer houses. Hidden from the mass tourism and crowd, Prvic still has the atmosphere of “Dalmatia as it once was”. This calm and warm feeling is a true heaven for children running around and playing. The small local tractors are the only vehicles allowed on the island.
Foreign tourists are slowly discovering island Prvic. Besides hotel Maestral, there are also many apartments for rent.
The memory of Faust lives through his Memorial center that was opened in 2012.
The most famous drawing made by Faust Vrancic representing a man jumping with a parachute