The area of the municipality of Dugopolje, where the Hotel Katarina is located, was inhabited even during the Neolithic and the Early Stone Age, which is evidenced by its numerous archaeological sites. One of the most impressive is Vranjača, the most beautiful cave in Dalmatia, attracting many excursionists and tourists with its beauty. The entrance to the cave, the so-called atrium, has been known to locals since the ancient times, while the second part was discovered by the owner of that exact land, when he was passing through a narrow passage looking for a wounded pigeon.
Plague and cholera, emperors and tourists
Dugopolje and its surroundings are a typical example of a karst landscape with phenomena such as limestone pavements, sinkholes, abysses, karst bays, karst fields and caves. You can discover them by walking along the Mali put through the Dugopolje field. The area was pillaged by Turks and Venetians, ravaged by plague, famine and cholera, but today it is visited by tourists from Spain, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Two emperors also passed through Dugopolje: Francis II. (1825) and Francis Joseph I. (1875).
Fatherland of the top athletes
Many top Croatian athletes come from Dugopolje. The most famous among them is the legendary marathon swimmer Veljko Rogošić, the four-time world swimming marathon champion and a kind moustached man, who is best remembered by many generations for the television ad for Pipi. In addition to the marathon swimmer of all time, who, by the way, made big money also as a mannequin and shot more than 120 commercials, the famous Hajduk footballer Jurica Jerkovic and Igor Culin, one of the most successful rowing coaches, the former coach of the Croatian national rowing team and the winner of the bronze Olympic medal, also come from Dugopolje.
Dugopolje – the centre of the world
While some of the top athletes come from Dugopolje, others came here, believe it or not, from Africa! In search of today’s top footballers, the Dugopolje Football Club hosted the former hero of the young Nigerian national team. Bernard Tsumega Bulbwa brought the Africa Cup of Nations title to his national team in 2015, and played for the Tunisian Espérance and the Moroccan Mouloudia.
