Mamula Island

The fort was built between 1850 and 1853 on the orders of General Lazar Mamula, whose name it still carries. With the forts at Arza and Oštro it closed the entrance to the bay - three positions covering the only way in.

Its later history is darker, and it matters. From March 1942 until September 1943, under Italian occupation, Mamula was a concentration camp. People were imprisoned here and people died here.

The island was restored and opened as a hotel in 2023. The restoration has been publicly criticised for how lightly it treats that history, and that criticism is reasonable. We mention it because a guest should decide for themselves whether they want to stop here, and on what terms.

From the water the fort is striking - a stone ring on bare rock, with the open Adriatic on one side and the bay on the other. Many routes pass it on the way in or out. Whether to stop is a conversation, not a default.