THE BRIJUNI ARCHIPELAGO comprises a group of two larger and twelve smaller islands lying along the west coast of Istria, not far from the mainland town of Pula, and which have a total land area of only 7 km2. But since a protection regime extends over a significant sea area around the archipelago, the total area of this national park is 36 km2. The Brijuni archipelago, part beautiful landscape and part safari park, is famed for its preserved Mediterranean flora. It is also noted for its valuable cultural heritage dating from Roman and Byzantine times. Because of their extraordinary beauty the Brijuni have been a favourite tourist destination for world statesmen and members of the international aristocracy for over a hundred years. 1 2 Although the islands are not populated on a permanent basis, because of the frequency of visiting tours people are to be found there the year round. Tourists can be accommodated on the island of Veliki Brijun in any one of the three small hotels that provide their guests with an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity set amid wonderful nature far from the bustling crowds in nearby mainland Pula, just across the water. The island is also the site of Croatia’s oldest golf course. Almost half the archipelago is covered with landscaped parks and meadows containing solitary holm-oak trees with trimmed crowns. The safari park was introduced over twenty years ago, when the late Josip Broz Tito, the then President of the former Yugoslavia, had his summer residence here. The residents of the safari park include mostly exotic herbivores: elephants, antelopes, gazelles, zebras, llamas, and other species. The area was declared a national park because of its quite specific cultural and historical heritage. Particularly rich is its heritage dating from the Roman period when, in the Bay of Verige, 1st-century Roman emperors maintained their summer residence here; also dating from the Byzantine period when, in the Bay of Dobrika, a well fortified castle was built and was used as a residence until the 14th century. In the 19th century, in the times of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, an impressive system of forts was built on the islands, designed to protect the city of Pula and used as a main harbour for its battle fleet. These forts, among the largest of their kind in the Mediterranean, have been preserved down to modern times and represent the finest examples of fortification architecture in Europe. However, an Austrian industrialist, one Paul Kupelwieser, is deserving of the greatest credit for the present-day cultural landscape of the islands. He purchased the islands in the late 19th century and, with the able assistance of a certain Robert Koch, a doctor of great renown, succeeded in eradicating malaria from the islands; then, in the early 20th century, he converted the islands into a park and an elite tourist resort.