Primošten. Things to do, map and hidden gems

Primosten's old town is one of the Adriatic's most photogenic silhouettes: a round islet studded with stone houses spiralling up to the church on top, joined to the mainland by the causeway from which the place took its name, from the verb primostiti, to bridge over. The islet was settled in the 16th century, before the Ottoman advances, by refugees from the hinterland; the bridge was raised at night, and towers and walls guarded what could be defended. Today the defensive logic reads in the plan: lanes narrow so they were easier to defend, houses pressed one against another, and every passage leads either to the church or to the sea. The walk is simple and precisely for that perfect: enter through the town gate, let the climb itself lead you in a spiral to St George, then descend the other side to the waterfront; half an hour suffices for the loop, but the pauses stretch it into a whole early evening. The loveliest view of the islet is not from it but from Raduca beach or the Gaj hill, when at dusk the lights come on and the town sets sail. The taverns in the stone ground floors are the reason to return after sunset.

Primosten's riva works as the old town's forecourt: a promenade along the harbour in the causeway's lee, where fishing boats and excursion boats rock at the stone piers, and a row of tavern and café terraces follows the sea line all the way to the town gate. Here the place breathes its real rhythm: fishermen and coffee in the morning, fruit and souvenir stalls before noon, the return from the beaches in the afternoon, and in the evening the corso in which locals and guests mingle while behind them the old town lights up. From the riva the excursion boats leave for the Krknjasi lagoon, Sibenik and hidden coves, so this is also the holiday's logistics centre; tickets are bought directly on the pier, best a day ahead. The gastronomy runs from ice cream to taverns with fish and Primosten Babic, poured here with a view of the vineyards it came from. The riva's loveliest hour is the blue one, between sunset and night, when the stone cools, the boats settle and the bell tower of St George shines above the roofs: then one sees why the same guests return to Primosten for decades.