Dalmatian Coast · Croatia
A small village with a 3,500-year story — where Bronze Age settlements, Roman harbours and Venetian fortresses meet the crystal-clear Adriatic.
About the village
Turanj is a charming seaside village on the Dalmatian coast, stretching along 4 kilometres of shoreline in the Pašman Channel. It is surrounded by a small archipelago of 16 islets, whose shores are dotted with tiny stone fishing piers — the "mulići" — offering shelter to small boats. From the shore, the view stretches across to Babac island, the only inhabited island in the archipelago, just one nautical mile away.
Connected to the neighbouring village of Sv. Filip i Jakov by the scenic seaside promenade "Lungo Mare", Turanj is close enough to everything — yet perfectly removed from the summer crowds. Biograd na Moru is 5 km away; Zadar just 20 minutes by car.
The area around Turanj has been continuously inhabited since the Bronze Age. Its layered history — from prehistoric hillforts to Roman estates, from Venetian fortresses to an astonishing underwater city — makes this one of the most historically rich stretches of the Dalmatian coast.
Through the centuries
Sensational discovery
Just fifty metres from the Adriatic shore, and around three hundred metres from Turanj, a team of archaeologists from the University of Zadar discovered an extraordinary underwater prehistoric site — a settlement spread over nearly one and a half hectares of seabed, dating back approximately three thousand years.
Thousands of artefacts were found in just four square metres of excavated seabed: ceramic kitchen vessels, bone needles for weaving fishing nets, ceramic sinkers, processed wooden boat parts, olive stones (evidence of olive cultivation 3,000 years ago), and large quantities of animal bones.
Most remarkably, large wooden piles were found driven firmly into the seabed — evidence of a substantial stilt-house settlement. The site lies at a depth of just three metres, making it accessible even to beginner divers.
"This is one of the most important prehistoric underwater sites in Croatia."
Today
Stay at Casa Rosa and explore one of Dalmatia's most fascinating villages.
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