Biokovo () is the second-highest mountain range in
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
, located along the
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...
n coast of the
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...
, between the rivers of
Cetina and
Neretva
The Neretva (, sr-Cyrl, Неретва), also known as Narenta, is one of the largest rivers of the eastern part of the Adriatic basin. Four Hydroelectricity, hydroelectric power plants with Dam, large dams (higher than 15 metres) provide flood ...
.
It is sometimes referred to as ''Bijakova'', especially among inhabitants of the eastern side of the mountain. Its highest peak is Sveti Jure (Saint George), at 1762
m.a.s.l. It shows a typical
karst
Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...
landscape. Atop the peak there is a powerful
FM and
DVB-T
DVB-T, short for Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial, is the DVB European-based consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial television that was first published in 1997 and first broadcast in Singapore in Fe ...
transmitter.
The 196 km
2 of its area is protected as a
nature park with over 1,500 plant and animal species, some of which are
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
.
Biokovo also includes the separate ridge and peak Sveti Ilija (Saint Elijah) at .
Biokovo is one in a line of
Dinaric Alps
The Dinaric Alps (), also Dinarides, are a mountain range in Southern Europe, Southern and Southcentral Europe, separating the continental Balkan Peninsula from the Adriatic Sea. They stretch from Italy in the northwest through Slovenia, Croatia ...
stretching along the Dalmatian coast - northwest of it is
Mosor and southeast are
Sutvid and
Rilić. To the east, the
Šibenik
Šibenik (), historically known as Sebenico (), is a historic town in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka (Croatia), Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is one of the oldest Croatia, Croatian self-governing cities ...
runs in parallel. When the weather is very clear, from the top of Biokovo it is possible to see
Monte Gargano in Italy, which is away.
''Zabiokovlje'', a mountainous area in Biokovo, includes such townlets and villages as Gornja Brela,
Zadvarje,
Žeževica, Grabovac, Rastovac,
Zagvozd
Zagvozd is a village and a seat of Zagvozd municipality in the Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. In 2011 it had a population of 767.
Demographics
In 2021, the municipality had 957 residents in the following 7 settlements:
* Biokovsko Selo, populat ...
,
Župa, Rašćane and
Kozica. Major economic activities there were cattle raising, grape growing, and hunting. Part of this area is in the Biokovo Nature Park. To aid hikers, the
Biokovo Nature Park Visitor Center is in downtown Makarska.
However, Biokovo can be perilous if hiking unprepared - tourists erroneously imagine peaks to be closer than they are and, oblivious to the danger, have been known to go hiking wearing flip-flops, without water, wearing shirts with military camouflage patterns making them harder to spot for
search and rescue teams. From 1976 to 2007, 24 hikers have died on Biokovo, while 37 had to be rescued.
Geology

Biokovo is a typical
karstic mountain composed of
limestones,
dolomites
The Dolomites ( ), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range in northeastern Italy. They form part of the Southern Limestone Alps and extend from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Va ...
,
breccias, and
flysch.
The mountain has more than 400 identified
speleological objects. Notable speleological objects are:
*
Njemica (-983 m)
*
Mokre noge (-831 m)
*
Amfora (-788 m)
*
Vilimova jama (A-2) (-589 m)
*
Jama pod Kamenitim vratima (-499 m)
*
Stara škola (-497 m)
*
Sveti Ilija Tunnel caverns
Sports & recreation
Professional road bicycle racing
Sveti Jure has recently found itself included as a climb in professional road bicycle races. It was visited for the first time on
the second stage of the 2017 Tour of Croatia. However, due to bad weather the race organisers decided to shorten the stage in accordance with the UCI Extreme weather protocol. The final route was shortened by 15,2 km, moving the finish line down to Vrata Biokova on an altitude of 820 meters.
The stage was won by Croatian rider
Kristijan Đurasek of the team
UAE Team Emirates, outsprinting
Jaime Rosón (
Caja Rural–Seguros RGA) with eventual general classification winner
Vincenzo Nibali (
Bahrain-Merida) finishing third, three seconds down.
The climb was revisited at the 2018 Tour of Croatia,
where it was included as a 28 km long climb serving as summit finish on the third stage, which was dubbed as the
queen stage of that year's edition. The stage was won by
Belarus
Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
ian rider
Kanstantsin Siutsou riding for Team Bahrain-Merida, after 75 minutes of climbing.
Mountain huts
In the 1935–1936 season, the ''Aleksandrov dom''
mountain hut on Vošac, at in elevation, saw 555 visitors, including 126 Czechoslovak, 22 German and 5 English visitors. Even though it was only open over the summer (1 May through 30 September), it had the most foreign visitors of any mountain hut owned by the
HPS, even compared to the mountain hut on Vražje Vršće (
Papuk). This continued in the 1936–1937 season, when it saw 454 visitors, including 103 Czechoslovak, 92 Austrian, 17 German, 7 French an 2 Polish citizens. In the 1937–1938 season it saw 572 visitors, including 139 Czechoslovak, 54 German, 25 Austrian, 24 Polish and 5 English citizens, being overtaken by the mountain hut on
Vidova gora as the most visited by foreigners in HPS ownership.
See also
*
List of mountains in Croatia
*
Amfora Pit
References
Bibliography
Alpinism
*
Biology
*
External links
Biokovo photos
Biokovoat the
Croatian Mountaineering Association
Biokovo picture
{{Authority control
Mountain ranges of Croatia
Nature parks of Croatia
Landforms of Split-Dalmatia County