The forecast was for a gorgeous weekend so our small team of amateur-explorers/historians decided to head to Imotski region to meet with my friend Domagoj and learn more on mysteries of Imotski region and the lakes. The spring is here and staying at home is not an option any longer.

Imotski is always beautiful and even more so when all these almonds are in bloom. We started from Topana fortress and, while the rest of our big group listened to Domagoj, I was enjoying beautiful views of snow cowered peaks of Biokovo in the distance. Blue Lake was not so blue due to water level rising and underground streams bringing dirt after the lake was empty for record long period… But the view was breathtaking.

Our next stop was Red Lake but we just stopped at the panorama point and enjoyed the view without actually taking the tour.

And then we headed to Proložac donji where we enjoyed picnic in the park. Just a splendid atmosphere, great food and wines!

I also took some time to take photos of nearby Green Cathedral which is a very popular place of worship for Velika Gospa (Assumption Feast) holiday on August 15th. The cathedral is just a set of building sections making it quite unique in Croatia. This small park is also popular with locals as we saw several families and children with their dogs chasing ducks.

After our lunch, we went to find the actual spring of Vrljika. The spring is called Two Eyes as it it is made up of springs next to each other. This is one of 5 springs of Vrljika that, in all 70 Km of it’s flow, often goes underground and appearing 5 times under different names. Just another miracle of karst! And that’s not it.

The most interesting part is that Two Eyes are very different. Upper lake, further away from the stream, is cooler and the one from which the actual river starts is warmer and never freezes! Two eyes are connected by a narrow stream and it appears that they will merge soon making it one spring. But, since the waters are coming from two different sources, it is going to be a funny mix!

Imotski region continues with exhibiting it’s dualistic side: Blue and Red lake, warm and cool spring of the same river… Even the church of St. Michael in the nearby Proložac talks about ancient traditions of  “good and evil” and continuing fight. Also, the lakes are very calming and felt like meditating. Those who know me know that staying still for too long is quite unlikely for me so.. there must be something here!
Although I decided a while back to taste waters from all the springs of Dalmatian rivers, the farming lands just next to these two springs made me think twice as you never know what goes into land these days (and straight to the streams). So I passed.

And then we headed north for view of more lakes! The panorama over Galipovac lake is stunning. Unfortunatelly, the long drought left the lake of Proložac pretty dry so just a small patch was visible. The wooded hill becomes an island in “normal” winters and it was known as a place of refuge for monks during the Turkish rule of the region. Several other lakes and deep dry pits can be seen from this place.

Few of us decided to go down to get a better view of Galipovac. The slopes are very steep so it is best to stop at one point and just enjoy the view. It seems quite impossible to go all the way to the lake without serious climbing equipment and we did not want to end such a great trip with a 112 call…

Imotski region proves again to be a spectacular destination and it is sad that lot of guests who come to Split don’t even know that such a spectacular region is only an hour away. We will start introducing few more day trips for our clients when traveling to Croatia with us.