Lying right opposite St Anthony’s Channel, the narrow waterway that connects Šibenik with the open sea, Zlarin is a green island covered in olive groves and wild shrubs.Zlarin has got the longest island promenade in Croatia (127.50m). Saint Fortunato is the protector of the island Zlarin so the most frequent names on the island are Srećko, Nato and Refortunato! Coral fishing has been associated with the island ever since the 15th century, when the raw coral was exported to Dubrovnik and other cities to be processed into fashion accessories. During the 1950s coral fishing went into decline due to depleted stocks, although at least one coral-processing workshop still exists on the island, and several souvenir shops open up in summer to sell coral bracelets and earrings.
Zlarin village is a beautiful settlement of stone-built houses arranged around a bay. Key landmark is the impressive clocktower built in 1829 and known as the Leroj (local version of the Italian word for clock, orologio), crowned by an attractively spindly weather vane. Slightly uphill to the west is the 18th-century Church of the Assumption, worth a peek on account of the hairy-looking gargoyles gazing down from either side of the pediment.
Occupying a stone house at the eastern end of town, Zlarin Museum displays finds from a shipwrecked Roman galley found by marine archeologists just off the Šibenik coast, and an “ethnographic room” containing domestic utensils and traditional costumes. The upper floor of the same building houses the Zlarinka coral workshop, where coral is cut, burnished and made into jewelry. You can admire all manner of necklaces, bangles and baubles in the Zlarinka shop, and take a peek at the polishing process in the work-room next door.
Further east, the Chapel of St Simon (Crkvica sv. Šime) has a small collection of church treasures, open in the summer months. Continue along the road past the chapel and you’ll arrive after 10 minutes at the Church of Our Lady of Raselj (Gospe od Raselje), a church of medieval origins that contains a miracle-working image of the Virgin. Inside, model ships hang from the ceiling as a gesture of thanks from devout sailors.