Polace

Polače sits at the end of a long, sheltered bay on Mljet's northern coast — the largest and safest anchorage on the island, protected by a cluster of small islets at its mouth. Along with Pomena it is one of the two main gateways into Mljet National Park, and it is also the oldest continuously settled spot on the island.

A Bay Built for Shelter

Four low, wooded islets — Tajnik, Moračnik, Ovrata and Kobrava — lie across the entrance and break up anything coming in from the north, which is why the bay stays workable in weather that closes other anchorages on this coast. The inlet runs a long way inland, the shoreline is thick with pine, and depths inside suit boats of most sizes. Several of the waterfront restaurants keep their own moorings for guests. Polače is also one of Mljet's two ferry ports alongside Sobra, so there is a scheduled link to the mainland in season rather than only a dinghy ride ashore.

The Roman Palace That Named the Village

The village's name comes from the Latin word palatium, palace, and it is not just a nice name: Polače sits on top of a genuine Roman palace. Dating estimates span the 3rd to the 5th century AD, with most current scholarship settling on the end of the 5th, and what survives is a rectangular complex with towers at the front corners facing the water. It is among the largest Roman monuments anywhere in Dalmatia, second in scale only to Diocletian's Palace in Split. Around it archaeologists have identified thermal baths, an early Christian basilica of the 5th to 6th century whose stone floor outlines and baptismal font are still traceable on the ground, and a structure interpreted as an arsenal. Village houses were built directly onto and into the palace walls, so this is not a fenced site you queue to enter but part of the everyday fabric of the place.

Layers of Settlement

Ruins from the 1st to the 6th centuries are scattered through the village, and the site's roots run back further still, to the Greek and Illyrian periods. Roman villae rusticae, cisterns and a scatter of underwater archaeology — wrecks and amphora fields — have all been recorded around the bay. Above the port stands Kaštijo, an old fort and watchtower that guarded the entrance and the sea lanes beyond, part of the anti-pirate defences that shaped this whole coastline. Mljet itself was granted to Benedictine monks from Pulsano by Desa of Zachlumia in 1151 and was formally annexed by the Republic of Ragusa in 1410.

Gateway to Mljet National Park

Mljet National Park was founded in 1960, the oldest protected marine area on the Adriatic, and covers about 5,300 hectares — roughly a third of the island — including a belt of sea extending 500 metres offshore. Its centrepiece is the pair of saltwater lakes, Veliko and Malo Jezero, joined to the open sea by narrow channels. On an islet in the larger lake stands a Benedictine monastery whose Romanesque church was built between 1177 and 1198; the monks held feudal rights over the island until 1345 and the community was finally disbanded under Napoleonic rule in 1809. From Polače it is roughly a 40-minute walk through pine woods to reach the lakes.

The Island and the Village Today

Mljet is 37 km long and rarely more than 3 km wide, with over 84% of its surface under forest, which makes it one of the most densely wooded islands in the Adriatic; just over a thousand people live there across fourteen settlements. Polače is a small, low-key place — just over a hundred permanent residents, with the national park putting the figure at around 140 — with a few restaurants along the water and mooring available close to the ruins. Given its size and its bay, many gulet cruises from Dubrovnik call in here, usually on the way to or from the lakes.