Punta Bjanca Lighthouse

The lighthouse commonly known as Punta Bjanca is officially the Veli Rat Lighthouse, standing on the northwestern cape of Dugi Otok island, in Zadar County — not near Pula or the Istrian peninsula. Built in 1849 under Austro-Hungarian rule, it is a 36-metre stone tower with a focal plane 41 metres above sea level, giving it a light range of 22 nautical miles, among the tallest and most powerful lighthouses on the Adriatic. According to local legend, the keeper's house was once coated with a mixture containing thousands of egg yolks to protect the yellow-tinted facade from salt air; the colour is still visible today.

Next to the lighthouse stands a small chapel dedicated to St. Nicholas, patron saint of sailors, which preserves a Roman Missal dated 1869. The lighthouse has offered rooms for holiday rental since 2000 and has kept a resident lighthouse keeper. It is one of the anchorages you'll visit on a private gulet cruise in Croatia that sail the Zadar archipelago and the Kornati area.