Piskera Island

Piškera is the third-largest island in the Kornati archipelago and lies at the heart of Kornati National Park, roughly midway along the park's north–south stretch of water. It covers only 2.66 square kilometres, rises to 127 metres at its highest point, and — like the rest of the Kornati — is uninhabited today.

The island's name comes from the Italian peschiera, meaning fish pond or fish farm, a clue to its history. Remnants of stone breakwaters here date back to the medieval period, and in the early 16th century the Venetian Republic built a fortress on the neighbouring islet of Vela Panitula to collect tax on the catch brought in by Kornati fishermen. Alongside it, a seasonal settlement grew up on Piškera itself: around 36 huts and storehouses, eight small docks, and a movable bridge linking the two islets. A one-nave Gothic church, consecrated in 1560 and dedicated to the Nativity of Mary, still stands and draws islanders and visitors back for a traditional feast-day gathering on the last Sunday of July. The settlement was used mainly during the dark — the new-moon nights that were best for catching sardines and other pelagic fish — and it emptied out for good after the fall of the Venetian Republic at the end of the 18th century. Only five houses remain standing today.

Piškera's modern role is as a sailing waypoint: ACI Marina Piškera, squeezed between Piškera and Panitula Vela, offers around 118 berths for boats up to 30 metres and operates from 1 April to 31 October, with the Kornati National Park entrance fee bundled into the daily berthing price. Sitting deep inside the national park with no fixed ferry line, the island is best reached during a gulet cruise along the Croatia coast, typically as one stop on a longer route through the Kornati.