All you need to know about the island of Luschini: Learn about the charming island of Croatia that people go to for treatment
As soon as I set foot on Luschini's land, I felt relaxed and refreshed. And even now, when I close my eyes, I imagine myself inhaling the island's tender sea air interspersed with the scent of pines while walking between its winding coastal roads as the sounds of waves tumbling over the rocks to my ear.
I remember how I felt when I swam in the clear waters of the Adriatic Sea, resting on the beach under the strong Mediterranean sun while my body was covered in a thin layer of salt.
And I will never forget the aroma of the fragrant herbs of sage, emortelle, myrtle, laurel and rosemary filling my lungs.
For a long time now people have visited Luschine Island in the Gulf of Kvarner in Croatia, north of the Adriatic Sea.
The Kvarnier Bay is among the most temperate parts of the Adriatic Sea, as the Ochka mountain range is blocked from the coast and its islands by the cold northern winds, creating a microcosm with distinctive characteristics today referred to as the "Kvarnier environment" in relation to the Gulf.
This environment is characterized by natural healing properties, with the availability of 2,600 hours of sun per year, high air quality and adequate pressure, as well as the sea spray with its high particles of salt, which makes the Croatian island an excellent environment for healing.
In the nineteenth century, botanist Ambrose Kharacic, who hailed from Lucheni, described the island as the healthiest environment in the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time, based on its location and conditions.
In 1889 the bay town of Opatija was formally recognized as a royal spa resort by the Empire for its medicinal properties in soil, water and air.
In 1892, the imperial authorities declared the towns of Mali and Vili Lucheni on the island as climate resorts.
Luschini became known as the Island of Health and Wellness, especially for people with respiratory diseases and allergies.
Island historian Irina Dlaka says that Luchini is "an excellent environment for people with respiratory illnesses, to provide clean air with the appropriate humidity and optimum temperature while being saturated with sea salt particles and essential oils, which soothes and widens the airways, dissolves mucous secretions, helps expel them by coughing, cleanses the lungs and breathes."
"Hospitalization of respiratory diseases has been around for a long time on the island (since 1885), and experts of the Croatian Society of Respiratory Diseases of the Croatian Medical Association still recommend living there," says Irina.
In the past, Luschini attracted royal visitors, including Duke Charles Stefan, a major wealthy in the Habsburg family and descendant of the imperial family, and was among the first to visit the island in 1885 to spend the winter.
After Duke Charles came members of the family and the imperial court, whom Irina says had found Lushini "an outlet for them, out of the sights and ceremonies they were tired of."
In 1903, the Simonich Koranstalt Institute in Veli Luceeni was opened and was among the forefront of medical institutes in the Adriatic Sea that used thalassotherapy.
Irina says: "Studies indicate that the salt composition of the Adriatic Sea is between seven and 14 percent higher than that of other seas because the water that flows to it contains high levels of mineral salts."
Its pure, highly salty water was used in various medical treatments, according to Irina: "I used hot and cold sea water baths as well as sun and air baths, and today we know that the composition of sea water is very similar to human blood plasma as well as it contains a number of important elements and microorganisms."
Irina adds: "In addition to improving breathing and recovery, sea water reduces tension and treats or improves many skin diseases and hormonal disorders as well as aids patients with rheumatism and arthritis."
Irina says the institute, which continued in operation until its nationalization in 1947, was a popular destination as well as nobles from across the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A famous destination was the Von Trapp family (1933), whose story was inspired by the movie "The Sound of Music".
And Luschini's pristine beauty is not limited to its beaches; Ancient pine forests and indigenous aromatic plants in the Mediterranean provide a refreshing environment for hikers and wanderers within more than 250 kilometers of rugged natural paths on the island.
More than a century ago, Kharacic spotted about 1100 species of plants and 230 varieties of medicinal herbs that grow on the beautiful island and the nearby small islands, and Irina says that many of them are still used in folk medicine today.
Dalmatian sage is used to treat respiratory ailments and in the local cuisine.
"In my grandmother's days we used to burn dry sage leaves in the fireplace to improve the air in the room," says Sandra Nikolic, the founder of the "smart fragrance grove", which is built on an area of half a hectare of medicinal herbs spread on the island.
In the past, people used Imurtil as an all-purpose disinfectant and insect repellant. Nikolic says that the women in Luschine used to collect the herb Imurtil and find that it restores their freshness to their hands, so they made a skin balm from it. Today, Imurtil is included in many skin care products.
"Most of the herbs found in Luschini are also found on other islands in the Adriatic Sea," says Sandra. "But people say Luschini herbs are the best scents."
Today, a visitor can take a guided tour of the "Smart Fragrance Grove", which was founded by Nikolic in 2003.
Hikers of this colorful reserve find peace of mind due to the bright plants and scents of their scents and the picturesque scenery of Valdark Bay, one of the island's most beautiful bays.
A visitor can also taste the herbs of the island by taking a dose of an alcoholic drink from a concentrated myrtle, rich in vitamin C and iron, which, as Sandra says, calms tension and improves mood.
According to folklore, dosing syrup made from the area's herbs helps improve digestion, soothe muscle pain and cleanse wounds.
Sandra sells brandy for the island that includes ingredients from 15 original herbs in a "special" blend, as well as Luschini tea boiled from sage, wild rose and eucalyptus leaves.
Visitors can enjoy resorts that provide treatment with natural herbal preparations, such as the Boutique Hotel Alhambra Resort and the historic Villa Augusta with its brown and golden colors, near the Gulf of Chikat in the town of Mali Lucheni.
And the "Cube Spa" in the hotel there is a swimming pool with warm sea water, and there are also many treatments with the island's herbs, such as massages using natural oils produced in Luschine and the Kvarner Bay islands.
To treat tension, calm nerves and mood swings, a mixture of orange, violet and peppermint essential oils is used. To treat fatigue and restore vitality, there is a mixture of violets, bergamot, cypress, sage and myrtle.
To see the different plants on the island, the hotel guest can participate in a two-hour workshop for different scents in which he chooses the plants he prefers to prepare their natural oils for use in the massage cabins in the resort gardens, and take a special natural body and face lotion as a souvenir. And to treat sunburn there is aloe vera lotion from the surrounding orchards.
The Cube Spa offers a natural myrrh-spa treatment made with 100 percent natural products and drawn from the medicinal herbs and essential oils that Luschini and the surrounding islands are famous for.
The name of the product is attributed to Mirta Luzanic, who was inspired by the perfumes of the island and its medicinal plants, and its products are mostly prepared from locally available herbs, including the emortel inside the Emortil face cream, which is a beloved for wrinkles and restores the skin's youth
Lozancic says that an extract of essential oils from the roots, leaves, flowers and seeds of plants may be 70 to 100 times more concentrated than the plant itself.
She adds that "essential oils bring comfort to the soul, body and spirit, and they are the essence of the plant and its soul in a bottle."
“Despite the passage of years, I still remember the natural oils used in massages at Cube Spa, and I inhaled their medicinal aroma while relaxing in the hands of a skilled massage therapist. I took some Lozancic products with me to New York, and until I emptied these bottles the fragrance used to take me over and over again,” she continues. The other to that island.
BBC
