Gospić - Karlobag

Built in the first half of 18th century during the rule of Carl the Third, Old Carolina is the first and the oldest road across Velebit.

Facilitating transportation of merchandise from and to this sea harbour, Old Carolina was of a major importance for Karlobag in those days.

The only road and connection between Karlobag and its hinterland had been a primitive goat trail and the goods were carried on horses or donkeys whilst the travellers either walked or rode on a horseback.

The newly built Carolina road from Oštarije to Karlobag cut through Velebit in the shortest possible route. However, the route overhaul was necessary as early as 1750 - 1754 due to steep descents and poor construction quality. It was 4 to 6 meters wide and up to 7 meters wide in the curves to enable horse wagons and drays to pass.

After completion of the Theresiana road in 1786, the travellers stopped using Carolina.

‘Theresiana’ Educational Trail

 Theresiana’ was one of the most important roads built through the Velebit passes as the key trade connection between the coast and inland.

Theresiana was built in 1786 as a connection between Gospić, the then-Austria-Hungary Regiment Headquarters and the free port of Karlobag. Another purpose was to replace the Carolina road which was increasingly inaccessible and perilous due to its sharp turns and steep descents. The Austrian Emperor Joseph II, ordered the construction of a new, modern road. The road got its name after his mother, Maria Theresa.

A Frontier officer, Filip Vukasović, later to become a renowned builder of the “Louisiana” road from Karlovac to Rijeka, was selected to manage the construction of this road.

Wishing to inform our visitors about the great cultural significance of Theresiana Road, “Velebit Nature Park” Public Institution developed an educational trail on one of its sections. The trail is open to hikers only, and the mere three-kilometer stretch offers a view of both sides of Velebit in all their amazing beauty.

If you wish to find out more about the history of this area whilst taking this pleasant walk through the country, leave it to the professional guides of "Velebit Nature Park" Public Institution. You will have fun listening to legends and anecdotes from lives of the good people of this area.

The interpretive trail starts at Baške Oštarije (924 metres above the sea level) and after three kilometres descends to the village Konjsko (655 metres above the sea level). This tour is longer and lasts approximately 2,5 – 3 h.

It is also possible to take a shorter walking tour which lasts roughly 1,5 h. The first third of this tour (from Oštarijsko Ždrilo) is identical with Terezijana, while afterwards the path follows a mild ascent to the Debela Kosa peak (972 metres above the sea level). The ascent is not very demanding and even the people of weaker physical condition can easily climb it. After a short walk along the ridge of Debela Kosa, followed by astonishing views over the Adriatic Sea and island Pag from one side and the valley of Baške Oštarije from the other, the path descends to the Oštarska vrata pass.  

In December 2007 the Ministry of Culture passed a Decree by which it is established that historical Theresiana Road has a value of a cultural good , in line with the Act on the Protection and Maintenance of cultural goods.

How to reach: Baške Oštarije is a small mountain settlement situated on the road Gospić - Karlobag, 20 kilometres far from Gospić.

For further details, please contact:

“Velebit Nature Park” Public Institution
tel. +385 53 560 450, +385 53 560 455
e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
PRICE LIST - http://www.velebit.hr/images/dodaci/cjenik.pdf

The Knežić - Kekić Road 

Teresiana road constructed by Vukasović was not the most satisfactory solution either. Travel on this road was made very difficult by some steep sections and major impediments which prevented the maintenance of the driveway. 1841 was the year when the new project design and construction of a new modern road from Gospić to Karlobag was assigned to Josip Kajetano Knežić. Knežić had so far already had a good track record of having built mountain roads from St Rok over Mali Alan to Obrovac and from Karlovac to Senj.

His closest partner, Frontier Leutenant Simo Kekić, joined him to help with the road design.

The construction took place between 1844 and 1851. Sadly, Knežić died in 1848, not living to see through the completion of his third cross-Velebit road.

Like all their civil engineering works that far, the last project by Knežić and Kekić bears witness of their vision and wit in its route design and excellent performance. The Gospić-Karlobag road, the last of Knežić's works and the most significant of the Kekić's ones, was the capstone in the life accomplishments of those two meritable engineers.

The construction of this 41 km-long road section, dubbed the Master’s road (Majstorska cesta) was completed in 1832 and opened with a ceremony. This name marked the skill with which Knežić constructed its route along the steep Velebit slopes with numerous serpentine curves, between the gorges and the rugged rocky peaks, which all represented a breakthrough achievement in road construction of his time. The maximum road inclination was 5.5%, which is even in compliance with modern rules of road construction. In addition to merchandise, post was also carried between Vienna and Zadar along this new Velebit cross – mountain road.

A frontier stone still stands by the old road between St Rok and Obrovac, as a monument of its construction in 1832. This road was the first modern connection between Dalmatia and the continental Croatia. It was put into traffic in an opening ceremony on 4 October 1832. A legend has it that its way was bored through hard rock and that construction conditions were extremely harsh, considering the available technology and machinery of that time.

The workers would come to Major Knežić and lament how impossible it was to mine their way through the rock.
- How about a kilogram of gold for a kilogram of stone? - Knežić would ask.
- Well…let’s see. We’ll do something about it!  - the builders would respond. And so the construction was completed indeed.

Struppi's Josephine road (1775 - 1779) 

The route of this road was set through villages and along milestones, following a broad-brush direction of an old path. This is why it road had many so-called lost descents and very steep cuts, especially at the pass over Velika Kapela and at the downturn form Vratnik to Senjska Draga. The maximum inclination at these sections is sometimes 20%, and at certain points even up to 30%.

Due to its steep inclinations, the road soon underwent significant changes. In the last decade of 18th century, the repairs were managed by Feld-Marshal Filip Vukasović, the constructor of Louisiana road, which connected Karlovac with Rijeka.

As Vukasović's descent from Vratnik could not fully meet the requirements of the road traffic, to tackle this, a proposal was put forward in 1803  to build a brand new, modern road from Vratnik to Sveti Križ, but Napoleon wars which broke out again in 1805, prevented this project's development.

Similar mountain roads, with steep inclinations and many sudden descents were built in other parts of Europe as well. Their purpose was to connect the existing towns and villages via the shortest possible routes, as fast and as cost-efficently as possible and with as little work as possible whilst avoiding artificial structures.

Since traffic of that time was fairly scarce and the goods were transported by horses and mules, it was not tremendously important how steep the ascents were.

Yet, a solid, robust execution was highly esteemed, so Struppi's road was a top-notch masterwork in its class, which was recognised by and large and  highly praised in the contemporary literature.

An obelisk In Karlovac, Velika vrata (Large Gate) in Senj, the sundials, milestones, the miners signs, monuments and bridges all stand as refined aesthetic pieces of excellent engineering design and represent important blocks of the historic Croatian mountain-road engineering designof the second half of the 18th century.

Even though the passenger and commercial traffic was already well-established on Struppi's old Josephine road in spite of its tough route, traffic was developing and got increasingly heavier, especially towards the port of Senj, which was beign upgraded. At that time, Louisiana road from Karlovac to Rijeka was built (1803 – 1811). The modern Louisiana road had a significantly larger capacity and redirected a major part of the commercial traffic from Karlovac to Rijeka, so that traffic on the old Josephine road experienced a sudden decline, and the port of Senj lost its importance. The town of Senj was hit by an adverse impact of this severe drop in traffic intensity.

Having estimated the risk as high, the Royal Court War Council in Vienna, in agreement with the Frontier General Command  in Zagreb decided to build a new road from Karlovac to Senj, with the same construction elements as the Vukasović’s and Louisiana ones.  The construction of that road was commissioned to the Frontier Officer Josip Kajetano Knežić and it took place 1833 and 1845.

Knežić kept the old route from Karlovac to Josipdol, a new route was built from Josipdol over Velika Kapela through to Vratnik and Senjska Draga. This road was slightly longer (115 km), but it was significantly better in its characteristics.

If we wish to compare the old Struppi and the new Knežić route, the Knežić's Josephine was a modern and technically advanced solution in the field of rational construction of mountain-roads in the Croatian karst, a real masterpiece. Its maximum inclination is 5% to 6% at the most, which is the today’s standard as well.

During the construction of the new Josephine road, Knežić erected a fountain which he dubbed „Carsko vrilo“ (The Emperor's Well). The fountain was built in the classicism style. An inscription carved on its southern side reads: CESARSKO VRILLO FERDINAND I CESAR AUSTRIJANSKI 1837 (EMPEROR’S WELL, THE AUSTRIAN EMPEROR, 1837). Designed and executed by Cajet.Knesich C. Kr. Major

The same title stands in Latin in its western side and in German in its northern side.

During the construction of this road, Major Knežić had its headquarters in a simple, ground floor Frontier house south of Vratnik. This one-floor building was called the Major’s House „Majorija“by the locals and afterwards the whole village got its name after this house.

Above „Carsko Vrilo“, in his vow to God, Knežić built another piece of classicist architecture: the church of St Mihovil.  Behind the church, in the monolith rock, Knežić built a tomb for himself, in which he was buried upon his wish.

The top parts of northern and central Velebit from Zavižan to Baške Oštarije are connected by a 57 km long hiking trail. It was named after its designer, Ante Premužić, the great builder of roads and trails on Velebit.

The construction of the trail took only 3 years (1930 - 1933), but it required the labour of a large number of workers from sub-Velebit villages. The trail opened access to the least to the most hidden and the most beautiful parts of Velebit, known only to few people that far.

Since there are no high ascents (the altitude difference between the highest and the lowest point along the whole of its length is only 200m), people unaccustomed to mountain hiking may enjoy its beauty.  There are also several mountain shelters nearby.

The quality of construction and its perfect fit in the natural habitat make this trail a masterpiece of trail construction.

Chronology* 

*an excerpt from the paper „The Valuation Of Traffic at Velebit – a Historical and Geographical Overview“ by Dane Pejnović and Branko Vujasinović (Geografski horizont“, no. 1/1998).
chronology