Ilovik

Ilovik is the only village on its 5.8-square-kilometre island, facing uninhabited Sveti Petar at the southern edge of the Lošinj archipelago. A sheltered channel roughly 2.5 kilometres long separates the islands and provides one of the area's characteristic havens for visiting boats. With no stream of cars through the village, the dominant details are small boats, narrow lanes and gardens filled with oleanders, palms and venerable eucalyptus trees—the reason Ilovik is often called the Island of Flowers. Its history is divided by the water: the parish church of Saints Peter and Paul stands in the village, while the cemetery, remains of an 11th-century Benedictine monastery and a Venetian fort occupy Sveti Petar. From the harbour, the classic walk leads across the island to sandy Paržine Bay on the southeast coast; nearby Parknu offers pebbles and shallow water. Beyond the houses, paths follow dry-stone walls towards a succession of accessible coves. The journey is part of Ilovik's identity: boats link it with Mali Lošinj and Mrtvaška, while Jadrolinija’s 2026 catamaran route 9308 also connects the island with Rijeka, Cres, Martinšćica, Unije and Susak.

Ilovik grew along the protected channel between the main island and Sveti Petar, where summer moorings become busier than the village lanes. Its position between the northern and central Adriatic made it a useful maritime landmark, while Liburnian traces, Roman finds and the remains of a Benedictine complex show that isolation never meant historical insignificance. Houses line the harbour, gardens display eucalyptus, palms and oleanders, and village paths gradually give way to a landscape of dry-stone walls. The community's unusual geography is captured most clearly by its cemetery on neighbouring Sveti Petar: the final journey from Ilovik is traditionally made by boat across the channel.