AQUARIUM
A Museum of Water
There it is
But where? - we asked as we strained our eyes to spot it. After all, an aquarium shouldn't be too hard to see somewhere in nature.
Well, that's the secret. The newset and by far one of the most appealing tourist attractions in town of Karlovac, not easily spotted even from the legendary cener, a popular name for a 10-metre tall diving platform domineering the Fogin bathing area on the left side of the Korana, the fresh water aquarium Aquatika, literally blends with its environment. Namely, the aquarium is entombed.
Built in so that the only thing you can see is a lawn, but as the visitors approach, they find out the lawn is actually divided into three arms with a tiny square in the middle.
It is the central part of the complex, with three entrances and a magnificent view of the Korana waterfall and the above mentioned bathing area (it was already 7.30 p.m. and there were still people arriving for their daily dose of refreshing water flowing from the Plitvice lakes).
The aquarium building, the café and the library and the management building are facing the square which is the main meeting point and scenery for numerous events. Namely, more and more Karlovac citizens want to be a part of the Aquatika story.
Children's paradise
On the other side of the buildings there is a grassy slope accompanied by a children playground. Whichever you take it, it's a paradise for kids and thus for adults, too. It's simple - Aquatika is hidden to preserve the vision of Karlovac, the Korana shore and the bathing area. And they haven't regretted it. It has won numerous prizes for design and architecture.
Dare we say, the architects have done an extremely good job at Karlovac. It's not only the first fresh water aquarium in Croatia, but a state that would be appreciated in Sweden, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Great Britain-
Just pick a country. Even if it wasn't finished, it would be worth visiting- Before diving into local rivers, we had a snack at the square where we enjoyed a glass of cold lemonade. And the straw in the glass - not just any straw, but a paper one.
Namely, Aquatika is the story of water. Clean water. The museum café has
stopped using most of plastic containers and they are promoting specially branded Aquatika glass jug.
The smell and the sound
When you first enter Aquatika, what surprises you most is its smell. If you close your eyes, you'll get a feeling of literally being near a river. This feeling is accompanied by a gurgling sound of water fulfilling the whole, exceptionally designed area.
And yes, the inner temperature provides the desperately needed refreshment from the boiling 33 degrees Celsius in scorching Karlovac that afternoon. And the sound- Yes, the sound.
The author of these lines felt like finding a deckchair and "having a siesta" at the spot as any true Dalmatian. But, then I would have to miss all the beauties offered by the local rivers.
The idea of aquarium itself is based on the idea of dividing the river flow on
The most recent and by far one of the most appealing tourist attractions in Karlovac, the fresh water aquarium Aquatika, literally blends with the environment. It cannot be easily spotted even from the legendary cener, a popular name for a 10-metre tall diving platform domineering the Fogin bathing area on the left side of the Korana river. Reason for that is simple - the aquarium itself is dug into the ground.
upper, middle and lower. In the caving system, we can see the endemic kinds of fish mostly found in karst areas and underground habitats. The biggest tank holds migrating kinds of fish originating from the dinosaur era. Most of these are extinct in Croatia.
One of them is a lovely fish with a flattened mouth. It is dark, but with white bony shells. It's a starry sturgeon. They used to patrol the local rivers. At least before Đerdap hydroelectric power plant was built.
In the big fish tank there is a beluga, a smaller kind, however, not the giant one to which it can grow.
Aquatika exhibits still waters, primarily bogs and swamps, followed by foreign fish species, most of them being invasive and endangering local species. The last tank, however, reveals the karst phenomenon of tufa waterfall creation and points out the importance of its preservation.
Guided by numerous documentaries seen on Discovery channel, the first question we asked at our arrival in Aquatika was: Where is the catfish and how big is it?
UNESCO museum network
There it is. Not so big, though, but it will be. We answer to ourselves as we spot the nearby tank and the familiar moustache river mouth.
It should be pointed out you can find Aquatika online, both on social networks and operatively. Namely, every tank is equipped with sensors which send data on the internet, and the system can also be managed online.
Further on, if you are on museum Wi-Fi via mobile phone, while you're touring Croatian rivers, you can hear all there is to know about them. From flora and fauna to its rocks.
It is one of the most extraordinary interpretation centers in Croatia accepted to the UNESCO network of water museum as well which is corroborated by the number of over 200,000 visitors every year. Croatia has such abundant life in fresh waters-why not take the best of it? After all, home guests are thrilled with it, but foreigners even more. Besides fish, they enjoy the architecture, too. They stay longer and find it unusual to see such a modern building in Croatia.
- This is one of the 70 museums dealing with the water topics and we dare to say the most appealing one. Hard to believe? Take two hours on your way to Zagreb, exit the motorway, detour to Karlovac and find out yourselves.
- The museum is closed for three days a year - on Christmas Day, New Year's Day and Easter. And it's definitely
- worth seeing-
| 1. Aquatika/ Denis Stošić | 2. Aquatika/ Jure Živković | 3.-11. Aquatika/ Denis Stošić
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