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Jewish Heritage Tour of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro Tour

Availability: all year round

14 days / 13 nights

Customizable

Private Tours Available

Jewish Heritage Tour Sunday Departure

ZAGREB – BLED – LJUBLJANA – CROATIAN  ZAGORJE – PLITVICE LAKES NATIONAL PARK – SPLIT – MOSTAR – SARAJEVO – DUBROVNIK – MONTENEGRO

The Jewish community in Croatia dates back to the 3rd century AD, although little is known of the community until the 10th and 15th centuries. The community, over 20,000 strong on the eve of World War II, was almost entirely destroyed in The Holocaust. After World War II half of the survivors choose to settle in Israel while some 2,500 live today in Croatia. That number is an estimate and it is believed that the number of Croatian Jews is larger because more than 80 percent of the 1,500 members of Zagreb’s Jewish community were either born in mixed marriages or are married to a non-Jew.

Day 1 – Departure from USA

Day 2 – ZAGREB

< Arrival at Zagreb Airport and be met by your ITC guide and driver. Transfer to the hotel. Welcome dinner and overnight in Zagreb.

In 13th and 14th centuries, the Jewish community in Zagreb was led by “Magistratus Judaeorum.” In 1456, Jews, along with most non-Catholic Croats, were forced out during the rule of the first Habsburg monarchs. After the Edict of Tolerance issued by Habsburg Emperor Joseph II in 1782, the Jews started settling in the Zagreb area and in 1806 some 70 of them founded the Jewish Community.

Day 3 – ZAGREB

After breakfast at the hotel, we begin with a morning city tour of Zagreb, including the fortified Upper Town, the city’s historical center, St. Mark’s Church with its multicolored roof,                St. Stephen’s Cathedral and the Mirogoj Cemetery (Jewish section is well preserved, among the rare ones in Central Europe). An organized visit to the Croatian Museum of Naive Art with more than eighty anthology piece paintings and sculptures, works of some twenty Croatian Naive classics dating from the thirties of the last century until today.
A city tour will include a visit to the Bet Israel Jewish Community Center and the Zagreb Synagogue.

Lunch on own

In the afternoon an organized visit to the Museum of Arts and Crafts where a small Judaic collection is displayed, accompanied by a curator.  Rest of the day at leisure until dinner.

Dinner in a typical Croatian restaurant.

Overnight: Zagreb.

Day 4 – ZAGREB – BLED – LJUBLJANA

After breakfast, we depart to Bled. Bled, along with its surroundings, ranks among the most beautiful Alpine resorts, renowned for its mild, healing climate and thermal lake water. The beauty of the mountains reflected on the lake, the sun, the serenity, and the fresh air arouses pleasant feelings in visitors throughout the year.

You can enjoy a boat ride on Lake Bled and see the Church of Assumption situated on top of a small island in the middle of the lake. Here you will explore the Bled Castle. Continue towards Ljubljana. Lunch on own.

The first Jews arrived in Ljubljana in 1213 and settled in the area around today’s Židovska Steza. Today an estimated 400-600 Jews live in Slovenia, most of them in the capital – Ljubljana. Return to Zagreb in the evening.

Dinner TBA

Overnight: Zagreb

Day 5 – ZAGREB – CROATIAN ZAGORJE

< Breakfast at the hotel. Departure from hotel to Trakošćan Castle, a castle, a museum and a forest park with a lake.

Lunch in a local, traditional rural estate.

The journey continues on to the fortified Castle Veliki Tabor, classified as a prime category UNESCO monument.  Continue to Kumrovec Ethno Village, the birthplace of Josip Broz Tito with a presentation of the life of a countryman in Hrvatsko Zagorje during 18th and 19th century.

Return to Zagreb in the evening.

Dinner on own

Overnight: Zagreb.

Day 6 – ZAGREB – PLITVICE LAKES NATIONAL PARK – SPLIT

After breakfast, a drive to the Plitvice Lakes National Park for a visit. See the 16 crystal-blue lakes lying at different levels, linked together by spectacular cascading waterfalls. The forest around the lakes with beautiful beech, fir and maple trees is the home to bear, wolves, wild boar, deer and many rare bird species. The largest national park in Croatia, Plitvice was included on the UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1979 in recognition of its “outstanding natural beauty, and the undisturbed production of travertine (tuff) through chemical and biological activity”.

Lunch is served in a local traditional rural estate.  We then depart to Split.

Check in to hotel with time to rest and refresh before Shabbat.

Shabbat services with the Jewish community of Split

Shabbat Dinner in Split.

Overnight: Split

Day 7 Shabbat – SPLIT

After enjoying breakfast at the hotel, optional Shabbat service.

Shabbat Lunch at hotel.

Optional walking tour of the area surrounding the hotel or day at leisure. Dinner on own.

Overnight: Split

Day 8 – SPLIT

We begin with a morning sightseeing tour of Split, including the Palace of Roman Emperor Diocletian, with Peristyle, Jupiter’s Temple and St. Duimus Cathedral. There are carvings of menorahs on the walls of the same room that houses the marble dining table in the Diocletian’s Palace. These carvings do provide evidence of an early Jewish presence in Split. Visit the restored Synagogue of Split, located along the narrow street called Židovski Prolaz (Jewish Passage), the Jewish Ghetto and Morpurgo Library. Visit the Jewish Community Center in Split. Tour the Meštrović Gallery (a famous Croatian sculptor was married to Ruža Klein, a daughter of a Jewish merchant).

Lunch on own.

After lunch, we drive to Marjan Hill for a visit to the Old Jewish Cemetery dating from 1537. From this vantage point, we enjoy a magnificent view of Split.

Dinner is organized in a local style tavern (konoba) with traditional acapella band – Klapa. Return to hotel for overnight.

Overnight: Split

Day 9 – SPLIT – MOSTAR – SARAJEVO 

Breakfast followed by departure to Mostar. Driving along the Makarska Riviera with long pebble beaches and across picturesque the Neretva River Delta,we arrive in Mostar. Sightseeing tour of the Old Town of Mostar, recently included in the UNESCO’s List of World Cultural Heritage. Under the Turkish rule, the city was an important trade settlement that developed on the banks of the Neretva River. We tour its elegant Bridge, Old Bazaar, the Mosque and a typical Turkish house. We continue our drive to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Lunch en route.

Dinner on own.

Overnight: Sarajevo.

Day 10 – SARAJEVO

After breakfast we begin our sightseeing tour of Sarajevo.  This will include the Bazaar Baščaršija, Gazi Husref Bey`s Mosque, Sarajevo War Tunnel and the National Museum. The Museum preserves the oldest Sephardic Haggadah in the world, produced in Barcelona in 1350. As tens of thousands of Jews fled from the Spanish and Portugal inquisitions, Sultan Bayezid II of the Ottoman Empire welcomed those who were able to reach his territories. The first Sephardic Jews arrived in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1500 and settled mainly in Sarajevo, while the Ashkenazi arrived from Hungary in 1686.

Lunch on own.

Visit the impressive Ashkenazi Synagogue, decorated in neo-Moorish style, built on the left bank of the Miljacka River in 1902. Then, tour the Museum of the Jews of Bosnia and Herzegovina and see the Jewish Cemetery (second largest in Europe) where we can see Geniza, the graves of the used sacred books.                                                                    Dinner TBA.

Overnight in Sarajevo.

Day 11 – DUBROVNIK 

After breakfast, departure towards Dubrovnik. A stop at Ston, a medieval little town with history that reaches back as far as the 14th century! It is a small town with the longest stone wall in Europe(5,5km),narrow quiet streets, noble ancient houses and with traces of ancient cultures. Its former value as a “salt city” gets confirmed even today in the plants of the oldest active salt-works in the world.
< These salt works have remained faithful to the tradition and to the natural way of salt production. Ston has been well-known for its mussel and oyster-growing farm since Roman times, and the oysters from Ston (ostrea edulis), acknowledged by some as a natural aphrodisiac, has made this region world-famous. Wine tasting and lunch at a local restaurant.

After lunch we continue on to Dubrovnik with an afternoon arrival.  Rest of the day at leisure.

Dinner on own.

Overnight:Dubrovnik.

Day 12 – DUBROVNIK

This morning after breakfast at the hotel, we take a morning panoramic tour of Dubrovnik, including a visit to the old Jewish Cemetery “Bet Haim”. Sightseeing tour of the Old City includes the Jewish Fountain, Franciscan Monastery with the third oldest pharmacy in Europe, Rector’s Palace and the Cathedral. From 1352 Jews were tolerated as itinerant traders in Dubrovnik although the city initially denied them residence. In 1546, a Jewish ghetto was established on a small street called Ulica Žudioska (Jewish Street). Jews played a part in international commerce and were  pioneers in marine insurance.

Lunch on own.

We continue our day with a tour of the Jewish Ghetto and the Synagogue of Dubrovnik, the third oldest Synagogue in Europe, built in 1408. Situated within a 13th-century Gothic house, the Synagogue is one of the most cherished sites of Sephardic culture in the world!  Visit to the Jewish Community Center.

Dinner TBA.

Overnight: Dubrovnik. 

Day 13 – DUBROVNIK – MONTENEGRO

<After breakfast a full day excursion to Montenegro Riviera. This notable coastal region is of primary interest to tourists in Montenegro. The Montenegrin Adriatic coast is 295 km long, with 72 km of beaches, and with many well-preserved ancient old towns.

Lunch en route.

The main attractions along the north coast are: The old Town of Herceg Novi, the old town of – listed with UNESCO world heritage sites, Boka Kotorska (Bay of Kotor), with the ancient small town of Perast, the old town of Budva – a well preserved old town,  and Sveti Stefan –  a small island hamlet turned into a luxury hotel!  Return to Dubrovnik.  

Farewell Dinner TBA

Overnight: Dubrovnik

Day 14 – DUBROVNIK

Breakfast at the hotel and check-out. Transfer to the Dubrovnik Airport for your flight back to the USA.

OPTIONAL EXCURSIONS:

Instead of one of the suggested program we can include either a visit to Hlebine and Podravina region from Zagreb, a visit to Jasenovac concentration camp and Lekenik village from Zagreb, a visit to Šibenik and Trogir from Split or a one-day excursion to Hvar Island from Split.

  • Morning visit to Hlebine. A visit to the Gallery of Naive Art (Galerija naivne umjetnosti) and Ivan Generalić’s old house and the Josip Generalić Gallery (Galerija Josipa Generalića). Apart from the work of art of this great figure of naive art, you can see Ivan Generalić’s family photos and possessions, and a folk collection in the old house. Return to Zagreb.

Sightseeing tour of Podravina, the region bounded by the River Drava, and the slopes of Bilogora; exploring the rich cultural heritage and tradition; visiting rural homesteads and tasting eco-products and local delicacies; visiting the wine roads.

  • 39 years ago “Fiddler on the Roof” won 3 Academy Awards. Most of the exteriors in the movie were filmed in two villages in the vicinity of Croatia’s capital, Zagreb.

Morning departure for Jasenovac (with a short stop in Lekenik), the largest concentration and extermination camp in Croatia during World War II. At the outbreak of World War II, 23,000 Jews lived in Croatia. Jasenovac was established in August 1941, and was dismantled only in April 1945. According to incomplete lists some 60,000 names were identified in Jasenovac and Stara Gradiška camps, mostly Serbs, Jews and Gypsies. According to some estimations, the total number of victims varies and goes far over this number. Visit to Jasenovac Memorial Center. Continuation to Rastoke, followed by accommodation at National Park Plitvice. Dinner and an overnight at the National Park.

  • A drive to Šibenik, a city situated along the mouth of Krka and as the oldest Croatian autochtonous town first mentioned in 1066.The rich cultural and historical heritage of the city is visible in the impressive Cathedral of sv. Jakov [St. Jacob], built by the famous architect Juraj Dalmatinac and is under UNESCO protection. Numerous churches, monasteries, palaces and four fortresses  ‘frame’ the city.  Extension to Trogir – a harmonious stone town on a small island that is connected to the mainland and the Island of Čiovo by bridges. The old town, under UNESCO protection, is a treasure trove for lovers of art, Renaissance and Baroque buildings, Romanesque churches. The famous portal of Trogir cathedral by the craftsman Radovan in 1240, a Renaissance city lodge, the thousand year old Monastery of sv. Nikola [St. Nicholas] which has the ancient famous relief of Kairos preserved will be seen on your visit. The small, narrow streets and small village squares, numerous restaurants, cafes, souvenir shops and galleries give this town a special atmosphere of the Mediterranean.
  • A morning ferry will take you from Split to town of Stari Grad on the island of Hvar. Upon arrival a short transfer to town of Hvar is organized. Hvar has an outstanding historical heritage – the Cathedral, the Franciscan and Benedictine monastery, Hvar theatre are wonderful and interesting sites. The fortresses serves up and amazing view over to the Pakleni Islands and the island of Vis. During the visit to the Benedictine Monastery, you can buy and see the nun’s production of unique kind of a lace made of agave fibres. Hvar lavender is also exceptional and can be bought in the monastery. A visit will include the town loggia and a clock tower, the town’s main square, arsenal – warehouse for the communal war galley, and Hvar’s theatre – one of the oldest in Europe and the first municipal one.

During the lunch you can learn about the aromatic herbs and plants growing on the island (lavender, rosemary etc.) and the products made out of them, such as oils and bath salts. A return to Split in the late afternoon.

Please Note:

Croatia itinerary can be combined with other European countries and city programs.

We suggest combination with Italian Jewish Heritage (Rome, Florence, Venice and Trieste), or Budapest and Hungarian Jewish Heritage!

Program does not include:  

  • Meals and drinks not mentioned above
  • Airfare, Travel Insurance
  • Additional excursions and / or services not mentioned in the program
  • Personal expenses (internet, telephone, mini bar etc.)
  • Tips and porterage services

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