Badija, the Deer Island near Korčula

The islet of Badija is located east of the town of Korčula. It is only about 1.5 km away, and during the season, it’s easy to find a boat in the Korčula harbor to take you there. The less you wait and the faster the boat you choose, the more expensive the service will be. Perfectly fair!

Badija Island is famous for two attractions. One is the Franciscan monastery with its impressive vista and fashionable promenade where boats dock, and the other is the deer that roam freely around the island and approach tourists in search of food. Everything else can be found just about anywhere else on our coast.

Franciscan Monastery of the Assumption of Mary

The monastery was built in the 14th century. It is architecturally very interesting and catches the eye with its exterior as you approach from the sea. Unfortunately, the monastery was devastated during Communist rule when the Franciscans were expelled and the property was seized. It is evident that some renovation work is being done, but the pace is clearly slow. There is a fee to tour the monastery, and only a small part is open to visitors. Seeing it so neglected leaves a rather poor impression, and the interior of the church looks particularly pitiful.

The cloister, located right behind the entrance, perhaps makes the best impression. It somewhat reminds us of the one in the Monastery of the Friars Minor in Dubrovnik.

From the outside, except for one reconstructed balcony that hasn’t been covered with stone yet, as we already mentioned, the monastery makes a very strong impression.

Deer on Badija

Fallow deer are a special attraction on the island. They were introduced in 1958 when a pair was brought from Brijuni. They are quite tame and fearlessly approach people in search of food. There are signs in several places stating that feeding the deer is forbidden, but no one seems to follow this. In any case, a carrot or an apple would be a better choice than cookies, gummy bears, or cevapi!

A circular path about 4 km long goes around the entire island. If you visit during the summer, we recommend starting towards the east, counter-clockwise. This path will take you to a pebble beach about 1 km away from the monastery.

If you don’t walk the full circle around the island or spend time at the seaside restaurant, you can easily spend four hours on Badija with a bit of swimming, sightseeing at the monastery, and hanging out with the deer.

When using a fast speedboat for transport, add another ten minutes for the ride in each direction.