St. Maximus
Location: Tugare, OmišLength: 1,27 kmElevation gain: 62 mDifficulty: EasyDifficulty rating: K1, T1, VR1
St. Maximus is one of those hidden little gems that, for a little effort invested, selflessly give the maximum. It sits on Mount Perun, also known as the Poljica mountain (Poljička planina). Perun once formed the southern border of the former Poljica Republic. It stretches from Žrnovnica in the west to the mouth of the Cetina river at the sea. Many of its peaks are crowned by small stone churches typical of the Dalmatian region. All of them offer spectacular views of the sea and the islands. St. Maximus is no exception.
The church can be reached from both the southern and the northern side. From the south the climb is a little steeper and starts from the upper village of Jasenice (Dugi Rat). On the northern side, in Tugare, you should turn off towards the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Although you can drive all the way up to the relay tower on the summit behind Maksim, those 800 m to the turn-off for Maksim are not hard to cover on foot, so you can leave the car either in the car park before the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary or just below the cemetery.
When you set off from the car park, take the path that runs right alongside the cemetery. From the path beautiful vistas towards Biokovo to the east begin to open up. After about 800 m you should turn right onto the hiking trail. There is a sign reading Sv. Maksim, but if you are not careful it is possible to miss the turn, in which case you will end up at the relay tower.
The climb up the hiking trail itself is relatively easy and can be done in about 15 minutes. As you reach the top, delight instantly takes hold of you. So much is offered all at once that you don’t know what to do first. You head towards the church, and then you notice an attractive rest spot among the rocks. You head towards the benches, and then an incredible view of the sea opens up before you!!! The more agile will climb onto the rocks above the rest spot for an even more prominent position, and as a treat at the end, a walk around the rocks behind the church.
Special
Although our focus is on Croatia, due to great interest in reviewing some international locations from our travels, we decided to launch the Special section. In it, we will not cover locations in the same detailed way we do with Croatian ones, but will instead provide a brief overview of multiple locations grouped into meaningful categories. The only criterion we still strictly follow is that they must be natural attractions.