Rastoke near Slunj

RASTOKE – a village on the waterfalls

It is not often that one can live alongside a waterfall. The inhabitants of one Croatian village have that rare privilege. Rastoke, adjacent to the town of Slunj in the southeastern part of the Karlovacka County, is one of the phenomena of the Croatian karst region.

The village was built right on the waterfalls, at the confluence of Slunjcica and Korana rivers. The houses of Rastoke were constructed on the tufa (limestone) barrier which is 500 meters wide and 200 meters long and forms a number of smaller and larger waterfalls. The Slunjcica waterfalls, together with Plitvicka Jezera [Plitvice Lakes] - the famous Croatian karst wonder created by the Korana river, remained a hidden treasure for a long time, mostly because of their isolation. It was only at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th centuries, during the brief French rule, that first topographic measurements were made and the unique beauty of this area became widely known. A road was built later, first connecting Slunj with Karlovac, and then extended onward to the Plitvice Lakes and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The waterfalls mark the end of a short river course. Slunjcica is only 6.5 kilometers long and the falls are located at the confluence of Slunjcica and Korana rivers. Exploration has shown that Slunjcica is an extension of the Jesenice river of Lika which sinks near the old Frankopan town in Jasenicko polje, flows underground for another 17 kilometers and feeds a small lake at the bottom of the cave beneath the village of Slušnica.
Waters in karst regions are saturated with carbonic acid. This helps dissolve calcium carbonate into the unstable calcium bicarbonate that is carried by the water. Limestone sediments are then deposited in places where the water is aerated. This usually occurs in locations where various algae and moss grow. They trap the limestone dissolved in water and the barriers are slowly built in this manner. The process of sedimentation is faster in warmer water. The water temperature of the part of Slunjcica that runs aboveground is too low to carry the critical quantity of dissolved limestone necessary for barrier formation, but this is compensated by a high concentration of calcium carbonate in the water coming from the underground part of the course of the river; this is why Slunjcica did create a barrier. The barrier has two levels, with 23 waterfalls on the lower one.

The water falls into the Korana river from the height of about 10 to 20 meters. Rastoke is famous for its water mills built on the falls. In the past (until the 19th century), there were only mills and no permanent settlements on Slunjcica. Houses were built only later. About 20 to 30 mills once stood there. Pathways and dikes were constructed near the mills, but no change in the watercourse itself was permitted. In the 19th century, licenses for water usage and mill operation were issued. The homes of Rastoke were built in a very specific manner. The houses have two distinct parts. The ground level was built of stone which in time became impermeable to water on account of layers of limestone sediment. The upper floor of the house was almost always built of wood. Traditional architecture, well-attuned to the surrounding natural setting, makes Rastoke unique in Croatia. In 1962, Rastoke was registered as a zone under the protection of the Republic Agency for Protection of Natural and Cultural Monuments. The zone was expanded in 1966 and 1967 to include a total of 51 structures, 22 of them water mills.

Croatia - Holidays close to the sea