Imotski

Imotski is an inland town in the Dalmatian hinterland, behind the Biokovo mountain, and it holds two of the most striking geological sights in the country, the Blue Lake and the Red Lake, two deep karst lakes sitting in vast collapsed sinkholes right beside the town. The town itself sits on a ridge between them, with the old Topana fortress above.

The Blue Lake, Modro Jezero, is the one you can walk down into, and in summer people swim and fish in it; its level swings dramatically through the year and in dry summers it can almost empty, exposing the basin floor. The Red Lake, Crveno Jezero, is the deeper and more dramatic one, a near-circular pit with sheer red-iron cliffs dropping hundreds of metres to dark water. It has no easy access and is viewed from the rim.

Imotski sits in the Imotsko Polje, a karst field hemmed in by mountains, and the whole area is a pocket of inland Dalmatia that most coastal visitors never see. The combination of the two lakes and the fortress in a single small town is unique.

For photographers, the Red Lake from the rim at golden hour and the Blue Lake from the cliffs above are the shots. Combine Imotski with a drive over the Biokovo or through the hinterland for a proper day off the coast.

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