Cres

Cres (t͡srɛ̂ːs; Crepsa, Cherso, Cherso, Crepsa, Greek: Χέρσος, Chersos) is an Adriatic island in Croatia. It is one of the northern islands in the Kvarner Gulf and can be reached via ferry from Rijeka, the island Krk or from the Istrian peninsula (line Brestova-Porozina). With an area of 405.78 km2, Cres is the same size as the neighbouring island of Krk, although Krk has for many years been thought the largest of the islands. Cres has a population of 3,079 (2011). Cres and the neighbouring island of Lošinj once used to be one island, but were divided by a channel and connected with a bridge at the town of Osor. Cres's only freshwater source is Lake Vrana. Cres has been inhabited since the Paleolithic time period. Cres together with Lošinj was called Apsyrtides in ancient times. In the past, Cres was connected to Lošinj, but due to the needs of trade, these islands were separated by an artificially dug canal near Osor. Its name predates classical antiquity and is derived from Proto-Indo-European *(s)quer- ("cliff"). Although this is one view, another more historically correct is from classical antiquity, when the town was founded and inhabited by ancient Greeks, and called it Chersos (Χέρσος); "chersos" in Greek means "barren land", "uncultivated land" and "dry heaths". Later, "Chersos" was resounded to "Cresta", from which eventually the modern name "Cherso-Cres" is derived. Cres was later ruled by the Greeks and in the 1st century B.C., the Roman Empire made the island part of the province of Liburnia. After the fall of the Roman Empire the island became part of the Byzantine Empire, and remained this way for centuries, as one of the Dalmatian city-states. Slavs first arrived on the island in the early 9th century (believed to be somewhere around 812). Around 866 the inhabitants saw their first conflicts with the Republic of Venice. The Venetians eventually took control of Cres and the neighboring islands during the 10th and 11th centuries. After Napoleon's victory over the Venetians, control over the island was given to the Austrian Empire.