The waves of the Kaštela Bay gently sway under the watchful eye of Split’s Marjan, luring travellers to the nearby shores. So pick up your „tin pets“ because we are leaving by boat from the Split waterfront to Čiovo, a hilly islet that protects the bay from the adversities of the open sea. Its Roman name (Bua, Boa, Bavo, Bubus) is probably of Illyrian origin, and today’s one probably comes from the Latin Caput Iovis, Jupiter’s head. The picturesque islet, inhabited since prehistoric times, is full of Mediterranean scents with gorgeous coves and beaches. Our cycling odyssey begins in Slatine, from where the road takes us across the island to its southern side to Prizidnica, and then to the most prominent, eastern point, Čiovska Kava (quarry). But first, look back at the beauty of the indented coast and observe the bay revealing Split and its green Marjan.
The Prizidnice desert is located on the inaccessible, southern part of the island, just 2 km from Slatine, among the cliffs that plunge almost vertically above the sea itself. It was founded by Glagolitic priests from Poljica in the 16th century, in the complex of the shrine and church of Our Lady of Prizidnica with residential and commercial buildings. Hermits lived here in the Middle Ages, to whom the island often provided refuge. The church preserves a painting of Our Lady with Child, the work of the famous Cretan school of painting from the 14th century. Čiovo today is a haven for modern nomads who find peace here with the sound of the sea on the pebble and stone beaches and in the shade of the pine forests.