Falconry Centre, situated in a thick pine forest of Dubrava near Šibenik, in the heart of Mediterranean wilderness only 8 km away from the Šibenik’s centre, represents a unique place where visitors have the opportunity to gain information about mysterious life of the sky hunters – falcons.
This is also the only such centre in Croatia where various types of birds of prey can be seen. Birds of prey have always intrigued and fascinated people, and falconry, defined as hunting of wild quarry (falcons) is as old as the oldest culture on our planet. The beginnings of falconry can be traced back some 5 000 years BC in China where, through Persia and the Middle East, this activity has been passed on to Europe where it reached its zenith in the Middle Ages. Upon the emergence of hunting tourism, falconry looses on its popularity, but survives thanks to numerous fans and enters its renaissance period in the new millennium. The Falconry Centre is proud for being able to continue the tradition of this noble art and pass the relevant knowledge to the Centre’s visitors, revealing all secrets falconer needs to know in order to live in harmony with the wild nature of falcons. The visitors can enjoy the programme prepared especially for them where they can take in the beauty of a peculiar way of falcon’s flying and also experience how it feels to be “eye to eye” with this extraordinary sky hunters. The centre has been breeding many types of birds of prey which sadly, due to merciless forces of “civilization”, continue to have less and less habitats. In conclusion, falconry, as an art of training birds of prey to catch game, at least as far as Croatia is concerned, is born precisely here and has given us many young enthusiastic falconers who have mastered this medieval art and that is something worthy of praise.
Izvor: TZ Vodica
D. Šabić
Foto:TZ Šibenik