Plitvička Jezera

The lakes long stayed little known because of their isolated position, and were first arranged for visitors in 1888, for a visit by Crown Princess Stéphanie. Two paths in the park still carry the names of daughters of Emperor Franz Joseph, Stephanie and Dorothea. In 1893 a society for the preservation of the lakes was founded, which built the first hotel here. During the Second World War, after the zones of influence were redrawn in June 1942, the area was administered civilly by Croatia but militarily by Italy. In 1949 the national park was founded, and in 1979 it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List for its travertine lakes, caves and waterfalls. The park also became a film location, used between 1962 and 1968 for many of the westerns based on the novels of Karl May.

On Easter Sunday, 31 March 1991, after local Serb rebels of the self-proclaimed SAO Krajina took over the park, Croatian police clashed with them in what became known as the Plitvice Lakes incident — the first armed confrontation of the Croatian War of Independence to cause deaths. The park was then held by rebel forces as part of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina until Croatian forces retook the rebel-held areas in 1995; hotels and other facilities were damaged, and many local Serbs left. Between 1,500 and 2,000 have since returned.

Since the war the park has grown into one of Croatia's busiest attractions. Its management introduced daily visitor caps for summer in 2019, and yearly visitor numbers hover around 1.5 million, almost a tenth of all visitors to Croatia.

Plitvička Jezera is less a town than a scatter of 41 settlements in the uplands of Lika, with Korenica as its seat. The population is mostly Croat, with a substantial Serb minority, about 27 per cent at the 2011 census, which elects its own minority council. The legacy of the war shapes relations, and Human Rights Watch has reported that Serb returnees faced higher unemployment and exclusion from jobs in municipal services and the national park.

Life here is organised around the park, which is both the area's identity and its employer. Its rules shape local custom: the lakes are strictly protected, swimming has been banned since 2006, and visitors stay on boardwalks and marked paths. The landscape itself carries meaning — the travertine barriers that hold back the lakes are still growing, built up by mosses, algae and calcium carbonate deposited from the water, a process that has run since the end of the last ice age.

Outside the park the culture is that of rural Lika: farming, grazing and forestry, family-run guesthouses, and a landscape of beech and fir forest home to brown bears, wolves, lynx and wildcats. In winter, snow brings skiers to the small slopes at Mukinje.

At the 2021 census the municipality had about 3,650 residents in 41 settlements, down from about 4,400 in 2011 and 4,700 in 2001. It covers about 470 square kilometres and is classed by the government as an area of special state concern, the category for underdeveloped parts of Croatia.

The national park is the main source of income, alongside farmland, grazing and woodland. Hotels at the entrances, private rooms and apartments in Mukinje, Jezerce and other hamlets, campsites and restaurants all depend on the visitor season, which brings around 1.5 million people a year, with the peak in August. Korenica has the elementary school and the high school for the area.

The rhythm of the year is sharp. In summer the D1 is busy with cars and coaches, the car parks at the entrances fill early and every room is taken; in winter, when the lakes freeze, the hamlets return to a quiet life of snow-clearing, firewood and the few winter visitors who come for the frozen falls or the ski slope.

Lika has its own regional cooking, distinct from both the coast and the continental north, and three of its products are protected by European designations of origin: Lička janjetina, Lika lamb; Lički krumpir, the Lika potato; and Lički škripavac, the region's farmers' cheese. Curd cheese from Lika and neighbouring Kordun is also part of the local table.

Food inside the park is limited to stalls and restaurants at the entrances and boat landings, run by the park authority, and many visitors bring their own food. The villages near the entrances have konobas and a bistro serving the hearty food of the uplands, and pancakes with walnuts or chocolate spread are a local favourite for dessert or a snack.

As across inland Croatia, meals often feature roast and boiled meats, stews of vegetables with a little meat or sausage, known as varivo or čušpajz, potato dumplings, and strudel filled with apple or curd cheese.