Movie night: geology and caves in the Vis island region

Komiza is a small fishing village on the island of Vis, off the coast of Croatia. It is perhaps one of the most real feeling places that I've visited in the Croatian archipelago. The houses are old, stone-built, the streets are narrow and for walking only. The views are great. But they also have an open-air movie theater, and an information center for the UNESCO's Vis Archipelago Geopark. And I happened to hear about a movie they were premiering in the theater, about the origins of island, their caves, and geology. Including some newly published research that changes the current understanding of how the islands formed!

The traditional understanding goes back to the time of geologist Albert Fortis who sailed and studied the area 250 years ago. The understanding was that the group of islands around Vis -- Jabuka, Svetac, Brusnik, Bisevo, Ravnik, Budihovac, and Palagruza -- are of volcanic origin. In particular, that Vis and Jabuka have volcanic origins.

These origins have also played a significant role in forming Komiza on the east side of Vis. Komiza village benefits from having s shielded bay where a port could be constructed, but also from the naturally occurring springs that brought much-needed water to the village. Volcanic basalt rocks line the bay where Komiza sits, creating a barrier for the water flowing through the mountains made up of more porous rocks. This made it possible for the springs to form where leaks through the basalt occurred. You can see some of those springs and volcanic rock in this earlier post about the Kamenice Beach.

But the movie "Razgovor sa stijenama; Otoci koji rastu" (Conversation with rocks; Islands that grow) that premiered in August in Komiza shows this view may be incorrect. Geologist Tvrtka Korbara and his team has studied the situation in more detail for ten years. Turns out that what has happened is rather that a salt layer deep inside earth was pushed up and brought with it volcanic rocks. Jabuka is perhaps a volcano, but Vis isn't.

The movie theater is by the one of the oldest ones running in Croatia.

The movie featured many caves, such as the "Modra špilja" (Blue Cave, see opening picture in this post). 

And the ''Zelena špilja" (Green Cave) in the island of Ravine (few hundred meters from Vis island's south coast):

Introduction to the movie:

The island of Bisevo, which hosts the Blue Cave. This island is a 20-minute speed boat ride away from Komiza:

Komiza locals enjoying the thunderstorm:

Komiza port and center:

For other Vis-related posts, see also the post about the hidden cave or the one about the beach caves in Srebrna, or about swimming in Vis. Or the one about underground submarine base :-) 

Read more urban exploration stories from theurbanexplorer.net, and other underground stories from planetcaver.net. Read the full Planetskier series at planetskier.net, or all blog articles from Blogspot or TGR. Photos and text (c) 2024 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved.