June the 28th, 2026 – Ancient trees that predate Rome’s incredible Colosseum can be found growing on a Croatian island. Meet Lun.
At the very northern tip of Croatia’s bizarre, moon-like island of Pag, near the ancient village of Lun, lies one of the Mediterranean’s most extraordinary natural treasures, the Lun olive groves. Around 80,000 ancient olive trees grow across this area, including roughly 1,500 ancient wild olive trees that have survived for countless centuries.
Putni kofer writes that very many of these trees are believed to be more than 1,500 years old, with individual specimens estimated at around 1,600 to 2,000 years, meaning they were already growing during the time of the Roman Empire, before many of Europe’s best-known monuments reached their present form, including the Colosseum.
The grove covers about 24 hectares and is unlike anything else along the entire Adriatic coastline and islands. The ancient olives grow among rocky terrain and stone walls shaped by generations of island life, creating a landscape that feels almost otherworldly.
Because of its unique botanical value, the Lun olive grove was protected as a botanical reserve in 1963. Today, visitors can follow paths through the grove, get close to the ancient trees, and experience one of Croatia’s most remarkable living monuments.
A place where the past is not preserved in a museum, but is still very alive, growing, and even reliably still producing olives today.
