May the 3rd, 2026 – Zablaće lies on the very outskirts of Šibenik and got its name from the lakes that are located nearby (as they were once called blato), it’s often referred to as Little America (Mala Amerika), but why?
As Putni kofer/Lana Mindoljevic writes, if you head to the very outer edges of Šibenik, after passing the St. Anthony Channel and before reaching Solaris, you’ll stumble upon a settlement that has always been “on its own”. Today, this is perhaps more true than ever before.
Zablaće is formally one of Šibenik’s neighbourhoods, but if you turn the pages of the history books, you’ll see that it was once an independent place and on its old streets you can still feel the pride and local patriotism of its inhabitants. The place was named after the two large lakes it is located next to, which were once called blato (mud), and so the settlement became – Zablaće. Today, however, unusual little Zablaće bears a very unusual nickname: Little America.
It isn’t large, all of the houses are connected by a long road, and the most noticeable landmark is the parish church of John the Baptist. The port is a haven for boats, the surrounding beaches are lapped by gentle waves, the sea is clean, and there is a café next to the shore that is bustling with life even out of the summer season.
Zablaće was first formally mentioned as early as 1432, as a place where the people of Šibenik used salt pans throughout the Middle Ages. The development of the town has always been connected to two nearby lakes where fresh water meets sea water, which comes from the open sea through canals. Malo Blato, or Male Soline, and Veliko Blato, or Velike Soline, are still known by these names today, but salt has not been extracted from them for a long time.
After the salt pans ceased operation back during the 17th century, the lakes became fishponds, and today they are a peaceful picnic oasis and a place where a large number of birds live. Peaceful, they are a favourite oasis for recreational and excursionists from the entire Šibenik region.
On paper, Zablaće doesn’t have many inhabitants, classed only as a small town. Around 350 inhabitants live there throughout the year. There is an enormous diaspora, however, with thousands of people who come from or draw their ethnic origins from Zablaće now living in all corners of the world, mostly in America and Australia. They emigrated back during the middle of the last century, and today many of them return to their homeland in the summer. Then, Zablaće transforms into Little America, as it is so often called by others. You will hardly hear Croatian on the streets, people greet each other in American English, and only occasionally does the real old local dialect manage to break through the chatter.
Retirees arrive as early as May and regularly stay for up to five months. Those who are still working depend on annual leave, so they are only there in the middle of summer, but during these warm months, this otherwise unassuming little place really comes alive.
Those born there who left, as well as the younger generations of their children and grandchildren born in America and Australia also come to Zablaće during the summer. There aren’t many permanent returns. Most of those who do come for summer have their own houses, they will likely never sell them, but rather invest in them, expand them and decorate them. The feeling of local patriotism remains very strong, everyone adores Zablaće, and many proudly display Croatian flags on their homes, despite being Americans on paper.
