In the small Croatian city of Zadar, the Adriatic Sea not only laps around its stone ramparts but also plays an eerie, breathy tune through the world’s only sea organ.
The sea organ is at the end of the stone promenade which encircles this ancient Roman town built on a a peninsula. Built only recently, the sounds are created through pipes and whistles embedded into perforated stones which you can walk down into the sea. The risers of the six steps have square holes promenade has more than 25 circular, fist size holes in a line. The sound constantly changes based on the number and type of boats passing by and the sea’s mood. I sat there for a while at several different times of the day, just mesmerized by the constantly changing sound. Sometimes, the organ sounded a piano riff up the chords, other times, a disjointed tuba and trumpet, and asthmatic whistler trio. Occasionally, an odd whale like moan would ripple through. Too many sounds to describe. What a unique way for nature to express itself! I wish Seattle could build one.
The sea organ is a fantastic tourist attraction. As I am now more on the main tourist circuit, I could hear Italian, German, and Hebrew speaking people express their fascination with the sounds. Small kids just ran around – almost seeming to try to capture the sounds. The locals would stop for a few minutes and then continue on their promenade. This sunny Sunday with a cooling, brisk wind rifling through the air encourages the slow, leisurely pace.
On Saturday, there was a sailing regatta which started right off the promenade. So, I’ve included a picture of the regatta leaders with the sea organ’s circular holes in the foreground. The Jadrolinja line is the largest Croatian ferry company and you see the boats everywhere. Unfortunately, neither that company nor any of the private, smaller excursion companies ran tours to the nearby islands – “season finished” and variations thereof are a frequent chorus now.
Navigating on and around the city’s pedestrian only marble streets in and around Zadar’s ancient roman ruins and centuries old churches just doesn’t seem as extraordinary to me as the sea organ. Perhaps, I am starting to get jaded about these picturesque old towns, bring on the unique and amazing!
Speaking of unique, I ended up running into two Taiwanese women while waiting for the bus back to my wonderful little apartment in the tourist ghetto. Turns out that “Sophie” and “Claire” were spending 10 days in Croatia as an add on to a business trip. I took them to the hostel – which seemed only a karmic payback as I had asked two backpackers getting on the bus as I was getting off at Zadar about where to stay and they had told me about the hostel and how to get there. We had a great dinner and I got to speak Chinese the whole evening. I suppose that could be counted as a bit unique of a happenstance.
PS – for those techy friends – i did try to do a video to try to capture the sound of the organ but it didn’t work…. one step forward, one step to the side.
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- Zadar’s sea organ
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- Regatta, ferry and organ
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- 1st time to see a regatta beginning
