Tradition&Heritage
Stroll along Makarska’s Riva and, sooner or later, a bronze couple will stop you in your tracks. One figure is a relaxed young local man; the other is an elegant female tourist, clearly on holiday. Between them is one of the most photographed spots in town, and a story about summer romance that Makarska never quite let go of.
What is the Monument to the Tourist in Makarska?
The Monument to the Tourist is a bronze sculpture on Makarska’s waterfront promenade, officially titled “Ukorak s vremenom” (In with the Times). Created by academic sculptor Nikola Šanjek of Varaždin, it stands about 205 centimeters tall and depicts a local young man, a “galeb”, keeping easy company with a stylish female tourist.
The story behind the bronze
The word “galeb” means seagull in Croatian, but in Makarska it also meant something else: a charming local young man skilled at the art of “galebarenje”, winning over visiting women during their holiday, often in the space of a single summer. It was a local tradition dating back to the earliest days of tourism on this coast, and the monument was raised as a tongue-in-cheek tribute to it and, more broadly, to every tourist who has ever fallen for Makarska.
That is also why the sculpture carries two nicknames alongside its official title: “Spomenik turistu” (Monument to the Tourist) and “Spomenik ljetnoj ljubavi” (Monument to Summer Love), both pointing to the same idea: a bronze wink at the region’s long history of holiday flings.
Good luck, if you believe the legend
Local legend says touching the bronze woman’s chest brings good luck in love, and the noticeably polished patina on that spot suggests plenty of visitors have tested the theory over the years. Whether it works or not, it is one of the most reliable photo stops on the Riva.
Plenty of other interesting statues dot the Riviera; check some out in this blog post!
Half tribute, half inside joke, the Monument to the Tourist sums up something true about Makarska: a town that has spent over a century falling for its guests, in step with the times, one summer at a time.
