Why go to Croatia for Passover?
Croatia is located in Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. The Croatia Pesach Programs are in five star hotels featuring pools, beach, spa and gym. The programs provide gourmet Glatt Kosher Lemehadrin food. Enjoy lectures, shiurim, daf yomi, kids programs, water sports and entertainment. Take interesting trips on Chol Hamoed to see nature, history and culture.
Croatia – Tourism
Tourism dominates the Croatian service sector and accounts for up to 20% of Croatian GDP. Tourist industry income for 2019 was estimated to be €10.5 billion.[199] Its positive effects are felt through the Croatian economy in terms of increased business volume observed in a retail business, processing industry orders and summer seasonal employment. The industry is an export business because it significantly reduces the country's external trade imbalance.[200] Since the end of the Croatian War of Independence, the tourist industry has rapidly grown, recording a fourfold rise in tourist numbers, with more than 11 million tourists each year.[201] The most numerous are tourists from Germany, Slovenia, Austria, Italy, and Poland as well as Croatia itself.[202] Length of a tourist stay in Croatia averaged 4.7 days in 2019
Why do so many people go on Passover programs?
Passover is a labor intensive holiday with a ton of cleaning and cooking. Think super spring cleaning. The house needs to be completely cleaned of all chametz or products with leavening agents, such as bread, cereal etc. Families who observe Passover can’t use anything from the kitchen that is used during the year. The oven, stove and refrigerator get a thorough cleaning and are made kosher for Passover. They need separate pots, pans, dishes, cutlery and all other kitchen items. You get the idea. All the Passover items can be used from year to year but they need to be stored in between then unpacked before the holiday but after the major cleaning. After the holiday, everything goes back into storage.
Passover programs in Europe have become increasingly popular over the past fifteen years. After all programs were canceled because of the COVID pandemic in 2020, there were a modest amount of programs for Passover 2021. The Passover program industry made a big comeback for Pesach 2022, including in Europe. There was great demand for Passover programs in Greece, France, Italy, Croatia, Cyprus, Spain, Portugal and the Czech Republic. We expect even more programs and greater demand for Pesach 2023, which begins on Wednesday, April 5th and ends on Thursday, April 13th in Europe and Wednesday, April 12th in Israel.
Passover Program celebrated in Split, Croatia
One of the most recent and popular Pesach programs took place in Split - Split is Croatia's second-largest city, Split (Spalato in Italian) is a great place to see Dalmatian life as it’s really lived. Always buzzing, this exuberant city has just the right balance between tradition and modernity. Step inside Diocletian’s Palace (a Unesco World Heritage site and one of the world’s most impressive Roman monuments) and you’ll see dozens of bars, restaurants and shops thriving amid the atmospheric old walls where Split has been humming along for thousands of years.
To top it off, Split has a unique setting. Its dramatic coastal mountains act as the perfect backdrop to the turquoise waters of the Adriatic and help divert attention from the dozens of shabby high-rise apartment blocks that fill its suburbs. It's this thoroughly lived-in aspect of Split that means it will never be a fantasy land like Dubrovnik, but perhaps it's all the better for that.
The story of Split is already 17 centuries old, dating to the time the Roman Emperor Diocletian decided to build his Palace right on the peninsula near the great Roman city Salona, where he wanted to spend the last years of his life. During these 1700 years the Palace slowly turned into a city, which to this day lures with its rich tradition, glorious history and beauty of its natural and cultural heritage.
Diocletian Palace and the entire historical core of Split have been on the World Heritage UNESCO list ever since 1979, and not only for the extraordinary preservation of the Palace, but also because the Palace and its city (or the city and its Palace, if you like) continue to live a full life. All historical layers from the old Rome, middle ages till today are still visible and alive in this structure. A walk through the ancient city takes you through time, along the great examples of ancient architecture like Peristyle, the middle aged Romanesque Church and Gothic Palace, Renaissance portals of the noblemen’s houses, Baroque facades and modern architecture superbly merged in the rich heritage.
Split has a Mediterranean climate. Spring in Split lasts from March to June, and it is one of the best seasons to visit Split. The average temperature is the ideal 20°C, abundant in sunny periods ideal for walking on Marjan, excursions, and even swimming in the late spring. During this season Split begins its life in the open, it is the waking moment of its streets and city squares.
