Work on Lake Lokve just east of Rijeka has revealed the remains of the previous settlement of Srednji Jarak, cleared by Napoleon. Evidence of a small community of 400 people is now visible, as well as a sawmill, and the Lujzijana road and the Emperor’s Bridge built by French forces in the early 1800s.
During the two decades since the last overhaul of the Vinodol hydropower system set by this artificial basin, water levels have sunk to almost zero. Fish, including trout, were removed from their habitat and relocated to Mrzla vodica. Once the work has finished at the end of August, they will be gradually be returned to a newly filled Lake Lokve.