Calamotta

The island of Koločep (pronounced [kɔ̂lɔtʃɛp]; locally known as Kalamota from Italian: Calamotta) is one of the three inhabited Elaphiti Islands situated near the city of Dubrovnik with an area of 2.44 square kilometres (0.94 square miles). Kolocep is one of the few, if not the only, Croatian island with two names. The locals almost exclusively call it ‘Kalamota‘ and talk about themselves as ‘Kalamotezi‘. Note, the island’s name is pronounced ‘ko-lo-chep‘ as č in Croatia is pronounced “ch” (as in ‘church‘). Koločep is the southernmost inhabited island in Croatia. In the 2011 census, the population of the island was 163. The island of Koločep lies at a distance of 1 kilometre (0.6 miles) from the closest point on the mainland and about the same distance from the peninsula of Lapad, further east towards the city of Dubrovnik itself. The port of Dubrovnik (Gruž) is situated at the base of a bay on the other side of Lapad, requiring a 5 kilometres (3 miles) journey by boat to the island. The island can be reached by regular ferry service Jadrolinija - the "Postira" and "Premuda" services connect the Elaphiti Islands several times throughout the day. It is a 20-minute boat ride from one port to the other (Dubrovnik-Koločep) by ferry, or 10 minutes by water taxi.
The island lent its name to Koločepski Channel - a part of the Adriatic Sea between the Olipa and Koločep islands and the mainland opposite of them.
Earliest known traces of human habitation date to the times of Ancient Greece. In the times of the Republic of Ragusa, Koločep was an important shipbuilding site. Two members of Christopher Columbus’ crew on the Santa Maria were sailors from the island. Archaeological remnants of ancient European conquerors have been found on the island: from the ancient times of Greece and Rome to the Napoleonic times. The island has seven pre-Romanesque churches dating back to the times of Croatian kings, from the 9th to the 11th century.