Thanks
to its geostrategic position, in the course of history Omišalj has played the
role of outpost and guard on the main route that leads from the mainland to the
island of Krk. This route branched off on the mainland in Vinodol (Valis
Vinearia) from the main Roman Tergeste-Tarsatica-Senia (Trieste-Rijeka-Senj)
road. A regular boat service has always existed across the Tihi Channel, and
the main embarkation point was in Voz Cove. The boat was used to bring people,
goods and sometimes armies from the mainland to Krk, and the other way round.
For this purpose, small carriages, ox-drawn carts, and the famous small but
sturdy Krk horses were used. However, poor men and women often carried goods on
their backs and on baskets on their heads. This route lost its importance after
the construction of the ferry port and asphalt road in the 1960s. For
millennia, the surrounding area was dotted with forts that defended this means
of communication. Two particularly significant forts were the one on the islet
of Sveti Marko, which dates back to the early Byzantine period in the 6th
century AD, and that on Cape Vošćica from the Austro-Venetian war at the
beginning of the 17th century.
The
Kapelica watchtower, located on a hill above the coves of Voz and Peškera, Cape
Bejavec (Vošćica), and the Tihi Channel, right on the spot where the island of Krk is closest to the
mainland, in the past was an important part of this system of surveillance and
defence of Omišalj and the entire island of Krk. Today the site is home to the remnants
of a longitudinal building with only one side entrance. This suggests that it
is a building from the period of the Austro-Venetian war in the early 17th
century. It was probably used by guards whose task it was to light a bonfire in
the event of an emergency or attack, for example by the Uskoks from Senj. The
guards in such positions were mostly local people, in this case inhabitants of
Omišalj, while the Venetian troops was located in a nearby fort on Cape Vošćica
and in front of the entrance to Omišalj. Since this site is known locally as
'Kapelica', meaning 'small chapel', it is possible that a small church also
existed in this place.