Cres (pronounced [t͡srɛ̂ːs] in Croatian; Italian: Cherso, German: Kersch, Latin: Crepsa, Greek: Χερσος, Chersos) is an Adriatic island in Croatia. It is one of the northern island in the Kvarner Gulf and can be reached via ferry from the island Krk or from the Istrian peninsula (line Brestova-Porozina).With an area of 405.78 km², Cres is, together with Krk which is the same size (but thought to be the largest for years), the largest Croatian island. The island has a population of 3,184 (2001).Cres and the neighbouring island of Lošinj once used to be one island, but were divided by a channel and connected with a bridge at the town of Osor. Cres's only fresh water source is the Lake Vrana.Cres has been inhabited since the Paleolithic time period and was later ruled by the Roman Empire. After the fall of the Roman Empire the island was taken over and became a part of the Byzantine Empire, and remained this way for centuries. In the 7th Century the Croats invaded the island, and the other islands around it, and took the islands over, however the Croats returned the islands in the early 9th century (believed to be somewhere around 812).Around 822 Croatia became an independent state, wh...... find out more about Cres