Sveti Marko
Location: Yugoslavia/Montenegro (Bay of Kotor)
Village type: Huts
Opening date: 1962
Closing year: July 6, 1991
A little background: Before we delve into the historical context, let's take a closer look at the geography. Sveti Marko is a small Yugoslavian island (now Montenegro) located in the middle of the Bay of Kotor. It is entirely wooded and has a rugged landscape.
It all began in 1960 when the mayor of Tivat, Daro Petkovic, was contacted by Gilbert Trigano after the Club's request to establish a village on Lokrum Island (located opposite Dubrovnik) was rejected by the government and political leaders. Sveti Marko Island, within the municipality of Tivat, was then chosen as a replacement. Daro Petkovic, having political connections, facilitated the negotiations.
Sveti Marko was privately owned at the time. The state nationalized it before selling it to the Putnik agency, the largest travel agency in Yugoslavia. The agency then leased it to Club Med, and that was that!
When it opened in 1962, the village had 300 huts. A few years later, 200 more were added, bringing the village's capacity to 1,000 beds. The huts are arranged in terraces amidst trees and vegetation.
In the center of the village are the offices, the storeroom, the restaurant-bar, and the dance floor.
Numerous staircases crisscross the village due to the island's steep terrain. Supplying the island is sometimes very complicated and is done by private boat. The utilities (electricity, water, telephone) come from Ostrvo Cvijeca (the island of flowers), located between Sveti Marko and the town of Tivat.
The village caters to all water sports enthusiasts. Water skiing and sailing are the two flagship sports of Sveti Marko. Spearfishing/freediving and picnic camping are also very popular. Numerous excursions are offered by the Putnik agency, which has an office in the village. Putnik handles the organization of transfers and excursions.
The 1991 season was very short. The club closed on July 6th for everyone's safety. A war that would end the Yugoslav state was beginning.
In the club's water skiing room, a message written by Aldo Lovatin could be seen on the whiteboard.
“Saturday, July 6, 1991, 11:45 a.m. Greetings to you, oh new manager. I wish you and your team a very good 1992 season at this beautiful site in Sveti.
PS: Good luck! May your season be longer than ours!”
Did you know?
In 1979, the village became Club Nature, meaning everyone was naked! This naturism experiment, attempted in the late 1970s/early 1980s by Club Med at two test villages (Svetit Marko and the brand-new Maldives, later known as Faru),
lasted only three years. Everyone was clothed again in 1981.
The journey:
In its early years, Club Med offered a choice between train and boat or plane and boat. The first option involved a 28-hour train journey to Bari in southern Italy before boarding a ferry to Dubrovnik
The plane was faster. It allowed you to reach Tivat or Dubrovnik before taking the boat to Sveti Marko
Village chiefs:
Jean BALANDJIAN opened the village in 1962,
René PERNEL closed the village in 1991.
Jean Pierre BATARD spent several seasons there, including one during the naturist period.
And today.
In 2007, the island of Sveti Marco was bought by the Russian company Metropole, which aimed to build a luxury hotel there... And then nothing.
As I write these lines, the Russian project has still not been launched. The old Club Med village is still there. Its buildings and huts are crumbling day by day, discreetly hidden by ever-encroaching nature.
Urban explorers publish chilling photos.
Videos
Club Med Sveti Marko
The DinausauresClub – Gérard Pigeon DECOSTERD
Going further
GM in Sveti Marko – 1966 A story by Didier Jung from the FB Club Med Stories group
GM in Sveti Marko – 1967 A story by Didier Jung from the FB Club Med Stories group
GO to Sveti Marko – 1985 A story by Vincent Michel from the FB group Club Med Stories
Sveti Marko, what remains of it today. (Site not suitable for sensitive viewers)
Oh Sveti, I did a season of water skiing there with Aldo on the team in 1985, it was great! Skiing was also great, René was in charge of the ski area, and Thierry was the village chief
I had Jean Pierre Batard (RIP) in 1991 as village chief in Al Hoceima and we recovered quite a few GOs who came from clubs in Yugoslavia that closed because of the war.
I stayed there in 1965. After hours on a night train, eight to a compartment with deafening music, the ship was waiting for us in Bari, and the GOs (Gentils Organisateurs) threw us a huge party when we arrived in Sveti Marco! I learned to water ski, earned my kilometer swimming certificate, and took a trip to Dubrovnik…
there was no running water or electricity in the bungalows, the toilets, or the large tables in the restaurant at the top of the hill, and a mini-earthquake almost every day… an unforgettable vacation 50 years later!
And I've always been a loyal Club Med customer over the years with my husband and sometimes my daughter (skiing, tours of Tathiti, Bora Bora, Moorea, Huayna, Tanzania, Namibia, Australia, Dubai, Scotland, etc. China and Japan were canceled due to the Covid pandemic, South Africa, Mauritius, and the Seychelles are coming up… Canada, God willing…). Nothing but happiness and wonderful memories!!!
cruises on the Club Med 2, openings of Les Arcs Panorama, Samoëns and La Rosière
My parents worked on Sveti Marko… When I was I child, a few times I went there with them. I would cry now, I am so sad, because they are dead both, and this place is ruined. Miss those years, miss my parents…miss my Yugoslavia
Sveti Marco at a naturist club with Jean Pierre Batard: the best, unforgettable holidays
1986 was just amazing. The World War II reception was a flag parade on water skis. Three skiers were pulled by each boat. They even allowed children to participate with a flag. Unthinkable today. It was incredible! I found the bar necklace in my father's bedside table drawer.
Hello WAKI,
I was also in Sweti Marko for 15 days at the end of August/beginning of September 1986. Do you remember who the CDV was that year?
Thanks in advance,
Patrice
I was on skis!!! 😜
I worked at Sveti Marko. I arrived in July as a GM (Gentil Organisateur) and stayed on as a GO (Gentil Organisateur) – helping in the restaurant, shop, and shows. Pure bliss!
Wonderful memories from a distant past, 40 years later.
Carefree youth.
I often think of the young and kind Yugoslavian staff who must have lived through hell with the war that arrived so quickly…
May they rest in peace.
Nostalgia for the 1980s.
1964. First season as a GO (Gentil Organisateur - Club Med staff member), picnics, bivouacs, spearfishing at Sveti. Marco
Jean Pierre Batard, our spearfishing leader,
Gilbert Héron, village chief…
My nickname at the Club was HURP.
Last season in 1975 at Cap Skirring, with Ali Imane, village chief, known in Agadir as a baggage handler at the planning office.
Eleven years as a GO, that keeps you young. I'll be 83 on August 13th…