Josip Broz Tito ruled Yugoslavia for nearly four decades from 1945 until his death in 1980.
Tito’s summer residence, the White Lodge, on the beautiful island of Veliki Brijun, 2 km from the Istrian mainland, was designed by the Slovenian architect Joze Plecnik in 1953. The island has been a place of political significance since antiquity.
For Tito, who was fascinated by the glamour of Hollywood and the west, the White Lodge served as an exclusive political retreat where he hosted almost 100 heads of state, including Queen Elizabeth II, Fidel Castro, Indira Gandhi, and film stars Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, and many others.
