EN
The article is a contribution to the issue of cultural identity of Zbigniew Herbert and Predrag Matvejevic. Their cultural identity in this article is named the Mediterranean identity. Beginning from the fact that the Mediterranean Basin for these authors seems to be thematic nad ideological dominant, the article discusses problem of identity and origin of European civilization. In Postmodern world that depreciates the elementary values of our civilization, cultural identity has became one of the most important question in human life. The Mediterranean Basin is considered by Herbert and Matvejevic as an asylum which offers them a view into the magnificent past and the reliance in the contemporary. The article consists of four parts which offer different perspectives on the Mediterranean identity. It outlines this identity first of all in perspective of journey as a way of collecting identity and analyses it as a history of life. The author tries to prove that the essence of this identity consists in continuous actualization of Mediterranean heritage - its culture, science and ideas. The conclusion is confirmation that the Mediterranean identity offers the life certainty and the horizon of being.