Stecci Medieval Tombstones

ZelenkaBlazek's picture

Location

Dalmatia, Dubrovnik
Croatia
43° 29' 4.9272" N, 17° 12' 15.318" E
HR
General info: 

Some real oddities that are present in Croatia, (and also in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia) are the Stecci. These medieval tombstones are unique in the world and are closely following the borders of the medieval Bosnian Kingdom. There are a total of 70,000 Stecci spread in the area between the above mentioned countries and several thousand of them are in Croatia. The decorative motifs featured on the tombstones are enigmatic, spirals, rosettes and crescent moons being part of the recurrent motifs on the monuments.

Stecci contain epitaphs written in Cyrillic Bosnian and the oldest one dates back from the 12th century. Larger numbers of Stecci can be seen in both Imotski and Dugopolije, border areas of Croatia. Stećci have been nominated to the UNESCO World Heritage List as Joint Cultural Heritage by the four countries in 2009.

Getting there: 

Most of them are located in the areas of Dalmatia and Dubrovnik. An easily accessible location is Cista Provo, only half an hour away from Split.

Costs: 

Free for all

Interesting places nearby

High above the Inntal, between Landeck and the Reschenpass, you will find Tyrol's Ski-Dimension which came into existence through merging the ski resorts of Serfaus and Fiss-Ladis.

Locally renowned for its snow record, a funicular from Partenen accesses the Loipe 2000 high-altitude cross-country circuit on the Bielerhöhe.

In the family-winter-wonderland St. Urban / Simonhöhe everybody has the possibility to ski as the slopes are well prepared and there is no risk of avalanches.

5 ski tows and a modern 4-passenger chairlift with 20 km long wonderful runs makes the heart of the young and the old skier alike leap. Snowboarders are welcome and can romp about to their hearts' content.

The ski center Skalka arena is located in the Kremnické hills. The resort has really good conditions for skiing because of it´s location. Skalka arena is a part of the resort Skalka pri Kremnici.

A traditional hillside village with three separate ski areas in the mountains above together providing a good mix of ski conditions and gradients. There is a huge modern hotel complex at Aremogna (1625m) with doorstep skiing.