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

The ski resort Saas-Fee is set among the highest mountains in the Swiss Alps. The car-free glacier village is often referred to as the private://Pearl of the Alpsprivate://.

The ski village Saas-Grund is situated in the heart of the Saas valley at an altitude of 1560 metres. It is the main place of the valley that also includes the villages of Saas-Fee, Saas-Almagell and Saas-Balen.

BASE: 2624ft
SUMMIT: 3615ft
VERTICAL DROP: 990ft

NO. OF. LIFTS: 5
Gondolas: 0
Chairs: 0
Surface: 5

The newly opened ski resort Salamandra Resort is situated in the middle of the unique nature of Štiavnické hills near the historically important city of Banská Štiavnica. This resort offers modern ski lifts and moderate slope.

From the mountain station of the ski resort Salzstiegl at a highness of 1710 metres above sea level, there´s an amazing panorama view on the Seckauer Alps, the Niederen Tauern and the Hirschegger Alp.

Whoever goes for skiiing-vacation in Samedan, can choose between several winter activities. Besides the skiing you can also go on winter trails or going to tobogganging.