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 area Damüls is popular with families. The broad slopes range from easy to difficult and almost all of the pistes can be prepared with artificial snowmaking equipment.

Nestling in a unique mountain scenery, Davos is the highest town in Europe and also one of its largest winter sports areas. The ski resort offers varied slopes ranging from an altitude of 1,560 to 2,844 m.

The ski area Diedamskopf in the Bregenzerwald offers well-groomed slopes for all levels of difficulty. The Diedamskopf with an altitude of 2090 m is Schoppernau’s local mountain and located in Vorarlberg.

The slopes in the ski area Disentis 3000 are well-groomed and very diverse. Most of the pistes are rather steep but still not too demanding. A 12 km long slope starting at the Péz Ault spans 1700 m of altitude.

The most southern ski mountain in the region of Villach (at an altitude of 680 m - 1600 m) has been the centre of attraction for sporty locals from the Lower Gail valley since the 1930s.

Ski resort private://Dwie Doliny Muszyna - Wierchomlaprivate:// is situated in the Beskid Mountains, 12 km from Piwniczna - Zdrój.