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 of Zuberec/Milotin is situated in the regions of Orava/Západné Tatry. The ski resort is an altitude from 825 to 1055 meters above sea level.Zuberec/Milotin's ski season runs from December thru March.

The ski area Ehrwald is located in the Zugspitz Arena. The conditions for skiers and snowboarders are exceprionally well in the ski area. The slopes are well groomed and suitable for all levels of difficulty.

This is the biggest snow sports region in Switzerland. Amid unrivalled sweeping scenery you will find expertly prepared slopes served by state-of-the-art lift facilities.

Primarilly a cross country skiers resort, for which it is world famous, with an incredible amount of terrain. Downhillers will find very limited slopes about 20 minutes out of town, the biggest at Arber.

At the Amberger Alpe (1883 metres) in Kärnten in the Spittal-district, the natural skiing area Verditz is located. Especially families are glad to go skiing in Verditz.

Just about 45 kilometres from Salzburg - directly near the highway - on 1,000 to 2,300 metres above sea level, you find the family-friendly skiing area of Werfenweng.