Set here and there amongst the walled fields of Hvar’s agricultural landscape, you’ll see stone shelters. I’m not talking here about the newer type of weekend houses that have sprung up – complete with BBQ and shady terrace for Sunday lunch. No, the ones I mean are much older, of drystone construction, and some have…
Dry stone walls are as much part of the landscape here on Hvar as they are in my native Scotland. Over there, they pretty much hold sheep in, but on the Dalmatian coast they’re entirely necessary to hold in the soil. There would simply be no agriculture in this steep, karst environment without the back-breaking…
I see from the Dalmatian Wine Expo’s website that their next event will be 27-29 April, 2012 in Makarska. Most of the rest of the information on the site is still about last year’s very enjoyable gathering, including a photo gallery. Looking forward to April – great time for a trip to the Dalmatian coast!…
There are lions on Hvar. You can see them lurking on walls and gateways, looking out with a rather pained expression. It’s the symbol of St Mark, the winged lion of Venice, showing that this island was once part of the Venetian empire. From 1278, when the locals petitioned Venice for protection from the pirates,…
We set out early this morning for a walk in the fields while it was still cool and pleasant. The “streets” of the Stari Grad Plain are wide enough for carts, and generally run in an easy-to-navigate grid pattern, though at the eastern end they tend to turn and meander a little more. Connecting the…
I wanted to share this blog post from Geomir with some remarkable historical photos and sketches of Vrboska… http://geomir.blog.hr/2010/10/1628290774/vrboska.html The old postcards are fun – “Greetings from Verbosca”, and I love the drawings – great stuff!
Kupinovik is the site of an ancient Roman villa rustica on the Stari Grad plain. It was a country house belonging to a Roman citizen in the first century AD, one Gaj Kornficiji Kar, a Decurion in Faria, who used to grow grapes and olives in the surrounding fields. Back then, it would have been…
Tvrdalj in Stari Grad is a fine example of a fortified summer residence, best known for its fish pond in the courtyard. Wikipedia lists Tvrdalj as a castle – but that seems a rather grand description to me. Looking at the collection of buildings around the fishpond, and the lovely walled gardens, all set in…
Unlike the Greek settlers before them, the ancient Romans made themselves much more comfortable on the island. Of course it helps that they owned the mainland – Dalmatia was a Roman province, with a large city at Salona, on the sheltered northern harbour of today’s Split. The modern city of Split started life as the…
Maslinovik is an old watchtower set on a hill on the north side of the Stari Grad Plain. Built in the 4th century BC by the ancient Greek settlers, it formed part of the line of defence for the fields, running from the town of Pharos (today’s Stari Grad) to Tor, a second watchtower set…
Go Hvar 
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