Vrgorac is medieval Inland Dalmatia's town. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Biokovo mountain in the vicinity of Dubrovnik- Neretva County and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Within a radius of thirty kilometers associated with the attractive tourist destinations such as Makarska and the Makarska Riviera , Medjugorje and Metković.

The town of Vrgorac, although a small place, is where great people and great things are born. Tin Ujevic, Croatia’s most significant poet and writer was from Vrgorac. His prominent literary creations have named him the greatest Croatian writer of the 20th century. Stipe Bozic was also born in Vrgorac, in 1951. He is well known for his filmmaking and also for being the second European to have climbed Mount Everest twice! This stunning region is truly one of Croatia’s secret treasures.

Historical monuments from the past can still be seen all throughout the city and its surroundings. The seven forts dating back to the 14th century, once served as a defence system against the Turks who ruled this region for over 200 years border the entire town of Vrgorac.  The Fort of Gradina is the main fort, which overlooks all of Vrgorac and the plains below. It provides a stunning lookout point with a beautiful hiking path from the city centre.

Everyone’s favorite fruit, the sweet strawberry, is Vrgorac’s crowning glory with hectares and hectares of stunning strawberry fields dotting the valleys of this incredible destination.

Area: 284 km2
Population 2011
- City: 2.188
- Urban: 7.593
Elevation: 241 m
Tourist Board:
- +385/21/ 675 110
- This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

City suburbs:
Banja, Dragljane, Draževitići, Duge Njive, Dusina, Kljenak, Kokorići, Kotezi, Kozica, Mijaca, Orah, Podprolog, Poljica Kozička, Prapatnice, Rašćane, Ravča, Stilja, Umčani, Veliki Prolog, Vina, Višnjica, Vlaka, Zavojane, Kutac

As the new Volvo truck commercial featuring Jean Claude Van Damme goes viral (more than 60 million views already - probably more than this article will get...), it is a reminder of Volvo truck commercials of the past, including the spectacular highlining performance from Faith Dickey on the motorway near Vrgorac last year. Inland Dalmatia at its most daring...

It was a great year. Full of record breaking-results for Inland Dalmatia. Full of significant anniversaries, changes and happenings. I myself learned a lot about this beautiful and unique destination and want to thank you all for making it possible. To all people in Inland Dalmatia, to all its guests and visitors - Happy New Year!! Let us enjoy the beauties of the Dalmatian Hinterland every day.

Happy New Year from Dalmatia Explorer

Happy New Year from Klis (Grad na Kamenu Klis FB page)

Happy New year from Vrgorac tourist board (New Year´s Eve in Vrgorac from 1955-1956)

Happy New Year from Vrlika tourist board

Happy New Year from Sinj

(photo: Vrgorac Nekada / Australia 1930s)

 

It fascinates us to see old photographs of places we know so well. It is amazing how cities change - some buildings stay, other long forgotten. Not to mention people - the way they used to dress, whole families, or particular events. All captured by often black-and-white photographs, which are being collected and shared through social media with the world.

"Vrgorac as it Once Was" (Vrgorac Nekada) is a Facebook Page administrated by Branko Radonić. Branko, a professor of history and geography was born in 1985 and currently lives and works in Vrgorac as an elementary-school teacher. For 10 years, he is actively exploring the history of the Vrgorac area. He wrote dozens of articles about the history of Vrgorac published in local newspapers, organised two exhibitions, blogs for Vrgorac.blog.hr and writes for Vrgoračke Novine and Makarska Kronika.

We are delighted to bring you a short interview with Branko about his wonderful work behind the "Vrgorac as it Once Was".

Why "Vrgorac as it Once Was"? How did you start the FB page?

- "Vrgorac as it Once Was" was launched to popularize my project of collecting old photographs of Vrgorac and the villages of the Vrgorac region. But not only because of that. In fact, not many collectors like to reveal the results of their discoveries to the public. In my opinion, all my work is actually the heritage of my city and I am happy to present those photographs to the world. I think, it is very important to take a long forgotten photo out of the closet, to publish it and present it to the Vrgorac people, because it is the heritage of us all, regardless of who is the private owner of the photo. I want to emphasize, that this project is completely free of charge for Vrgorac people. All costs of the project are covered by me independently. Because this is more than a hobby, it is a passion. The page exists little over a year now with over 500 photos published so far. Each photo has its own number and it can be easily tracked as the project grows.-

(photo: Vrgorac Nekada / Dragljani 1942)

 

Where did all those great published photos come from?

- For the last 10 years and more intensively for the last 5 years, I have been collecting old photos, showing motives of the old Vrgorac and villages of the Vrgorac region. I collect them from local people, by field work, through acquaintances and social media. The principle is always the same. I borrow the photos, scan them in highest possible resolution and give the originals back to the owner. The owner of the original gets his photo back as a part of his family heritage and a digital format of the photo becomes a property of all of us via internet. For each photo, I record the owner´s name and basic information, such as what is shown on the photograph, when was it taken, etc. So far, I´ve collected over 1.500 photos from 150 people from Vrgorac region and the Diaspora living in Croatia and abroad. And the collection grows bigger every day. I collect everything, from the oldest photos from the Austro-Hungarian period to those most recent ones, taken barely twenty years ago.-

(photo: Vrgorac Nekada / Vrgorac 1975)

 

Which period of the history of Vrgorac is the most interesting one for you personally?

 

- The common fact for all periods of the history of Vrgorac, is that they are unexplored, in professional as well as in scientific manner. While I was studying, I was interested in the old history of Vrgorac, but for the last several years, I completely turned to researching the history of Vrgorac area of the 20th century.-

(photo: Vrgorac Nekada / Banja 1920s)

 

In your opinion, which are the top 5 best photos published at the site?

(photo: Vrgorac Nekada / Pjaca 1975)

We are used to all kinds of beautiful pictures of Inland Dalmatia, and of Vrgorac among them. With today´s technology, we are used to all kinds of photo-shop effects of the photos. But these pictures are not one of these. This is what Vrgorac (and other parts of Dalmatia) looked like today. Heavy rain with sand from Africa covered the area, as published at the Vrgoračke Novine FB page.

(photo: Vrgoračke Novine)

(photo: Staševica / Vrgoračke Novine)

(photo: Martina Gašpar / Umčani / Vrgoračke Novine)

Just what every housewife needs before Easter, to clean windows again!! But on the other hand, it is rather cool to have a piece of Africa everywhere, right?!

(photo: screen-shot from the Menus of the Good Old Days)

There is something about the good old days, when food was prepared the traditional way. Slow-cooking and using local and seasonal food was usually the key to having a tasty and nourishing meal. I always like to get ideas from this traditional ways of cooking for inspiration and the Vrgorac area is famous for its excellent food and some rather not ordinary ways of combining ingredients (yes, I mean Bikla, of course).

Here is a wonderful video made as a part of the Croatian National Television series "Menus of the Good Old Days" (Jelovnici Izgubljenih Vremena). Hosted by Veljko Barbieri, you will be able to watch how several traditional meals are being prepared in Vrgorac. Enjoy and visit Vrgorac for the smell and taste missing in the video!!

"At the end, we would like to have a total of 25 renovated stone houses and other buildings. So, in my opinion, the project is at the moment completed to more than 60%. There are still several houses in ruins, that we need to renovate, adjust and put into operation. It is our goal to create an environment to help guests imagine how our ancestors lived centuries ago. In fact, that is what we want to create, a closer picture of their way of life, but at the same time not to loose the connection with the modern era, as we gave to ensure the appropriate infrastructure (electricity, telephone, TV, internet)." says Pervan.

To read the full article, click here.

It should be an annual, 3-day weekend event, which will pair the traditional culinary values of the hinterland with the authentic rural ambience of the ethno-village Kokorići and the delightful scenery of the Vrbgorac hinterland accompanied by the Dalmatian folklore an other Vrgorac products (honey, chees, bacon, fruits and vegetables).

For more details, follow the Vrgorac tourist board.

(photo: Vrgoračke Novine / 2012)

While the temperatures from the last few days might have gave us the idea, that spring is behind the corner, it is still winter that rules over February in Vrgorac. And it might not be as much snow as 4 years ago, when Vrgorac looked like in the lead picture above (and the one below), there still is some snow on the mountains above Vrgorac. It looks nice. Spring in the valley and winter at Matokit hills. And who knows, maybe there will be even more these days..?

(photo: Vrgoračke Novine / 2012)

(photo: Vrgoračke Novine / Milina Zasida in February 2016)

(photo: Vrgoračke Novine / 2016)

Good luck to everyone!!