The island of Brac in Dalmatia has one more recognised tourism offer - religious heritage trails.
Central Dalmatia's impressive tourism diversification away from its stereotypical beach and sunshine tourism added its latest chapter on December 23, 2015, as regional director Josko Stella launched his latest initiative, The Religious Heritage of Brac, in Supetar.
Brac, perhaps most famous for its stone which can be found in prominent buildings around the world including The White House in Washington, and for Croatia's most iconic beach (Zlatni Rat on Bol) is one of Croatia's most fascinating destinations, with rich heritage and traditions, as well as a major sporting and activity destination. Speaking to Total Croatia News a few days before the launch, Stella explained the new concept:
"We will present a new brochure on the religious heritage of Brac. There are more than 60 religious objects on the island, and we have devised four routes, such as a route for the early Christian churches, one for the town churches etc. The brochure is in Croatian and will be distributed to agencies and local tourist boards for them to use and develop."
Of all the religious objects, none is more jaw-dropping that the remote Blaca Monastery, highly inaccessible to the casual modern tourist, which makes the fact that its contents of a piano and telescope, hand carried by the monks hundreds of years ago, all the more incredible. As popular Croatian blog Chasing the Donkey explains:
"Weighing 400 kilograms; the piano was carried up the two and a half kilometre steep mountain side by workers of the hermitage. Locals say, that along the way the men drank 56 litres of wine to quench their thirst and give them the boost they needed to make it up the steep hill."
As Stella explained in his interview with TCN, Central Dalmatia now has more than 120 programmes, and there have been considerable efforts to diversify its tourism offer, with new projects such as the opening of the sizable Roman road network to tourists, and a huge expansion of cycling routes, with more than 3,000km set to be in place with signage and maps by 2017.
