The Island of Brač An Adriatic Arcadia

ARCADIA was a province in old Greece, according to mythology a land of “happy shepherds”. The Arcadian ideal hassince then often been reflected in poetry and art. To discover idyllic, peaceful, undisturbed places is something people stilltoday long for just as they did in ancient times. Places of harmony that will free them from their own problems.The island of Brač, a patch of land in the waters of the Brač and Hvar Channels, is a wonderful world of stone, sea andsun. Over centuries of tireless work, sweat, honesty and prayer the people of the island have enriched it. They havewrested an everyday living from the scanty but fertile soil of this island where the chirping of cicadas is experienced as theprimordial song of sunshine and where fragrant vegetation scatters its strong colours across the whole landscape.Our Adriatic is exposed today to various forms of pressure and destruction, so that its Arcadian beauty is being irretrievablylost. We need to do much, much more to protect the Adriatic, its seashores and untouched areas, its agriculturalland and the architecture of its old settlements. The aim of this book about Brač is to contribute to an understanding andprotection of the island’s Arcadian richness and as stimulation for the same in other parts of the Adriatic.“The Island of Brač – an Adriatic Arcadia is an original unification of varied aspects ranging from island life to culturalinformation. It is meant for a broad circle of readers and tourist visitors. It is also meant to arouse new interest in theisland and can be used in educational programmes. We believe it will be important and valuable for national culture andnational identity.” (from a review by prof. dr. F. Rocco)

The author

Foreword to english translation

It was a great pleasure to read the translation of Darko Vlahović’s book on the Island of Brač and I believe that it will beread with the same pleasure both by those who have never heard of Brač and those who know it well. Brač (one of thetwo largest islands in the Adriatic) has always been a little different from the other islands – for instance it does not havethe name of a single town that dominates the island, as most of the others do, but has a large number of little towns – oroutgrown villages – scattered all over it. Historically it was an island of fishermen, shepherds, and above all stone quarriesand the stone masons, craftsmen and sculptors that these gave rise to. This it still is.Not only is Brač different from other islands but this book about it is different from most books written for foreign visitors.Darko Vlahović himself is from the island. He looks at it not from the aspect of a foreigner or of some historian orjournalist from outside. He writes as a man who loves this island to which his family belongs, on which he grew up.He is a true Bračanin (Man of Brač) which comes through in all his writing. But also, because he works in tourism, he isworried about what too much of it may do to these so far unspoiled beautiful islands and coast, and is actively engagedin trying to see it does not happen.

Sonia Wild Bićanić OBE