Dry stone walls: a stone imprint of Brela's history

Today, when most of the former vineyards are covered by pine forests or macchia, a first glance might not reveal the incredible truth: this landscape was shaped by tens of kilometers of dry stone walls. Every stone you see bears witness to the extraordinary persistence of the laborers of Brela.

The struggle for every handful of earth
In the search for fertile red soil (crljenica) in karst hollows, the earth was literally collected by hand. In order to turn steep terrain into arable land, pristave were built – dry stone terraces that brought the soil into a horizontal position and protected it from being washed away by rain.

Try to imagine: If it took a full day's work for two skilled laborers to build a wall about 12 m long and 1.20–1.50 m high, millions of workdays and immense energy were invested in these "stone pictures."

Shapes and functions of stone architecture
The landscape of Brela is crisscrossed with various dry stone forms, each of which had its own purpose:

Mounds (gomile): These were created by the painstaking clearing of barren land. The laborer removed stones with the same intensity he used for digging, stacking them into circular or conical shapes.

Longitudinal walls: Long dry stone lines served as defense against the wind on exposed terrains.
Boundaries (međe): Dry stone walls clearly marked property boundaries, creating order in the rugged karst landscape.
Hillforts and ritual mounds: Much like on the neighboring island of Brač or in the Poljica region, these monuments defended and marked the space for centuries.

The golden age of vineyards
The greatest flourish of dry stone wall construction occurred in the second half of the 19th century. After diseases (powdery mildew and phylloxera) destroyed vineyards in Italy and France, the demand for Dalmatian wine led to an incredible undertaking: in Brela, even the smallest, poorest crevice of land (škrip) was cleared to plant vines.

Today, these dry stone walls are a monument to another time, to human strength, and to the inseparable bond between man and stone.

Small glossary for visitors:
Crljenica: Typical red soil rich in iron, precious in the karst.
Škrip: A narrow crevice or hollow in the rock where a small amount of soil has settled.
Težak: A man engaged in hard physical labor in the fields, a symbol of Dalmatian endurance.