Brač

The island of Brač rises from the Adriatic opposite the Dalmatian mainland, its coves and settlements set below the heights of Vidova Gora. Its pale limestone has long been prized by builders, and the quarries around Pučišća became a center of stoneworking. In the Renaissance, stone from the island was used in the construction of Šibenik Cathedral, while local masons carried their craft to other towns along the coast.

On Brač's southern slopes, caves sheltered a different kind of community. In the middle of the 16th century priests from Poljica, fleeing Ottoman rule on the mainland, settled in the cave of Ljubitovica. There they established the hermitage of Blaca, gradually building a monastery among the steep rocks. Its fields and pastures supported the community, whose life joined prayer with the cultivation of the surrounding land.