Today is the second birthday of Secret Dalmatia blog and we will celebrate it by posting a very exclusive information!

(It is good idea to play that X files theme while reading this…)

As I am passionate amateur historian and amateur archaeologist, I spend a lot of time hiking and exploring the Dalmatian islands and hinterland. In the past several years I have been focusing on sacred geometry as, it appears to me, there is much more interesting and fairly complex knowledge hidden behind the ruins and Roman reports on Illyria (as the region was called in the Roman times). Since I recently met Domagoj in Imotski who is a specialist in “hidden Illyria”, many things started falling in their places and a more clear picture is emerging.

Then, few months back, while marking some spots on Google Earth, I found a very interesting structure…

And this is some 5 km from where I live!
I spoke to some archaeologists and experts but no one ever heard of this place or had any knowledge about it. It is located just above the tiny village of Raštane Donje and under a very important archaeological site called Vrcevo (the wooded hill nearby – on the picture)

So, I called some of my archaeologists friends and invited them for a field trip and to report the find.

The structure is best seen on the aerial photos and satellite images showing a rectangular shape with piles of rocks positioned in a fairly regular manner. The mainstream archaeology teaches us that the hilltop structures were refuges for people and sheep and, in some cases, maybe temples of worship. The trouble is that we have a very small number of written records on Liburnians, Delmats and other “Illyrian” tribes that lived here and we basically know nothing of their way of life, religion…and have no idea how they lived!

But, once you reach this spot, you will see large irregular rocks (and many are actually carved and shaped!) marking the surrounding walls and even my friends were surprised how big most of them were! Yes, 200 kg rocks are quite common in this wall. … and don’t tell me it was for sheep!
If I lived back than, and my tribesmen and I had to carry these huge rocks from the bottom of the hill, I swear I would rather have lamb stew every day til I have no more sheep than create something this massive to protect them! Especially with limited resources and knowledge – as they are teaching us the Liburnians had.
Although in poor shape, the walls are still very impressive! Not like the famous walls of Asseria but …

So I turned to more “alternative” views and tried to match this formation to the stars (well, used the constelations from 2000 years ago), tried extending the lines that go through… and still no results in connecting it to the monuments in the region. (work in progress!). There is also a problem in dating this place…

But I also spoke to Domagoj about it and he believes it must be a temple and, being under Vrčevo hill, he made a very interesting observation: Vrčevo is likely to be Vračevo (of magus)! This Vrčevo hill has been known in local folklore to be the Hill of Witches. Probably pointing out to some knowledge that common folk could not understand.

So, REAL! Secret Dalmatia 😉