Tag: History

Čavoglave and Spring of Čikola

Čavoglave and Spring of Čikola

Alan - secretdalmatia

Many are the places we learned about from the war years of the 90s. Most of them in Slavonija but many in the hinterland of Dalmatia. One of such places was Čavoglave. cavoglave-006

Best known from the iconic song by Marko Perković “Thompson”, Čavoglave has became a symbol of war in Dalmatia and a popular destination for everyone celebrating the liberation of Croatia on August 5th.

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An old, 90s tank on its resting grounds on the entrance to Čavoglave

But, Čavoglave is also a place where one of the prettiest Dalmatian rivers starts its flwo to Krka river. Čikola is a very special river and has a dramatic canyon starting just south of Drniš. The river is 47,8 Km (cc 30 miles) long and is one of the longer Dalmatian rivers. I was always curious what the spring looks like and one of my goals is to drink from every spring of Dalmatian rivers.

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The river spring is not even in Čavoglave but at the very border of a small village of Mirlović Zagora. Of all Dalmatian rivers, I guess only Cetina has an impressive spring and all others are nowhere near as dramatic as the main flow. Krupa, Zrmanja, Čikola, Krčić… Nothing special.

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The spring is just below this house

The spring of Čikola is actually a small cave that is not easy to reach in Spring as there is quite a bit of water but there is a small path to it from the main, asphalted road.

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It is prettier if you actually go to the big house (former mill) at the water and that is easy to reach but you just ask the owners if they are around. The river flows right through the fields all  the way to Drniš and it is a gentle, easy flow through really beautiful pastures and meadows.

But, it is not good for drinking… The river spring is just below the houses where people actually live or rent them out and the septic system is simply (or most likely) connected to the spring. But, no matter what the spring looks like or the quality of water there, Čikola is still very clean and a very impressive river!

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Diomede’s Cape or Punta Planke

Diomede’s Cape or Punta Planke

Alan - secretdalmatia

Two kilometers south-east of Rogoznica, near the village of Ražanj, Cape Planka (or Punta Planke as locally known) is located. This very unique spot is also known to be a a geographical and climate divider of the north and south Adriatic. It is a place of strong  collision of north and south winds and sea currents.

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Some of the biggest waves of the Adriatic crash there and it is really a great experience to see all those waves crash over the tiny warning sea light and spraying the salty sea dust over the chapel located there.

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It was jugo (wind blowing from the South – ESE to SSE)  in the forecast just around New Years when I headed from Split to visit and take some photos. One should just drive to Ražanj and head in the direction of this point to find a trail that will eventually end next to the chapel.

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http://loverogoznica.eu/

The Chapel of St. John is a protected site of national heritage. This is a very basic little chapel with no decorations mixing pre-Romanesque tradition with Romanesque and Gothic features. It is oriented East-West and is rectangular in shape with a semicircular apse. The interior is also very basic and is typical to our coast. It also served as a good shelter while I was there shooting 🙂

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One of the miracles attributed to the Christian saint John, the bishop of Trogir from the 11th century is related to Cape Planka. According to a local legend, after the shipwreck by Cape Planka he walked on the waves and saved the lives of King Koloman and all the sailors. In memory of him and his miracles, a votive chapel was built back in 1324.

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Behind the chapel
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I also managed to see a beautiful kestrel battling strong winds!

In the distance, beautiful lighthouse Mulo can be seen enduring massive waves.

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It was built in 1873 and it was continuously inhabited till most recent days when it was completely automatized. Generations of lighthouse keepers and their families lived at this very unique spot. Today, there is no one to listen to massive waves slamming against the walls…

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Cape Planka is also called  Diomede’s Cape as it was first mentioned in the oldest preserved descriptions of the eastern Adriatic coast. Homer, in his work ‘Iliad’ reveals that after the Trojan war Diomedes himself, who was one of the greatest Greek heroes of the Trojan war, sailed around it. A Greek historian Timaeus, as early as in 4th century BC described the unusual weather circumstances that surround this cape. This specific description of weather conditions over the Diomede’s Cape belongs to the oldest descriptions of a meteorology phenomena in all of Europe.

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Diomedes and Athena attacking Ares

Diomede’s Cape was also mentioned by Greek scholar Eratosthenes in the 3rd century BC as well as Pliny the Elder in his ‘Naturalis Historia’, which was envisioned as a book about the whole natural world.

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Interesting history and a beautiful spot, Punta Planke is definitely worth visiting!

Lergina Gradina – Secret Dalmatia donation 2017

Lergina Gradina – Secret Dalmatia donation 2017

Alan - secretdalmatia

As our readers know, each year we donate funds to archaeology digs and last year, to a caving action saving bones of ancient bear and deer (https://secretcroatia.blog/2018/01/04/rescuing-the-bones-of-prehistoric-bear-and-deer/)
and our past funding made some serious discoveries few years back: https://secretcroatia.blog/2014/07/11/underwater-archaeology-in-croatia-with-secret-dalmatia/
This discovery is now fully supported by Ministry of Culture and local municipality but we still provide logistics support. It was time to move on and open some new stories.

So, when we asked where next, our friends recommended Lergina gradina near Slivnica: a tiny village just few miles from Posedarje in North Dalmatia.

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The fortress defense ring still visible

Why this hilltop and note some other? There are several hundred of hilltop towns in Croatia but this was convenient enough to Archaeology department of Zadar University we work with and it is also known that it has very little or almost no Roman traces on top of Liburnian settlement. A rare find!

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Velebit is just across the narrow channel

The gradina or hilltop fort, was a settlement or a refuge during the pre-roman period and some of them date back 4000 years. Most of the interesting ones are much younger and have been built by an ancient Liburinan tribe that lived in this area before Romans. After the Roman conquest, most of them were abandoned as people moved to towns during Pax Romana. Liburninas are still a mystery to us as very little is known about them. Very little written records, limited archaeology materials… so every excavation counts!

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The winter was very mild this past year so digging outdoors was simply a lot of fun. But also a lot of serious work. Students had a great practice in the field and abundance of great finds!

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Lergina gradina is a nicely preserved fortress of about 3,5 hectares in size and it had one section of really finely done carved rock wall. The wall was abandoned soon after it was started. Probably they all left for the city…

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Fine work on stone blocks for the wall
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The abandoned fine wall and later rough addition with some thorn branches to keep the sheep inside

The archaeologists excavated two ancient houses – better say remains – and found a plethora of really special finds:

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The seal on one of the amphora
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Amphora
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Carthage coin

There is a great number of coins from Carthage found on these shores of North Dalmatia and that is still a curiosity. Carthage always had horses on one side of their coins and there is a theory they got here through trade during Hanibal’s Second Punic War campaigns on Italian soil.

In general, lots of great finds and details on artifacts that will help give some answers but also give a lot of new questions!
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I got there just in time of the first break and the sheep were calmly eating grass among the students. Perfect harmony in a classical Dalmatian landscape.

So, this year we will repeat our donation for the same location as it seems that the archaeologists have found the chieftain’s home so it would be a pity not to explore it and see what stories newly dug artifacts will be telling us.