Croatian Travel: Brac Island

The Stone Island of Brac

Brac is central Dalmatia’s largest island and the third largest in the Adriatic Sea. Located near the city of Split on the mainland, Brac is accessible by car ferry, fast boat, or air. It is home to several major high-class resorts as well as some quiet, sleepy little fishing villages. The main draw of Brac is its continuous sun which makes it the ideal location for vacationing throughout the year, but there is quite a heavy breeze which can make for bad hair days.

Caves near the town of Supetar show signs that the island was inhabited by Neolithic peoples, but the first recorded inhabitants of the area were the Illyrians. The Illyrians built a fort in the tiny village of Skrip to protect themselves from the Greeks, but in 167 BC the Romans took over the fort and began building their own summer homes on the island, many of which still exist today.

Brac is mainly known for its stark white stone and it is still the island’s main export material. In fact, Diocletian’s Palace in Split and the White House in Washington D.C. were both built using stone quarried from this small island. Other popular exports include wine, olive oil, almonds, figs, and sour cherries.

The island itself offers some of the most dramatic and breathtaking landscapes in the Mediterranean with steep cliffs, rocky coastlines, and beautiful pine trees. If you are interested in exploring the underwater beauty that surrounds the island, you can enjoy some wonderful diving off the southwestern coast near the town of Bol.