VISIT STARI GRAD PLAIN, A FULLY PRESERVED ANCIENT GREEK AGRICULTURAL AREA

October 19, 2020

My last post was from Stari Grad town but today I'm taking you to Stari Grad plain, a UNESCO protected area and a cultural good of Croatia. What is so amazing about Stari Grad plain? How about the fact that is a fully preserved ancient agricultural terrain. The agricultural activity in this field has been continuous for many centuries. When the Greek colonists came to Hvar island and settled in Stari Grad four centuries ago, they organized the plain according to their system. The land was divided into geometrical parches (chora) bounded by stone walls. The Greek system has been preserved through centuries by hard working families who respected the original stone walls and boundaries. The Stari Grad plain has not only remained fully preserved agricultural land four centuries later, the agriculture itself has remained the same. Grapes and olive trees are still main crops grown here. I wonder how those Greek colonizers would feel if they knew all their hard work would be preserved for centuries- and still exist today.

VISIT STARI GRAD PLAIN, A FULLY PRESERVED ANCIENT GREEK AGRICULTURAL AREA

#MODAODARADOSTI VISIT STARI GRAD PLAIN, A FULLY PRESERVED ANCIENT GREEK AGRICULTURAL AREA

STARI GRAD FIELD

Report from the official UNESCO site*:

Outstanding Universal Value

Stari Grad Plain represents a comprehensive system of land use and agricultural colonisation by the Greeks, in the 4th century BC. Its land organisation system, based on geometrical parcels with dry stone wall boundaries (chora), is exemplary. This system was completed from the very first by a rainwater recovery system involving the use of tanks and gutters. This testimony is of Outstanding Universal Value.

The land parcel system set up by the Greek colonisers has been respected over later periods. Agricultural activity in the chora has been uninterrupted for 24 centuries up to the present day, and is mainly based on grapes and olives.

The ensemble today constitutes the cultural landscape of a fertile cultivated plain whose territorial organisation is that of the Greek colonisation.

Criterion (ii): The land parcel system, dating from the 4th century BC, of Stari Grad Plain bears witness to the dissemination of the Greek geometrical model for the dividing up of agricultural land in the Mediterranean world.

Criterion (iii): The agricultural plain of Stari Grad has remained in continuous use, with the same initial crops being produced, for 2400 years. This bears witness to its permanency and sustainability down the centuries.

Criterion (v): The agricultural plain of Stari Grad and its environment are an example of very ancient traditional human settlement, which is today under threat from modern economic development, particularly from rural depopulation and the abandonment of traditional farming practices.

The Greek cadastral system has been fully respected during the continuous agricultural use of the plain, based on the same crops. This system is today perfectly identifiable, and has changed very little. Stari Grad Plain forms an agricultural and land use ensemble of great integrity. The authenticity of the Greek land division system known as chora is clearly in evidence throughout the plain. The built structures of the stone walls are authentic, with the same basic dry stone wall materials being used and reused since the foundation by the Greeks.

The setting up of the management plan and of the authority in charge of its application should enable the carrying out of a thorough programme of archaeological excavations, the fostering of sustainable agricultural development in the chora and the control of urban and tourism development in the vicinity of the property, with all due care being taken to ensure that its Outstanding Universal Value is respected.* Report from the official UNESCO site*:

OUTFIT DETAILS: CORD BELL BOTTOMS (old, worn here), SHIRT (second hand, a gift), DRIVING LOAFERS (old, also worn here)

HAPPENING ABOUT A SMALL POND

You never know what you will find wondering the Stari Grad plain. This time we happened on a little pond. We even saw a curious looking bird there, I'm not sure what species it belongs to, but it sure was beautiful.

VISIT THE AIRPORT LOCATED IN STARI GRAD PLAIN

There is also a small airport in Stari Grad plain. It's neither a major or an official airport, just a place where small planes and helicopters can land.