I visited Stari Grad Off-Season Wearing a Red Vintage Dress
Every visit to Stari Grad on island Hvar feels like a great privilege. Is there a more perfect city for a history lover? When in Stari Grad, I sometimes feel like yelling: "Happy 2 400th birthday, dear Stari Grad! Many happy returns!". Maybe I should yell: "Happy 4 000th birthday!" because this area has been populated by Neolithic tribes thousands of years ago. Still, when it comes to urban life it is around 2400 years old. I love history because it both inspires and humbles us. I love literature, art and fashion for the very much the same reason. There is so much to learn from art and history. There are so many questions to be asked about who we are as humans, about what we had been, about our struggles through time, about what we aspire to be and what we could become. Everything is interconnected, history and fashion, fashion and art, and art and history.
It is said that history is the best teacher, but I think that depends on the learner as well. History can be a great teacher. However, it's also all about how you approach history. It is important to handle history with care and respect. Appreciating and loving history is not just about visiting famous sights, monuments and touristic hotspots, collecting places and locations like fast fashion items to be discarded when there is a new trend. Loving history is not playing the numbers game, competing about how many old places you visited or not. Loving history is opening our eyes to marvels around us. You can love history without ever leaving your home, or by doing research in your local library. Yesterday can be just as fascinating as something that happened thousands of years ago. In fact, the two can be connected. Scroll down and see me get philosophical as Stari Grad inspires a philosopher in me.
Yesterday is history as well. However, if you have a change to explore an ancient historical city, why not go for it? Especially, if you are a history lover. In that sense, Stari Grad is an absolute dream. If you have been my reader since I started this blog, you'd know that I have always blogged about Stari Grad. I painted Stari Grad, I photographed it and I wrote about it. I showed you the best bays in its vicinity. Ever since I first stepped foot into it, Stari Grad captured my heart, my imagination and my mind. I will leave the links to my previous post scattered around this post, and perhaps also at one place, but let's talk a bit about this particular visit. For I certainly enjoyed it.
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| This red vintage dress makes me feel like an ancient Greek lady! |
We strolled around the city. We took some photographs in its narrow streets and gorgeous squares. We took some photographs on a slightly flooded promenade. Not fully flooded fortunately. We admired the views, the boats, the sky. It was cold, windy and it was rainy, but I did not mind. Not at all. Finally, we stopped for a cup of coffee at a local cafe. Shouts out to it for it is the only espresso place that we found opened 'Molo Misto'. It is right opposite the Renaissance castle villa Tvrdalj. You can't miss it. I'll show you more photographs later on. Anyhow, the reason why we couldn't find anything open was not just because it is off season, but because there was a flooding situation and they were still dealing with the aftermath of it. These images were taken before the Spring started. Not that it is much warmer now, if anything it is colder. I do have my hopes up for this weekend. I hope it will get warmer.
Some quotes by Renaissance poet Petar Hektorović
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| A collage of photographs taken at Molo Misto coffee shop (I'll share more photographs of it later) |
I always love coming back to Stari Grad. Even when its famous promenade is flooded. Even when it is colder than you expected. Even when it rains. Even in Winter. Perhaps especially in Winter. There is something magical about the winter sea. Winter sea is a special kind of a feeling. There is an Italian song that I simply adore that captures this feeling. I might translate it in this post, but first we need to talk the 'Stari Grad' talk some more. I said that numbers should never be a competition. I truly believe that the history of yesterday is as fascinating as that of eons ago. The beauty of history to me is connecting it all.
I love Stari Grad because I can literally feel the history as I walk its streets. It is not the only city that has that effect on me. I might just have that historical sensitivity, affinity or whatever you call it. Seeing history with my own eyes is a great joy to me.
I do not see historical sights as something to "collect". I'm not that kind of tourist. I'm mostly a local tourist, but I think that point of view can be applied to everything. Even if you are a local tourist there are ways to can be more friendly to the local community and more sustainable. There is always a way to better one's actions. I'm trying to improve myself in this sense.
I write a lot about sustainability on my blog and it's mostly because it gives me joy. I love appreciating things from a less consumerist and more sustainable point of view. There is a real beauty in visiting touristy places in Winter or early Spring. In doing your own thing, finding your own path. In showing love to touristy places outside of the touristy season. In choosing not be to a fair-feathered friend to some location. In choosing sustainable tourism.
Stari Grad (or any other place for that matter) is not a trophy for me, a place where I will snap some pictures, hang them on social media to brag or whatever. Stari Grad is a place where I come back to. It is a place where I went after a long day at work to listen to Tonči Tadić, a renowned physicist and nuclear energy expert in a local library last February. Do you known what? His lecture on energy fusion was fascinating. The doctor, who happens to be from Stari Grad, spoke in Stari Grad dialect (or better to say idiom). I didn't know that you can talk about energy fusion in a local idiom. I didn't know these specific scientific terms existed in our dialect, let alone an idiom specific to one city.
Obviously, I have a lot to learn about dialects and idioms, even if I'm a language teacher. I did know that every village and city on island Hvar had its own idiom. I just didn't realize how rich they were. We live and we learn. I also have a lot to learn about energy fusion. It is a fascinating field. I first heard serious talks about it almost twenty years ago. Seeing those talks come to life is reassuring. Maybe we will find a sustainable energy source after all. Maybe there is some hope for humanity.
Anyhow, after some googling, I found that another thing that this physicist Tonči Tadić has been quite outspoken about is the government corruption and their 'sale' of this island. I couldn't agree more with him on this subject.
So much of Croatia has been sold to foreign companies that drain our country of both its money and resources. None of that money actually stays in Croatia. These foreign companies invest nothing and take everything. It's an absolute disgrace and benefits nobody except a handful of people or in some cases one rich individual.
It does not benefit the tourists eithers, for there is no authentically in these kind of international tourist companies or chains. I mean it is alright to have a couple of international hotel chains for a specific type of tourists that will always stay in them, but to sell concessions and land left and right is absolutely insane and demented- or maybe just calculated and evil. Whatever it is, it is not good.
This does not apply only to Croatia, but to you own country and every place under the sun. I hope that in the future a more ethical and sustainable approach to tourism will be adopted globally. However, we have to live what we preach first. If you preach sustainable tourism and fashion, live it yourself first. Support the sustainable tourism and fashion, small business owners, artisans and artist. Think about the places you are visiting. Really think. Think about the people who live there.
My point is that Stari Grad is a city that still lives. It has its history, but also its present. I feel that with tourism we sometimes forget that. We chase the numbers game. The number of likes. The prestige of this and that. It is all nonsense. What is the point of travelling all the time if you have no heart and soul for the places you're visiting? If the destination you're visiting is just something you're consuming, you're the one who is consumed by your own greed.
It is not just about tourism. It can be applied to everything. The modern consumerist and materialistic lifestyle is literally sucking life out of people. Fast fashion is only one manifestation of it. Fast tourism is just another manifestation of it. Art being used as a status symbol or for money laundering is yet another manifestation of it. The core issue is the same: materialism. The cure is the same: grow some heart and soul. It is hard but worthwhile. Find some interest above the pursuit for material things. That is what I need to remind myself, too. How important can anything material be?
There is freedom in knowing that you don't have to do what everyone else is doing. You don't have to buy what everyone else is buying. You can try to figure out what really works for you. Usually, it is something specific to you, something that changes with time and grows with you. But, you must let it grow. I must let it grow. We all must cultivate the flower of our individuality. You cannot water it with materials things. You really can't. I'm sure many have tried, but all have failed. I'm sure I have tried it, too. I tried looking for security in the pursuit of materials things. However, there is no security to be found there. You have to be human. You have to feel. You have to rise above the pursuit of material things.
How to write about touristy place without exploiting it? Well, by taking the time to really learn about it or to get to know it. I'm sure there are other ways to do it. I don't have all the answers, just some suggestions. I too was once very young, and wanted to visit the 'it' places because they were 'it' places. Hopefully, at forty years old, I'm a bit more mature than that. No matter how old some place is, it is also exists in the now. When we appreciate the history, we must also respect the present. This is something that I need to remind myself every day as well. As much as I love old and ancient history, I also have a duty to the present. That being said, let's talk ancient and modern history of this city!
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| Any dress that makes you want to spin is the dress to wear! |
Yes, Stari Grad is two and a half millennium old. It is indeed a very old city. So old that it shares its birthday with Aristotle. Founded by ancient Greek colonizers from island Faros, Stari Grad can boost with an immensely complex and beautiful cultural history. Among Croatian cities, Stari Grad is unique in many ways, but it is not nearly the oldest. It is the oldest among Croatian island cities for sure.
I don't know if you know that Croatia has over a thousand islands, around forty of them are inhabited. There is another city on island Vis that is also ancient, although not as ancient as Stari Grad. Some sources say that Vis is older than Stari Grad, but I don't see the point in arguing as both of them are very close in age. Both of them are ancient cities founded by ancient Greeks. The two of them are historical champions among Croatian island cities. However, the oldest city in Croatia is Vinkovci and this city is believe it or not more than eight millenniums old.
No place in Croatia can beat Vinkovci's '8 300 of continuous habitation' record. Vinkovci definitely earned their title as the oldest Croatian city. Many places in Croatia have monuments and ruins, sometimes thousands of years old simply because this area was habited since the very beginning of human civilisation as we know it. It is not just Croatia, of course. Southern part of Europe gave birth to many a civilisation and was very attractive to various civilization for various reasons. Before the golden age of Mediterranean civilizations, they were other civilization. Before the Greeks arrived to this island, there were Illyrians. The Illyrians remained after the Greek arrival as well. The Illyrians remained after the Slavic arrival as well. Illyrians are still here in a way. As modern DNA research reveals, all of us living in these parts of the world where Illyrians lived have Illyrian blood. However, I digress. My point is that every place on this planet is historical. Everywhere you point your finger on a map, historical communities and people have lived. Real life. Real stories.
As I have blogged about Stari Grad a number of times. However, I'm still learning about it myself. There is so much to learn. So much to wonder at. Under these stone pawed streets, there are original Greek ruins. The fully preserved Unesco protected fully preserved Greek field is in vicinity as well. Such rich cultural heritage to be found everywhere around. There are numerous Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque churches, palaces and houses to be found.
Stari Grad had been inhabited by Neolithic tribes since around four thousand year ago. It has been home to ancient Illyrian tribes. Ancient Greeks have found their home there, and after them the ancient Romans. After ancient Roman, there were Slavic tribes. What followed was the Croatian Kingdom. At one point in history, the Croatian population of Stari Grad asked Venetian Republic for protection against the pirates. So, for a while Stari Grad was a part of Venetian Republic. At some point, the French lead by Napoleon won these territories. After a while, they were replaced by Kingdom of Dalmatia that became a part of Austro-Hungarian Empire.
So many changes happened in the twentieth century as well. The twentieth century was as dynamic on this island as in the rest of Europe. Finally, in the nineties there was another war. So many happened in this city. It saw sea trade and prosperity, but also wars and hardships. It blossomed in Renaissance, it suffered in centuries that follow. The history of Stari Grad and the area surrounding it is fascinating to say the least. To find out more, feel free to visit my old posts about Stari Grad.
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| Here is a gif of me twirling in this red vintage dress! |
How many times have I blogged about Stari Grad?
I browsed my blog arhives and I found thirty posts about Stari Grad. Isn't that amazing? I took some time to arrange the links and now you can visit these old Stari Grad post if you want. Ready, steady, go!
1. You can visit this 2020 late Summer post to stroll Stari Grad streets with me. In this post, I posed in my iconic grey dress paired with a red sailor bag bought from a local seamstress. You can also see the historical Shipyard square in this post. I mean you can also see it in this post, but you might want to have another look to see how it looks bathed in sunshine.
Full link address: https://modaodaradosti.blogspot.com/2020/10/a-neutral-grey-dress-for-visit-to-stari.html
2. In this Summer 2020 post, you can visit Stari Grad Unesco protected plain with me and learn a thing or two about its history. I also snapped some pictures of a small helicopter and airplane that landed there. I don't know who they belong to. Island Hvar does not have a real airport. It is more an airfield that small airplanes use to land. There are a couple of airports near island Hvar, the nearest two are Split city airport and Brač airport. Brač island has a proper International airport, fully functional and all that.
Full link address: https://modaodaradosti.blogspot.com/2020/10/visit-stari-grad-plain-fully-preserved.html
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| My oil painting of saint Stephen church in Stari Grad above, my acrylic mini painting below |
2. It was build on a site of an older church dating back to ninth or tenth century.
3. It was was severely damaged by Ottoman attack in 1571.
4. The Bell Tower was completed in 1753.
5. In the base of the bell tower there are Roman ruins dating back to 2nd century BC.
6. The church was build from stone brought from island Korčula which oxides over time. This oxidation gives the stone its signature reddish brown colour.
7. The church is a three- nave basilica with a squire apse. It is build in a Dalmatian Baroque style.
8. The main portal on the facade is the work of master Ivan Pomerich (Pomerić) from island Korčula.
9. The Church holds several valuable works of art. The most notable work of art is a triptych depicting Saint Mary, Saint John The Baptist and St. Jerome, a work of Venetian master Francesco Gelomano de Santacroce.
10. On the outside of the church, you can find a stone relief of Eros, dating back to times when Stari Grad was an ancient Greek city.
Should I paint this church again? What other parts of Stari Grad should I paint? I painted several of its bays. I painted this church twice. Now, maybe the third time will be the charm. I do love its brownish, yellowish and reddish stone. The reason why this stone on church of Saint Stephen has this signature colour is because it was built with stone that oxides. I imagine it will be continue to change its colour. How fascinating! Wait, isn't that what every painter dreams of? A colour that changes with time?
When speaking about Stari Grad history, some names always pop up for example Renaissance aristocrat and writer Peter Hektorović. Well, it is next to his Tvrdalj Castle that we set for a cup of coffee in Molo Misto coffee shop. It was too cold to sit outside and the bar is kind of small. However, there is upper floor. When we climbed the upper floor we were rewarded with a beautiful view to castle Tvdalj. Not only that, but we had the whole floor to ourselves as there was literally nobody there. I really liked the bright coloured walls. I think they kind of matched my dress. So, I posed for a few photographs on the window seat. I enjoyed the view a lot. Looking at these photographs, I'm getting ancient lady vibes. Maybe it is the combination of having my hair up (and braided) with a red satin cord to secure it and a red vintage dress with ruffles. It is definitely an appropriate look for a visit to such a historical city, isn't it?
Let us quote some ancient Greek wisdom and celebrate Aristotle, who shares a birthday with Stari Grad. You can read the complete works of Aristotle here.
The reasons why the primary body is eternal and not subject to increase or diminution, but unaging and unalterable and unmodified, will be clear from what has been said to any one who believes in our assumptions. Our theory seems to confirm experience and to be confirmed by it. For all men have some conception of the nature of the gods, and all who believe in the existence of gods at all, whether barbarian or Greek, agree in allotting the highest place to the deity, surely because they suppose that immortal is linked with immortal and regard any other supposition as inconceivable. If then there is, as there certainly is, anything divine, what we have just said about the primary bodily substance was well said. The mere evidence of the senses is enough to convince us of this, at least with human certainty. For in the whole range of time past, so far as our inherited records reach, no change appears to have taken place either in the whole scheme of the outermost heaven or in any of its proper parts. The common name, too, which has been handed down from our distant ancestors even to our own day, seems to show that they conceived of it in the fashion which we have been expressing. The same ideas, one must believe, recur in men’s minds not once or twice but again and again. And so, implying that the primary body is something else beyond earth, fire, air, and water, they gave the highest place a name of its own, aither, derived from the fact that it ‘runs always’ for an eternity of time. * Aristotle, On The Heavens (Translated by J.L. Stocks).
Both men gave way to grief. Priam wept freely
For man - killing Hector, throbbing, crouching
Before Achilles' feet as Achilles wept himself,
Now for his father, now for Patroclus once again
And their sobbing rose and fell throughout the house.”
this war and then be free from age and death
forever, I would never choose to fight
or join the champion fighters at the front,
nor would I urge you to participate
In war where men win glory. But in fact,
a million ways to die stand all around us.
No mortal can escape or flee from death.
So let us go.”
The Iliad
I remember reading Petar Hektorović's epic Fishing and Fishermen's Talk and wondering at how temporary it seemed. I could imagine myself as one of the fishermen with him. The descriptions of the fishing, the sea voyage, the people from Stari Grad. So little has changed in some ways and so much in others.
Some information about this epic, cited from wiki ( where you can find more information ): Fishing and Fishermen's Talk (Croatian: Ribanje i ribarsko prigovaranje), also translated as Fishing and Fishermen's Conversations is the most important literary work of Croatian Renaissance poet Petar Hektorović, finished on January 14, 1556, and printed in 1568 in Venice. Ribanje is a pastoral and philosophic narrative poem in three parts in which Hektorović describes in a letter to his cousin, his three-day boat trip from Hvar to Brač and Šolta, accompanied by a pair of Hvar fishermen, Paskoje Debelja and Nikola Zet. As a literary piece Ribanje has been variously classified in Croatian literary history as an epistle, as a fishermen eclogue or epic poem, and at other times as a documentary travelogue.
The Shipyard Square dating to seventieth century - a place where boats used to be built!
The bold red ruffled vintage dress (gifted to me by my aunt)
The high brown leather riding boots (Peko, but so old)
1) here with a leather jacket and a midi skirt.
2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9) Here in this post, you can see me wearing them with 8 outfits.
The high brown leather boots illustrated You can see how I illustrated this pair of leather high boots by following the links below: HIGH BROWN BOOTS - HERE & HERE &HERE and most recently HERE!
The Iliad
That would be all today. This post took me a long time to research, compose and write. Thank you for reading!
Lindos atuendos y bellos dibujos. Te mando un beso.
ReplyDeleteGracias!
DeleteThat Collage Series Of Photos Rocks !!
ReplyDeleteWell Done ,
Cheers