LegendTours – Ethno Village “Dolovi”
In the mystical region of Upper Poljica, just underneath the unwavering, majestic Mosor mountain and surrounded by lush, green waters of river Cetina, there hides a small, magical hamlet of Dolovi. It seems as if time stands still there.
We invite you to join us in a time-travel adventure in Dolovi! Explore the secrets of the ancient Principality of Poljica: its history, traditional culture, the old way of life and understanding of the world of its inhabitants.
While enjoying a welcome aperitif (a selection of homemade Dalmatian brandies), get to know the fascinating history of The Principality of Poljica – an autonomous, self-governing community which practiced a specific type of political “peasant democracy” from the Middle Ages. It managed to preserve its autonomy for eight centuries, up until the beginning of the nineteenth century when Napoleon dismantled it. The Principality of Poljica played an important role in defending Dalmatian territory against Turkish attacks and overreach.
The most important historical source for studying The Principality of Poljica is The Poljica Statute – one of the oldest and most unique Croatian and European medieval legal statutes. Some scholars speculate that the first drafts of The Poljica Statute were possibly written as early as the eleventh century. The oldest preserved text of the Statute dates back to the fifteenth century. The Poljica Statute has altogether 116 articles. Its writers and the conceptual originators were most probably the glagolitic priests who played an important intellectual role in Poljica’s history: they were the educators and the gatekeepers of Poljica’s cultural heritage.
The Poljica Statute determined the laws, customs and socio-economic relations of The Principality of Poljica and it was very different from other Croatian medieval statutes. It was written in the Croatian cyrillic script called poljičica – one of the three regional versions of the Croatian cursive Cyrillic script, which was used in the Principality of Poljica and in the central Dalmatia region from the fifteenth until the nineteenth century. Poljičica has been recently included on The List of protected cultural heritage of the Republic of Croatia. For all of its peculiarities, The Poljica Statute is a fascinating and very important Croatian cultural monument that has been (and still is) extensively studied by Croatian and foreign scholars.
After the historical introduction, find out how the old residents of the Upper Poljica region lived their everyday lives by exploring The Heritage Museum of Upper Poljica, which is set up in the three hundred years old stone hearth-houses. The museum contains a couple of valuable historical documents and more than two hundred authentic artifacts that were used in everyday life.
Relish in homemade Dalmatian wine, prosciutto, cheese and in The Poljica’s Soparnik (zeljanik, uljanik) – famous traditional delicacy of the Poljica region that dates back to the times of The Principality of Poljica. The Poljica’s Soparnik is registered at the List of protected cultural goods of the Republic of Croatia and it has been awarded a protected geographical indication at the European Union.
Enjoy beautiful, rustic atmosphere of the old stone houses, hearths, stables and traditional Dalmatian dry stone walls, while letting yourself be swept away by the ancient sounds of Poljica’s and other Croatian traditional instruments: different types of Croatian bagpipes, shepard flutes, gusle (a bowed, single-stringed instrument traditionally played in the Dinarides region of Southeastern Europe) and lijerica (a bowed, pear-shaped, traditional Croatian instrument played in some parts of southern Dalmatia and eastern Herzegovina). We will also demonstrate traditional male and female shepard singing styles specific to the Upper Poljica region called ojkavica, rera and kirijanje, as well as our traditional dance called Poljičko kolo, while wearing our beautiful male and female traditional folk costumes.
Later in the evening we will stage an old Slavic ritual midsummer solstice bonfire inside the old stone circle threshing floor called guvno. The midsummer solstice bonfire was called Cvitnjak in Upper Poljica. People have gathered around this bonfire for centuries, for religious, healing and social (celebratory) purposes. You will learn all about Cvitnjak’s ancient customs and beliefs and after that, with everybody gathered around the magnificent bonfire, we will take you through the spellbinding worlds of the old folk legends, mythical and supernatural stories from the rich oral tradition of Upper Poljica.