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Old villages, Snake Stone, Arthur, Poljica Circle and Perun – 5 cycling roads in Podstrana where legends become reality
Author: Alma Radoš
Start an unforgettable day in Podstrana with hot coffee in port Strožana. You are in Dalmatia, the time has a different dimension here and socializing in cafes with your favourite beverage is a part of daily ritual. Nevertheless, it doesn’t mean that you should give up active vacation.
With dynamic contents for hiking, cycling and climbing tours and attractive climbing sites for adrenaline addicts, Podstrana is an excellent choice for recreationists and athletes, and Strožanac is the starting point of all five cycling roads of imaginative names: Old Villages (Stara Sela), Snake stone (Zmijski kamen), Arthur, Poljica Circle (Poljički krug) and Perun.
On each one of them you will encounter an unusual mixture of history and the present, legends and reality. In Strožanac you will discover valuable archaeological locality, while a little further to Žrnovnica you are going to find out everything about Proto-Slavic gods and goddesses. If you are a fan of popular Game of Thrones do not miss a ride around deserted quarry Perun’s Heal and excursion site Antonica’s Mill; localities where fourth season of this spectacular series was filmed.
On the slopes of Primorska kosa (a montanious ridge parallel to the coast) you will experience unusual ambience and beauty of eco-village Gornja Podstrana, Old Village Jesenice and Duće, while you can find out all about rich history of Poljica Principality at the foot of Podgradac hill. There, from belvedere next to church of St Jure – Poljica’s patron- you can enjoy in magnificent view of mouth of the Cetina River.
You can discover rich classical-antiquity and medieval heritage by visiting a historical locality in Sveti Martin, a place where the castle of Croatian prince Mislav was located, next to a church. In this church Roman general Lucius Atorius Castus was buried – of which testifies his tombstone. Nothing special, you would say; only if it wasn’t – according to some research – the very King Arthur!
It seems that these kind of stories and rich tourist tradition of Podstrana intrigue and attract all the more guests. Therefore, this year will end in record numbers of arrivals and overnights. In the first 10 months more than 500 000 overnights and over 102 000 arrivals have been registered. This is 16% increase in overnights and 12 % in arrivals.
These great numbers are due also to numerous manifestations among which is Recreational MTB Marathon ”Perun 2017”. It is 12 km long and is held in late January. Come and be a part of this beautiful story.
Foto: Tz Podstrana
This post is also available in: Croatian
