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Mrgari na Starošćini

The hilly landscape of southeastern Krk is impressively different from the predominantly flat and gently rolling rest of the island. Two rocky limestone plateaus stretch for kilometres above the fertile Baška valley, extending from the Treskavac pass towards the sea, from which the desolate island of Prvić and the Velebit mountain range eventually emerge. In this rugged landscape at an altitude of over 300 meters, stone borders of all shapes – from straight lines to impressive stone flowers known as mrgari – stretch and wind. Mrgari are the most striking example of the ancient dry stone walling technique of stacking one stone on top of another without the use of any binding material. These complex multicellular sheepfolds, each with a ground plan shaped like a large stone flower, majestically dominate the karst landscape on the plateaus above the Baška valley. They were constructed for the purpose of sorting the different owners’ sheep on common pastures (komunade). This rhapsody in stone is credited to the shepherds from the Baška valley, but not all of them. They were built only by the shepherds from Baška, Batomalj, and Jurandvor, while those from Draga Bašćanska used a different method of sheep farming. Mrgari are rare and unique in the world, as well as fragile, and together with numerous forms of dry stone construction, they form the distinctive cultural landscape of the Baška basin. There are 15 of them in total: five on the southwestern and five on the northeastern plateau, whilst five of them are located on the island of Prvić.