gleaming

Pučišća (Italian: Pucischie) is a coastal town on the northern side of the Island of Brač, Croatia. It is often listed as one of the prettiest villages in Europe and is known for its white lime stone and a beautiful bay.

 

Many of the buildings are built with local stone, and so are the numerous monuments which adorn the town, giving the village its distinctive gleaming white look. It was a privilege of the aristocrats and the stone masons to live at the waterfront of Pučišća. This, and the easy access to the white lime stone from the local quarries, gave Pučišća its look. The houses at the waterfront were spacious and wealthy and the higher you climb up the hill, the smaller the historic houses become. The photo shows one of such historic quarters in Pučišća, built uphill around the small church of St. Lucia (to the left). The houses have been lived in to this day.

 

Pure white limestone that was used to build the White House in Washington D.C. also came from the quarries near Pučišća on Brač. Long before that, the same white stone was harvested by the slaves of fourth-century Roman Emperor Diocletian and transported to Split to build his palace. The high quality Brač stone was also used to build the houses of parliament in both Budapest and Vienna as well as many other important buildings throughout Europe. In Croatia, the most significant buildings made of Brač stone are the Palace of Diocletian, the Cathedral of St James in Sibenik and the Cathedral of St Lawrence in Trogir, which have all been under World Heritage (UNESCO) protection.

 

The whole dynasties of famous Croatian stone masons were educated at the quarry near Pučišća during the Renaissance and Baroque period. The only school of stone masonry in Croatia is situated in Pučišće and the school has been successfully active for more than a century.

 

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