On the southern slopes of Brač, beneath steep cliffs descending towards the sea, lies the Blaca Hermitage – a unique monument to human perseverance, faith, and knowledge. This remarkable site was founded in the 16th century, when Glagolitic priests from Poljica, fleeing the Ottomans, found refuge in the inaccessible rocky gorges. There they built a modest hermitage, which over the centuries grew into a monastery, a cultural, and a scientific center.
Although called a “hermitage,” Blaca was never just a solitary retreat – it was a place of full life. The monks cultivated the land, planted vineyards and olive groves, built farm buildings, and safeguarded valuable collections. Out of nothing, they created an economy that sustained the monastery and the wider community.
What especially fascinates visitors is the wealth of objects carefully preserved over centuries: period furniture, musical instruments such as a piano, works of art, a library with thousands of volumes, a collection of old weapons and clocks, and even a telescope used by the priests to observe the night sky. All this testifies that Blaca was not only a place of prayer and work, but also a window into the world of science and art.
Today, the Blaca Hermitage functions as a museum and an essential cultural attraction of Brač. Visitors reach it by hiking trails through rocky terrain and olive groves, and the reward for their effort is an unforgettable encounter with a place where silence, history, and human creativity intertwine.
Blaca is more than a stone monastery – it is a story of human endurance and faith, of harmony between nature and culture, of a heritage that continues to inspire centuries later.
