Exploring Croatia: Building a Dry Stone Wall in Brela

Last Saturday, the Brela Tourist Board and the Dragodid Association coordinated a Dry Stone Walling Workshop along the French Road in Brela, Croatia. I joined the event and below is a summary.

Filling the dry stone wall with smaller stones. Brela, Croatia

I have no experience constructing a dry stone wall. I don’t think I thought about ever wanting to construct a dry stone wall before moving to Croatia.

But here I am, living my Adriatic adventure. Seems it involves learning about dry stone walls.

And so, last Saturday morning, I joined several volunteers on an Adriatic adventure twenty minutes from Makarska. 

The adventure: building a dry stone wall along the French Road in Brela.

A VERY Brief History on the French Road

Between 1808-1813, the French constructed a road along the historical region of Dalmacija - from Obrovac to Boka Kotorska. Today this road is known as “Napoleon's Road" or the "French Road.”

The French Road. Brela, Croatia

According to one of the interpretation boards on the road, the French Road over Brela was laid out on the steep slope of Mount Biokova, between 357.41 and 443.73 meters above sea level. Its incline does not exceed 6%, intended to make it accessible for traveling on horse carts, horseback, and foot.

Due to the French military withdrawal, the road, made up of dry stone walls, was never finished.

And so it seems, a lot of stones were left unturned.

Yes, I am aware of how cheesy that comment sounds.

There’s more to the story, but that’s it for the French Road history lesson.

Dry Stone Walling

So what is dry stone walling?

According to the UNESCO website, the art of dry stone walling concerns the know-how related to making stone constructions by stacking stones upon each other without using any other materials except sometimes dry soil. That means most dry stone walls have no binding material.

If you would like to know more, check out this video created by UNESCO:

Do A Few Hours Constructing a Dry Stone Wall Make Me An Expert?

On Saturday, I arrived at the Brela Fire Station (our meeting point) where I was greeted by Valentina, the Director of the Municipal Tourist Board of Brela, and several excited volunteers, ready to get our hands dirty (or rather, our gloves) and start constructing dry stone walls.

We made our way up to the French Road with the help of the Brela Fire Department. We were divided into three groups, made our way to three locations along the road, put on our gloves, and got to work!

Taking a break from dry stone walling. Brela, Croatia

For the next four hours, my group worked on constructing a section of a dry stone wall pictured in the photos.

We set a stable foundation, using stones in the vicinity, followed by layers of more stones. And eventually created an area with a dry stone wall.

Sounds simple.

It wasn't.

Moving the stones, organizing the stones, adjusting the stones, making sure the stones were stable, looking for a stone with a decent face, making sure the stones linked well, filling that gaps with smaller stones. All that took work. Physical work and mental work.

After taking part in this activity, I have a tremendous amount of respect for people who construct dry stone walls. It seems to be a lost art and I am glad that I got the chance to take part in learning more about it.

Thanks again to the Brela Tourist Board for coordinating this unique experience. And thanks to the Dragodid Association for leading the workshop.

Spending time working with my hands, out in nature, learning a new skill, and thinking about nothing but the task at hand was spectacular.

I look forward to doing it again!

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