Rucksacks and walking shoes....

We decided to give our cycle legs a rest today (Tuesday) and hiked 5km from our site at Loviste up to the abandoned village of Nakovana, the area being a historical site. The walk was quite straight forward so no risk of getting lost but it was all uphill to get there! Fortunately the weather wasn't too hot so the climb didn't take too long.

When we arrived, like many historical sites in Croatia (and other countries for that matter) it was very understated and with a complete lack of sign posting quite easy to miss!
We wandered around the buildings, some having been abandoned in the last twenty years and some obviously from hundreds of years ago. All stone built and lacking in any proper roads, just paths and tracks between the dwellings.

We peeked into the derelict houses and could see the old bread ovens built into the stone walls and we also found a millstone in situ but no obvious way it was turned.

I wonder how old this is?

When I got back I looked up on the internet a bit of history and the area has been inhabited for thousands of years, evidence of early Neolithic civilisation having been found in a cave in a nearby hillside. Because of it's archeological importance the cave can't be visited, there were hundreds of artefacts found in a hidden section. Centuries later the whole area was certainly an important one to the Illyrians, who ruled the area prior to being conquered by the Romans. The Grad hillfort, occupying the summit of a nearby outcrop, was an important centre of Illyrian power, and is thought
to be a possible power-base of the Illyrian queen Teuta, and a centre of resistance to Roman rule.
Even though the cave itself can’t be visited, the abandoned village of Nakovana, with its old stone houses and cobbled lanes, was a wonderful place to enjoy a stroll back in time.

Last night was a beautiful starlit night so we put the lights on our bikes and cycled along the village road to an unlit bay where we sat and listened to the gentle lapping of the sea looking up at the millions of stars, there are so many more stars when you get away from light pollution!
I wish I could take a photo of all those stars....