How the sea and Biokovo shaped the most beautiful beaches
The gravitational processes on the steep slopes of Biokovo along with the occasional heavy floods contributed to the transport of material and its deposition at the foot of the mountain. The waves and currents destroyed the depositions and wore them into round fragments, which they then carried and deposited on the shore. Thus the mountains and the sea jointly shaped the unique shingle beaches, for which the Makarska Littoral is renowned.
Passageway of Happiness
A stone arch covered with earth and trees, which the locals dubbed „The Passageway of Happiness“, was once a recognisable symbol of Podgora located at Sutikla. It was destroyed in the earthquake in 1962, but you can still walk down the same happy road, which will undoubtedly bring a smile to your face.
The legend of Thecla
According to legend, the first grave on the cape of St. Thecla was that of a girl name Thecla who died on a sailboat. Her grieving father refused to honour the old tradition of sailors by throwing his only daughter into the sea. While sailing near Podgora, he found a place for her repose – St. Thecla’s Tip (“punta“). The vista reminded him of a ship and the cypress trees of masts.
Copper coins and luck
Until the mid-20th century, it was customary to bury a couple of copper coins in the ground beneath the threshold of a house when it was built. It was believed that this would bring longevity to the house and happiness to its residents. This is why many Venetian soldos and gazzettas, which are copper coins bearing the inscription DALMA ET ALBA (17. i 18. st.), have been preserved to this day.
About the drywalls
The fact that the drywalls – stone walls that cascade down the cliffs of Biokovo towards the sea – remained intact in 1962 during one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded in Croatia, is a testament to their quality. The drywalls enclosed the manually cultivated olive, vine, almond, walnut, lemon, orange, mandarin, carob and fig plantations. In order to make the most of the steep karst terrains, the farmers left holes in the drywalls to allow the vines to grow.
About the water sources
Podgora has been continuously inhabited since the earliest historic periods due to its abundant water sources. The exact number of water sources and streams in Podgora is not known, however records indicate that they drove as much as 24 watermills in the first half of the 20th century. You can still see the cracks, which were probably caused by earthquakes, in many of the enclosed and well-maintained water sources.