This excursion gets its own post because it was just that amazing.

The Dragon’s Cave is accessible only by hiking up a steep trail, with the one person in Croatia who has the key. Our guide, Zoran Kojdic, has been guarding, and guiding people through this cave, for 17 years.

We rose at 6:00 and drove to Split, an hour away, to catch the 7:30 a.m. catamaran to the island of Brac, where Zoran picked us up.

Our first stop was the old house of his grandparents, who now live with him and his family on the island.  This was Zoran’s home for the first five years of his life and   he remembers that time with great fondness.

A nearby house with a new red roof faces the one remaining wall of an old house.

We were now on our way to the cave. There are two paths to the cave, one quite steep, and one longer and less difficult. I was not sure how I would do on the steep  path. But unlike the longer path, it is mostly shaded, and given the heat (94 degrees at 9:30 in the morning) Zoran encouraged us to take it, so we did.

It was a very difficult climb for me, close to an hour with many stops to catch my breath, but we made it.

As we entered, Zoran explained to us that the Dragon’s Cave is a place that has been claimed by archeologists and by theologians. That is, there are competing explanations for the age of the carvings in the cave, who made them, what they mean, and so on. What is known is that the cave was used by monks in the 15th century. Archeologists, however, point to evidence that some of the carvings are as much as 1000 years older than that, and they suggest that these carvings were made by religious hermits who lived in the cave in isolation over a period of years.

Here are a few of the wonders of the cave.

Here’s a carving that I immediately responded to, to Zoran’s surprise.

What I said was  “It’s the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus”. What made me say this was the position of the two heads – the small one to the left of the larger one was so recognizable. Zoran was clearly impressed. I said: “I’ve seen a lot of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus in the last two months”.

Below, one of several small chambers that may have been used for meditation or prayer.

This is a very very special place.

The descent was long and hard, we were exhausted, and we had hours of travel ahead of us to get back to Trogir.

It was all totally worth it.