Nevistina Stina – The Bride’s Rock

A girl from the Dalmatian hinterland fell in love with a man from the coast. At that time, life by the sea was hard and people were not as well-off as those inland. The girl’s mother was against this union, but the girl was stubborn. The wedding party set off toward the sea despite her opposition, and the girl’s mother cursed them that the moment they caught sight of the sea they would all turn to stone. And so it came to pass. When the wedding party reached the pass above Brela from which the sea is visible, all of them, together with their horses, turned into the rocks that can still be seen at that spot today.

The location can be reached from both the south and the north. From the south, the ascent leads via Napoleon’s Road (Francuska cesta, the “French Road”), while from the north you set off from Vrulja toward Gornja Brela and at the bend you will see a turnoff with a barrier that very quickly becomes a gravel road on which you can drive all the way up to the foot of the ascent. If you would rather not drive on gravel, you can cover those 2 km on foot. If you fancy a slightly longer route, you can also start your visit to Nevistina stina via the Berulija educational trail.

Nevistina stina rather disappointed us — and not because the rocks themselves aren’t attractive. On the contrary, the rocks are interesting, the views are fantastic, the forest above them is unusual and exotic, but it is people who have devastated this environment in several ways. Graffiti on the rock, power lines running in every direction, and a road in the hinterland along which some hideous structures have sprung up that uphold the old Croatian custom of piling up rubbish — all of this seriously diminishes the experience. I would say the people living here do not appreciate the nature around them. Tourism cannot develop in a way where we ourselves don’t value our surroundings and their beauty but instead devastate them. As long as our cycling paths serve as illegal rubbish dumps, we will not be able to brand ourselves as a top destination. Nevistina stina is definitely worth a visit regardless of all this, but be prepared for the fact that the focal point of many photos will end up being the power lines rather than the wonderful rocky formations.