The island of Brač and stone exist as one. The symbiosis of the two has been evident ever since Roman times, up to the present day. Above the picturesque town of Splitska, only a kilometer away from the sea, lay several Roman quarries: Rasohe, Plate, and Stražišće. The abundance of quarries from that era makes this place a unique ancient site. The importance of these quarries lies in the fact that the stone used for the construction of Diocletian’s Palace in Split, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage List, was extracted from them.
An 80-cm-high relief of Hercules carved into the bedrock stood solitary for years in the Rasohe quarry. Several years ago, the Supetar Tourist Board initiated a commendable action by clearing the thicket from the path to the quarry and within the quarry itself. The path was also marked, which made the Hercules relief accessible to visitors. The relief shows a nude figure with the skin of the Nemean lion draped over one shoulder. He bears fruit in one hand and a huge club in the other. Hercules’s unproportionally large fists are a distinctive feature of this Roman sculpture, symbolizing his strength. The manner in which the relief was carved indicates that it was a work by a self-taught artist who left it unfinished, only to be further weathered over time. The figure of Hercules, carved into a slab of Brač bedrock, stands as a testament to physical strength and profound human willpower. For this very reason, the quarry workers adopted him as their patron. What’s also interesting is that even more reliefs were discovered during the widening of the Splitska–Škrip road.
After clearing the path to the Rasohe quarry, the Supetar Tourist Board blazed a 1.1 km thematic walking trail that begins at the base of the horseshoe-shaped port of Splitska and leads to the quarry site. We warmly recommend this walk, as the time spent in the quarry will fill you with the peace and calm of nature, where you can enjoy admiring the Hercules relief or reading your favorite book.
Using AI technology, the Supetar Tourist Board created a web presentation showcasing real, historical events using 3D characters, objects, and animations. With the help of modern technology, visitors can experience events at the very site of the ancient Roman quarry through the cameras on their phones. The quarrying of the stone and the slaves who painstakingly worked on it as well as the soldiers who controlled and commanded them are just some of the animations in the quarry. At that time, oxen drew block-filled carts to the port of Splitska, from where they were taken by Roman ships to Split for the construction of Diocletian’s Palace.