Stari Grad Plain

The Stari Grad Plain (Starogradsko polje) is a six-square-kilometre flat of fertile karst soil east of Stari Grad, fenced into the same rectangular Greek plots laid down in the 4th century BC. UNESCO inscribed it as a World Heritage site in 2008 — not for any single monument, but for the persistence of the ancient agricultural pattern itself.

Walk or cycle in from Stari Grad on the network of dry-stone-walled lanes. The plain is still farmed: olive groves, vines, and lavender, with old stone trims (round shepherd's huts) scattered through the fields. A small visitor centre at Dol explains the history. Best in late afternoon when the light is low and the air smells of resin and crushed thyme.

things to do sight
A story
When the Greek colonists from Paros laid out their fields in 384 BC, they divided the plain into rectangular plots, each measuring 1 by 5 stadia, separated by stone walls. Almost 2,400 years later, those walls, paths, and plot boundaries are still in use — and still planted with the same olive, vine, and grain crops.