Two rocky limestone plateaus stretch for kilometres above the fertile Baška valley, extending from the Treskavac pass towards the sea, from which the desolate island of Prvić and the Velebit mountain range eventually emerge. In this rugged landscape at an altitude of over 300 meters, stone borders of all shapes – from straight lines to impressive stone flowers known as mrgari – stretch and wind.
Mrgari are the most striking example of the ancient dry stone walling technique of stacking one stone on top of another without the use of any binding material. These complex multicellular sheepfolds, each with a ground plan shaped like a large stone flower, majestically dominate the karst landscape on the plateaus above the Baška valley. They were constructed for the purpose of sorting the different owners’ sheep on common pastures (komunade).
This rhapsody in stone is credited to the shepherds from the Baška valley, but not all of them. They were built only by the shepherds from Baška, Batomalj, and Jurandvor, while those from Draga Bašćanska used a different method of sheep farming.
Mrgari are rare and unique in the world, as well as fragile, and together with numerous forms of dry stone construction, they form the distinctive cultural landscape of the Baška basin. There are 15 of them in total: five on the southwestern and five on the northeastern plateau, whilst five of them are located on the island of Prvić.
On the southwestern plateau are located:
Mrgari na Ljubimeru:
- Baška mrgari
- capacity of 1000 sheep
- elevation 210 m
- on the saddle between Bag and Gabar
Mrgari na Kovacinu:
- Batomalj mrgari
- capacity of 500 sheep
- elevation 285 m
- on the saddle between Gabar and Vorganj
Mrgari na Vratudih:
- Jurandvor mrgari
- capacity of 500 sheep
- elevation 350 m
- along the Batomalj – Stara Baška trail
- served the needs of Donji drmun (komunada)
- abandoned in 1938 (Mrgari na Lipici took over their function after Donji and Gornji drmun were merged)
Mrgari na Lipici (kod Lipice):
- Jurandvor mrgari
- capacity of 800 sheep
- elevation 405 m (mrgari at the highest location)
- At the top of Koštrilj, in a valley on the edge of the southwestern plateau on the saddle between Veli Hlam and the Orlje ridge
- abandoned in 1958
Mrgari na Jakoši:
- Jurandvor mrgari
- capacity of 1000 sheep
- elevation 125 m
- near the shrine of Our Lady of Gorica, along the road to Koštrilj
- built in 1958 to replace the mrgari on Lipica
On the northeastern plateau are located:
Mrgari na Rebici:
- Baška mrgari
- capacity of 1200 sheep
- elevation 120 m
- South of the Nedotiš puddle, near the edge of the Vrženica stream (torrent)
Mrgari na Starošćini:
- Baška mrgari
- capacity of 700 sheep
- elevation 200 m
- along the southwestern edge of the Vrženica stream (torrent), about 300 m north of the flattened top of Ljubinin
Na Starih Mrgari - new:
- Jurandvor mrgari
- capacity of 1200 sheep
- elevation 390 m
- about 450 m east-northeast of the gate at the eastern end of the 'new dry stone wall'
- built around 1935 (as a replacement for the ‘old’ ones)
Na Starih Mrgari - old:
- Jurandvor mrgari
- capacity of 650 sheep
- elevation 385 m
- about 250 m southwest of the 'new' ones
- abandoned around 1935 (they were too small, so they were replaced by the 'new' ones)
Mrgari va Pothlamcu:
- Jurandvor mrgari
- capacity of 1000 sheep
- elevation 400 m
- along the southern of the two dry stone walls that border the Pothlamac drmun (komunada), at a third of the ascent between Hlam and Pagarelovo
- serve (or served) the needs of the Pothlamac drmun (komunada)
