Kalufi in Krekovi and Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
288 km
Riding-time estimate
6 h 32
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
From Nevesinje it runs 288 km to Nevesinje; allow about 6 h 32 of riding. The stops in between: Grebnice, Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards and back through Grebnice. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,250 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses from Bosnia & Herzegovina into Montenegro - carry ID and check the toll rules. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Kalufi in Krekovi
The Nevesinjsko polje is a broad, flat-floored basin high in the karst of eastern Herzegovina, ringed by bare limestone hills, and at Krekovi, near its edge, a group of stećci known as Kalufi stands in the grass. These medieval tombstones, carved between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries, belong to the transnational World Heritage Site inscribed in 2016. At Krekovi you find slabs, chests and gabled forms, some decorated with crosses, rosettes and borders, set in rows facing roughly east to west in the old tradition.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kalufi in Krekovi is where the day begins. Next is Grebnice.
2. Grebnice
Grebnice, a name that simply means something like grave-stones, is a field of stećci near Bileća in eastern Herzegovina. These are the massive carved tombstones of medieval Bosnia and its neighbours, cut from local limestone between roughly the twelfth and sixteenth centuries, shaped like chests, slabs or little houses with gabled roofs, and sometimes covered with spirals, rosettes, swords, shields and dancing figures. UNESCO listed a selection of the most important sites together in 2016, and the necropolis here is one of the eastern Herzegovinian groups. Standing among them on a still afternoon, with the grass grown up around the stones, is a strangely moving experience.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Grebnice comes up about 81 km into the recorded legs. Next is Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards.
3. Stećci Medieval Tombstone Graveyards
Radimlja, just outside Stolac in Herzegovina, is the finest of the stećak graveyards, and it lies right beside the main road, which makes it one of the easiest pieces of medieval Europe to stop for. Stećci are massive limestone tombstones, shaped like chests, slabs or little gabled houses, carved between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries across the medieval kingdom of Bosnia and neighbouring lands. Many are decorated with reliefs: spirals, vines, crescents, stars, hunting scenes, dancers holding hands, and knights with swords and shields, and one figure at Radimlja raises an oversized right hand in what may be a greeting or a blessing. In 2016 UNESCO listed a group of these graveyards across four countries together.