"...if you ever try the sweet water from Vrana Lake, you shall surely return..."
Even though they cannot be classified as a part of the natural heritage of these islands, they certainly put the finishing touch on to their uniqueness.
It is only after getting a bird's eye view from an island peak or from an airplane that one may to some extent perceive the area covered by the dry stone walls.
One immediately wonders who built them and why they differ in shape, height, and purpose?
One reason is to prevent soil erosion (rain washing), and to make terrace gardens and olive groves. The most evident example of such dry stone walls are the ones surrounding the town of Cres.
The secon reason was to clear the scanty island soil of stones. The stones were usually piled on a heap in the center of the plot of land, or a spot where digging was otherwise impossible because of a stone base. In this way, as time went by, some of the dry stone walls turned into great heaps of stone several meters high.
Dry stone walls were also erected as a means of division of the plots of land, when it was passed on from father to son, for example, or for the purpose of selling the plots.
On the eastern side of Cres, around Belej and Orlec, on areas virtually completely bare, high dry stone walls were erected, sometimes higher than a man, their purpose being, among other things, to shelter the sheep against the strong bora wind.
So as not to destroy this millenium old labor of the diligent islanders, let's not demolish the dry stone walls!
