800-The sunset trail above 7 islets
The Adriatic coast is widely known for its beauty, which takes many travellers’ breath away every time, and among the enticing curves of the Dalmatian islands, it is difficult to single out just one. However, there is that heavenly piece of land surrounded by the sea, whose shape resembles a playful bottlenose dolphin diving from neighbouring Brač to the foot of Torgir’s Drvenik Veli!
Our trail leads you first to the narrow streets of the largest and oldest square on the island of Šolta, which with its irregular shapes hides the true charm of a Mediterranean town. The square is on the edge of Sridnje polje, at the crossroads of roads leading from Rogač to Maslinica and Gornje Selo, and will show the best of its history through the art of stacking and shaping stone. The rustic streets, multi-story buildings with carved doorways, stairs and galleries – staircases and terraces, enchant with every line they have, and winding dry stone walls protecting the earth from the rain and wind accompany you along the entire island. On the west side of Šolta, the former fishing village of Maslinica, built around the Marchi family’s castle, which these nobles built to defend themselves against these pirates, is impatiently waiting for us. The sea view encompasses the archipelago of seven islets, and from the viewpoint near St. Nicholas’s church the stunning panorama extends to the surrounding bays and beyond, towards Drvenik and Trogir. On the way back to the centre of the island and Rogač, why not stop in Donje Selo, whose ancient heritage can be seen from the remains of villae rusticae, in the footsteps of St. Martin for whom the cult was nurtured here as well.
Šolta
21,3km
2h
Technical characteristics
The trail begins with a road climb with a 15% slope before the flat macadam section. The macadam is wide and pleasant to ride on and follows you all the way up to the highest point on the trail, which is 1.64 km long with an average slope of 6.4%. The next descent is ridden on a narrow single track of medium technical difficulty, followed by a flat, 3.8 km long section, which is ridden partly on fine macadam, partly on the road, all the way to the macadam descent in Maslinica. From Maslinica, the trail, using a combination of road and macadam, climbs constantly for the next 4 km along gentle slopes up to 170 m above the sea, and a number of views open up before another tame macadam descent. The last descent is ridden on a technically medium-demanding single track, which is a combination of stone and earth, although the slopes do not exceed -13%. The descent joins the road leading back to the starting point. Use an MTB or E-MTB on this trail because the single track descents might be too rough for gravel and trekking bikes.