Once you arrive in Bol on island Brac in Croatia,
besides enjoying famous Zlatni rat beach,
ask locals to show you the House in a House,
an unusual sight whose explanation you can find out if you continue reading.
an unusual sight whose explanation you can find out if you continue reading.
Long time ago a man named Marko lived in the house in Bol. Often he was rather nervous and inconsiderate so the townsmen of Bol nicknamed him “Vigorous Marko”. The large piece of land behind Marko’s house belonged to the rich family Vukovic. The large Vukovic family consisted of six brothers of whom three were priests and the other three were sea-captains who owned a large ship that sailed as far as to Spain. All three captains married in Spain and then decided to build a great palace (“Paloc”) in Bol for their families. To achieve their goal it was necessary first to buy Marko’s house and the small plot of land it stood on. Yet “Vigorous Marko” did not want to sell his house and land and the negotiations ended in a grave dispute between the parties.
The Vukovics were on friendly terms with the master Vuzic, that time the Principal of Bol, so they turned to him asking for help to solve their problem. Vuzic tried hard to persuade Marko to sell his property to Vukovics but he persistently was refusing to accept the offer so Vuzic had to put force on Marko in the name of his Principal’s authority and influence. This even had angered “Vigorous Marko” more so he reverted with severe threats that he would kill Vuzic if gets onto his property and in the house. Therefore Vuzic decided to put Marko in jail for good but subsequently Marko had escaped to the Republic of Dubrovnik. When Marko disappeared from township of Bol Vukovics started with the construction of their palace in erecting the walls around Marko’s house.
The Vukovics were on friendly terms with the master Vuzic, that time the Principal of Bol, so they turned to him asking for help to solve their problem. Vuzic tried hard to persuade Marko to sell his property to Vukovics but he persistently was refusing to accept the offer so Vuzic had to put force on Marko in the name of his Principal’s authority and influence. This even had angered “Vigorous Marko” more so he reverted with severe threats that he would kill Vuzic if gets onto his property and in the house. Therefore Vuzic decided to put Marko in jail for good but subsequently Marko had escaped to the Republic of Dubrovnik. When Marko disappeared from township of Bol Vukovics started with the construction of their palace in erecting the walls around Marko’s house.
Not too long after Marko heard about Vukovics’ undertaking and he bought 4 barrels of gunpowder (1barrel = 33liters) prior to return to Bol. There he found few friends who would help him to destroy
everything what Vukovics had built up to then. One night Marko’s gang went out to dig holes under the erected walls and to place gunpowder therein. Before all the fuses have been fixed, revengers heard that somebody was approaching so they run away head-over-heels. Marko had to leave Bol again and to find a new refuge for a while.
Vukovics continued building their palace and left for Venice on their ship as to procure the roof building material there. Today no one knows exactly what happened with their ship that has been lost in a tempest on a voyage either to or from Venice. Thus all three captains lost their life by drowning and because they did not have children of their own the Vukovic’s clan died out. After a while “Vigorous Marko” returned to Bol where he continued to live in his house in Bol that was surrounded by walls of the unfinished palace. Marko did not marry at all so he did not have any children either one of his nephews went on residing in the house after Marko died.
Now-a-days “The House In A House” or “PALOC” still stands proudly there thus witnessing the legend of long passed times.
Source: http://www.croatianhistory.net/etf/boll.html Photos: www.virtualtourist.com/yumyum, vecernji list
Check out or Clients’ reviews!
