Local Experience: Stonemasonry Workshop Tour

Local Experience half-day ancient stonemasonry workshop tour lets you experience the trade of local stonemasons firsthand, make your stone gift to take home, and a traditional style snack.

The stonemasonry workshop tour starts with a short presentation about the history of stone processing on the island of Brač. In front of us for the presentation, we have a large stone block, a more than hundred-year-old stone cutter as an example of stone processing and historical use, and a variety of raw stone materials ready to be converted into finished products.

After that, we proceed with a tour of the workshop and a presentation of the machines we use for the production. We start with the saw through which every stone piece passes to be further processed on one of the machines. After the saw, we observe older machines like a lathe for processing all cylindrical turned products, a column drill, a polisher for polishing turned products, and a pantograph (a manual precursor to modern CNC machines).

Next, we visit another, smaller saw where we focus on Zero Waste technology, maximizing the use of stone and waste from the large saw by cutting them into cubes for making jewelry beads.

The last room of the stonemasonry workshop is dedicated to modern technology. Here, we have a production line for stone beads where we demonstrate how we turn that large block outside into small 4 to 12-mm beads used for making authentic jewelry such as earrings, bracelets, and necklaces. Alongside bead production, we introduce you to a CNC machine, a piece of modern technology used for processing 2D and 3D reliefs and linear products, as well as a digital UV printer that prints directly on stone using the most modern technology.

After going through the stonemasonry workshop and modern machine stone processing, we return to the origins and foundations of our traditional stone processing, to the ancient Greek and Roman hand stone processing that persists on the island to this day and is highly valued as a stone finish.

We will continue with a presentation with special education on ancient hand stone processing, where you will have the opportunity to process stone as the ancient Greeks and Romans did, fully connect with the stone, and feel its soul. One of the examples of products we will work on is stone rosettes that are widespread in all old historical buildings. You will work with traditional tools such as chisels, points, gradines, and hammers… and bring a touch of history into the present.

After the education and work with hand tools, you will receive a semi-finished product which you will finish with our assistance and take home as a beautiful and original souvenir. Snacks and water (prosciutto, a glass of wine…) are included in the price.