The procession "Following the Cross", a very pious ceremony taking place in six villages on Hvar: Jelsa, Pitve, Vrisnik, Svirce, Vrbanj and Vrboska, in the week before Easter for several centuries, and lace-making in Croatia, which also includes Hvar nuns' century-long tradition of making lace of threads of agave leaves, were added to UNESCO's intangible heritage list in September 2009.
The charter for the procession was handed to local authorities in those villages, and the charter for lace-making was given to nuns in the Benedictine monastery.
On this occasion, Minister Biskupic recalled that this southern Croatian island had three entries into UNESCO lists.
Apart from the above-mentioned two cultural values, Stari Grad Plain, the largest and most fertile plain on the Adriatic islands with the landscape featuring ancient stone walls and trims, or small stone shelters, was put on UNESCO's World Heritage List.
The Plain bears testimony to the ancient geometrical system of land division used by the ancient Greeks, the chora, which has remained virtually intact over 24 centuries.
The Stari Grad Plain is the seventh historical site in Croatia to be inscribed on the World Heritage List, after the Historical Complex of Split with the Palace of Diocletian, the Old City of Dubrovnik, the Episcopal Complex of the Euphrasian Basilica in Porec, the Historic City of Trogir, the Cathedral of St James in Sibenik, and Plitvice Lakes National Park.
Minister Biskupic today spoke about the importance of raising awareness among the Croatians of the value of the cultural heritage.
He said that Croatia was the top European country in terms of the number of preserved of cultural values and assets.
As for Croatia, UNESCO's Intangible Heritage List includes also two-part singing and playing in the Istrian scale. the annual carnival bell ringers" pageant from the Kastav area, spring procession of Ljelje/Kraljice (queens) from Gorjani, the festivity of Saint Blaise, the patron of Dubrovnik, and traditional manufacturing of children"s wooden toys in Hrvatsko Zagorje.