The folk name of this stone bridge is culturally and historically significant in several ways. It is primarily a monument of bridge construction – the only one of its kind on the island, and secondly a reminiscence of the era of the Habsburg rule which shaped the life of that era and urban infrastructure in various ways. The “Veli dolac” canyon itself where the bridge towers over its starting point is a fine example of karst morphology. In early Croatian history it was believed that a river called Brentos ran through Brač when it was still connected to land mass. During heavy rains a swollen stream flows through the canyon which carries away earth and rocks all the way to the sea and it also carried away the original bridge which was replaced by sturdier and stronger one by the donation of Franz Joseph I, King of Austria and Hungary. On the western face of the bridge there is a commemorative plaque of that event. Not far from the bridge, a small path offers beautiful views of the canyon and the Vičja harbour.
