Hvar Island

Thus the sheltered harbour of Hvar, conveniently situated at the intersection of sea routes across and along the Mediterranean, at a key point on the route to the Levant, became New Hvar, the island’s most important community, home to the bishop, the prince and the main wintering harbour of the Venetian fleet. We might say that Hvar harbour, the place where most visitors set foot on Hvar for the first time, is the starting point for Hvar Island.

There was a settlement by the harbour in Late Antique times. There are prehistoric mounds and caves near Hvar Town and there was an Illyrian fortress on the site of the present Fortica. There are also remains from the Greek and Roman periods, which indicate the demographic and cultural continuity of the settlement on the site of modern Hvar Town.

Along with trade, Hvar Island built its economy on fishing. There have always been vines, figs and olives on the island, but fishing was much more profitable, and thanks to its fishermen, the municipality of Hvar was one of the wealthiest in Venetian Dalmatia. This wealth was poured into many monuments, churches, palaces, houses and fortresses.

Hvar Town was a significant seafaring, trading and military harbour during the centuries of Venetian rule, as can be seen by the building known as the Arsenal (from the Arabic, meaning “house of ships”). This was one of the most important buildings on Hvar Island, and was used to house, repair and store ships.

The theatre in Hvar Town is not just a building, but a tradition and an art form. True theatre is composed of actors and directors, and there have probably always been such people on Hvar. The oldest recorded performances were ecclesiastical pageants, such as the Pageant of St. Lovrinac (Laurence) the Martyr, from the fifteenth century. In the early sixteenth century Hanibal Lučić wrote Robinja (The Slave Girl), the first piece of Croatian drama. Benetović’s comedies followed, then the secular and ecclesiastical pageants of Marin Gazarović, and other works, right down to the present day.

Hvar Town is entered through the main gates, and nestles within town walls built in the mid-fifteenth century. This is also the entrance to the elite part of Hvar. St. Stephen’s Square (known as the Pjaca) is the largest in Dalmatia (4,500 m²). Its eastern side is bordered by the cathedral and bishop’s palace, in which a museum is housed. The north and south sides are bordered by public buildings and palaces builts in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries.

The fortress of Fortica rises above the town on a hill. It was built on the remains of a 16th century medieval fortress, and the buildings inside the stronghold were built during the rule of the Austrian Empire. Today, Fortica has been rebuilt and renovated as a tourist attraction, with a museum, restaurant and the best-known disco on the island.

There are many other buildings in Hvar Town with their own fascinating stories, but we only have space to mention a few of them.

Hvar Town has been developing as a tourist resort for almost a century and a half, thanks to its wonderful climate, natural beauty and cultural heritage. As far back as 1868, the Hygiene Society was formed in Hvar Town and the first hotel opened on the Pjaca.

But the roots of tourism go even deeper, farther back to the time of legends. According to myth, the first tourists to set foot on Hvar Island were the Argonauts, who came here two thousand years before Christ and called the island Pityeia, meaning “thickly wooded with pines”. In Antique times, wealthy Romans gravitated to their villae rusticae on the island for holidays. During the Middle Ages, the most frequent European visitors were pilgrims, as Hvar Island was a stopping point on the well-travelled sea-route from Venice to the Holy Land from the fifteenth century onwards. The fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797 closed the route. In the late 18th and throughout the 19th century Hvar was visited by many scientists and naturalists, and the founding of the Hygiene Society on 15 May 1868 is generally considered to mark the establishment of “science tourism” to the island. The Society was particularly important, not only to Hvar tourism, as it marked the beginnings of modern tourism in general; at the time there were no other similar societies in Europe. Today, Hvar Town is the tourist centre of the island and one of the most attractive tourist destinations on the Adriatic. As well as the sun and the sea, Hvar offers its guests a wide range of cultural events – performances, exhibitions, concerts and the Hvar Summer Festival, with its musical and folk events.

Nightlife in Hvar Town is vibrant in the summer months. The discos and bars stay open all night long. Hvar is also a good place for an active holiday for anyone who is not satisfied with simply soaking up the sun, the sea and the nightlife. It is a particularly popular scuba-diving location, as the sea is warm, the currents are safe and the coastline is indented. You can also try sea kayaking, sailing, hiking, trekking, rock climbing and tennis. Mountain biking is a way of combining sport and getting around the island to see its many sights. There are many, varied bike trails with fantastic views.

So enjoy the blue sea, lush vegetation, ancient olives, fragrant lavender, elegant architecture and abundant vineyards … Hvar Island will win your heart and you will certainly want to return.