Sights in Hvar Island
- Sort by:
- Popular
-
Beaches & Islands
There are coves around the Hotels Amfora and Dalmacija for swimming, but most people head to the Pakleni Islands (Pakleni Otoci), which got their name from Paklina, the resin that once coated boats and ships.
Taxi boats (30mins) leave regularly during the high season from in front of the Arsenal to the islands of Jerolim and Stipanska, which are popular naturist islands (although nudity is not mandatory), and then continue on to Ždrilica and Palmižana, the latter being a sandy beach.
reviewed
-
Franciscan Monastery & Museum
The 15th-century Franciscan monastery and museum overlooks a shady cove. The elegant bell tower was built in the 16th century by a well-known family of stonemasons from Korčula. The Renaissance cloister leads to a refectory containing lace, coins, nautical charts and valuable documents, such as an edition of Ptolemy's Atlas, printed in 1524. Your eye will immediately be struck by The Last Supper, an 8m by 2.5m work by the Venetian Matteo Ingoli dating from the end of the 16th century. The cypress in the cloister garden is said to be more than 300 years old.
The adjoining church, named Our Lady of Charity, contains more fine paintings such as the three polyptychs created …
reviewed
-
A
Arsenal
On the southern side of the main square, Trg Svetog Stjepana, is the Arsenal, which was built in 1611 to replace a previous building destroyed by the Ottomans. Mentioned in Venetian documents as 'the most beautiful and the most useful building in the whole of Dalmatia', the Arsenal once served as a repair and refitting station for war galleons.
The northern side of the building was used to store food, and in 1612 a Renaissance theatre was built that is reported to be the first theatre in Europe open to plebeians and aristocrats alike. The theatre remained a regional cultural centre throughout the centuries, and plays were still staged here for small audiences only. Final…
reviewed
-
B
Cathedral of St Stjepan
Another landmark building in Hvar Town is the Cathedral of St Stjepan, which forms a stunning backdrop to the main square, Trg Svetog Stjepana. The bell tower rises four levels, each more elaborate than the last. The cathedral was built in the 16th and 17th centuries at the height of the Dalmatian Renaissance on the site of a previous cathedral destroyed by the Turks.
Parts of the older cathedral are visible in the nave and in the carved 15th-century choir stalls, but most of the interior dates from the 16th and 17th centuries.
reviewed
-
Trg Svetog Stjepana
The centre of town is the main square, Trg Svetog Stjepana, which was formed by filling in an inlet that once stretched out from the bay. At 4500 sq metres, it's one of the largest old squares in Dalmatia. The town first developed in the 13th century to the north of the square and later spread south of the square in the 15th century. Notice the well at the northern end of the square, which was built in 1520 and has a wrought-iron grill dating from 1780.
reviewed
-
C
Fortress Španjol
From the Main Town Gate you can climb up through a park to the Španjol, a citadel built on the site of a medieval castle to defend the town from the Turks. The Venetians strengthened it in 1557 and then the Austrians renovated it in the 19th century by adding barracks. Inside is a tiny collection of ancient amphorae recovered from the sea bed, and the view over the harbour is magnificent.
reviewed
-
D
Benedictine Monastery
Northwest of the town's main square is the unfinished Gothic Hektorović Mansion. Go up a few stairs to the Benedictine Monastery, which has a re-creation of a Renaissance house and a collection of lace painstakingly woven by the nuns from dried agave leaves.
reviewed
-
E
Bishop's Treasury
The Bishop's Treasury, behind the tower and adjoining the Cathedral of St Stjepan, houses the cathedral treasury of silver vessels, embroidered Mass robes, numerous Madonnas, a couple of 13th-century icons and an elaborately carved sarcophagus.
reviewed
-
F
Archaeological Museum
The Dominican Church of St Marko was destroyed by the Turks in the 16th century. In the apse there is a small Archaeological Museum, which has some Neolithic weapons and ceramics on display.
reviewed
-
G
Loggia
The 16th-century loggia is in front of the Hotel Palace. In front of it is an 18th-century column Štandarac, from which governmental decisions used to be announced.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
H
Main Town Gate
The Main Town Gate, northwest of the town's main square, leads to a network of tiny streets with small palaces, churches and old houses.
reviewed
