Places on the island Hvar:

HVAR
The town and the port on the southern coast of the extreme western part of the island. It is located in the cave in front of which are Pakleni otoci (the Hell Islands).

 The climate is distinctively Medi­terranean, with small amount of precipitation. Winters are very gen­tle, suitable for convalescents and asthmatics. Vegetation is very rich and almost tropical (palms, myrtle, agaves, laurel, rosemary, pines, stone pines, etc.). Today, Hvar is very developed tourist center with numerous hotels, camps, nudist beaches, and marinas.

The con­struction of the town walls that come from the hill to the eastern and western edge of the main town square had began in the late middle Ages. The citadel of the town with the residence of potestat was built in the 13th century on top of the hill. In 1551, a new fortress has been built, and it was reconstructed in the 18th century.

The center of the old part of the town is the town square, the core of the town-planning layout from the
15th century. Above the square, inside the town walls, there are partly preserved palaces of the noblemen of Hvar. The houses of citizens were on the southern slope.

On the square, you can see the monumental building of Arse­nal. Its construction began in 1579, and it was finished in 1611 (accord­ing to the inscription above the door). Beside Arsenal is Belvedere, building with a large terrace, which was in 1612 adapted to be grain sto­rage and magazine for other goods.

The prince of Hvar, Semitecolo, who raised Belvedere also raised another floor on Arsenal, and built a theater in 1612. It is the oldest theater in Croatia and it is still acti­ve (it was reconstructed in 1806). On the square there is also the cathedral of St. Stjepan. It is a rena­issance building from the 16th-17th century, built in the place of the Benedictine abbey from the 12th century.

The pseudo-Romanesque belfry from the 17th centu­ry is right next to it. In the treasury of the cathedral, beside the old paintings and liturgical objects, there is also the crosier. In front of the cathedral, on the square, is the town well from 1529. On the north­ern side is the Paladini Palace. A characteristic street with lots of staircases climbs from the square towards the Fortica fortress. There is also the unfinished Hektorović Palace (in embellished Gothic style, from the 15th century).

The clock-tower Leroj (building started in 1466 in the late Gothic style) was finished in the style of renaissance in the 16th century. The town log­gia is from 1479. In the old part of the town there are two small churches: of SS. Kuzma and Damjan from the 15th-16th century, with wooden ceiling; and of the Ho­ly Ghost, in Gothic style with valu­able paintings. On the eastern side, outside of the town walls is a renai­ssance summer residence of Hanibal Lucić from the 16th century. On the south side, on the promontory between two coves, there is the Franciscan monastery built betwe­en 1461 and 1464, with renaissance cloister from 1489 and the church of Our Lady of Mercy. In the church is the grave of Hanibal Lucić as well as a number of valuable paintings.

Hotels: Amfora Camp: Vira.

Marina: ACI PALMIŽANA -anchorage on the island of St. Klement in the Hell Islands archipelago, in front of the port of Hvar. Marina is small, but well equipped with beautiful beaches in the vicinity. It has 190 places, repair service, reception room. It is open during the summer season. The guests can use toilets, exchange office, shop, and restaurant and taxi-boat connections with Hvar.

STARI GRAD (the Old Town)

The small town and port at the end of the Starigrad bay. It used to be trade and naval center, and up to not long ago, the biggest settlement on the island. It has wine-celar with modern equipment, hotels and swimming beach. Smaller beaches are located in the coves inside the bay, and the underwater fishing is possible along the northern coast of the bay. The hunting-ground for rabbits and pheasants is nearby, on the peninsula Kabal.

The first settlement Pharos was founded by the Greek colonists from the Greek island of Paros in 384-383 B.C. It was surrounded with defense walls traces of which survived till present time. The remains from the Roman and Early Christian period (large mosaic in Srednja ulica, that is covered with pavement; Early Chri­stian baptistery beside the medieval church of St. Ivan from the 12th century; the remains of villa rustica on the site 'Pod Dolom'). Tvrdalj, fortified summer residence of Petar Hektorović, is located in the middle of I he town. It has inscriptions in Croatian and Latin chiseled in the stone, fish-pond surrounded with arcades, park and ethnographic col­lection. On the square, in front of the summer residence, is the sculp­ture of Hektorović, work of Ivan Mirković from 1956.

There is also the renaissance church of St. Rok from 1569. The baroque parish church was built in the 17th centu­ry. The stone blocks from the defense walls of the former Greek settlement, together with a relief showing an antique merchant ship, were built in the belfry of that church that stands on its own. The Dominican monastery was founded in 1482, and burned in the time of the Turkish attacks in 1571. Later it was renewed and fortified. The monastery keeps the old library, archive, collection of paintings, col­lection of stone monuments, numi­smatic collection and collection of fossils. Not far from the monastery is the small church of St. Nikola with wooden baroque gold-plated altar. In the eastern part of the town is the picturesque square
Škor, shaped in the time of Baro­que, with few family houses. The renaissance church of St. Jerolim is on the way to the swimming beach.

Hotels: Arkada; Adriatic; Helios; bungalows Helios; bungalows Jurjevac; bun­galows Trim; Jadran.
Camp: Jurjevac.

JELSA

Small town and port on the northern coast of the island. East from the small town is the sand cove Mina. The swimming beach Soline is located on the small peninsula Glavica.

It was mentioned in the 14th century as the port Pitava (Portus de Pitue), and it was probably for­med as the fishermen settlement in the 15th century.

 The parish chur­ch that has already been mentioned in 1331 got its present shape with fortified apse in the 16th century. In the northern part of the settlement, there is a square with renaissance and baroque houses. On the square there is also the baroque church of St. Ivan.

 On the hill above the village you can see well preserved remains of the antique watch-tower Tor, built of megalithic stone blocks and dated in the 4th-3rd century B.C. The remains of Roman walls and graves were found in the surroundings.

Hotels: Fontana; apartmt Pinus; Jadran; Mina.
Camp: Mina.

VRBOSKA

Small town and port on northern coast of the island, located in a deep cave surrounded vineyards and pine forest. It was founded in the 15th century by the inhabitants of nearby Vrbanje.

In the eastern (Pjace), as well as in the western (Padva) part of the town, beside the typical coastal village houses there are also a few Gothic, renaissance and baroque buildings. On the hill in the middle of the town is the renaissance church of St. Mary, from 1580, built in the shape of fortress on the location of the older church from 1465. It is one of the rare examples of that kind in Dalmatia.

Hotels: Adriatic; Madeira
Camps: Nudist, Pinus
Marina: ACI VRBOSKA, located on the end of a long sea channel hat cuts deep into the land (it is more than kilometer and a half long). It has 100 places on the floating docks and 20 on the dry docks, crane (5 t) in the shipyard, reception room, and parking lot. It is open through the whole year. Guests can use toilets, shops, restaurant, laun­dry, etc.

SUĆURAJ

The place and the port on the eastern end of the island, starting point of the ferryboat connection with the mainland (Drvenik and Makarska).

Camp: Mlaska.