Hvar scenery

Cultural and historical monuments

On a nearby hill, there is a building called Napoljun (named after Emperor Napoleon) - erected on a site where previously stood the medieval church of St Nicholas. It has been a look-out post since time immemorial and also served this purpose in the recent Homeland War of 1991. To day it houses the astronomical observatory of the geodesic faculty of Zagreb University.

At the beginning of the 19th century, smaller gun batteries were built next to the complex of the Greek Orthodox monastery Venerandin (16th C) on the peninsula that encloses Hvar port on the western side, and on the site of an earlier look-out post at Karin Rat to the east. The fort at Galešnik (1840s), with it’s beautifully designed pier, served as a prison and quarantine. A lazaretto had already been built there in 1529. From 1833 Smokovnik, on the hill to the west of the town, served as an Austrian military reconnaissance point. (Today it has become the restaurant "Panorama").

The Pjaca, which was originally surrounded by gardens, is per haps the most beautiful and largest town square on the Croatian coast. It is embellished by a Renaissance arch and "mandrač" (tiny port) and has direct access to the sea, while the nearby vine yards descend to the very apse of the cathedral. The Pjaca was created in 1780 by filling in a deep swampy bay, and then paving this with stone slabs, although the part in front of the loggia, on which there is "štandarac" (a flag post), had already been paved in 1537. The public cistern was built in 1519. The large public fountain at Dolac, between the Bishop's Residence and the uncompleted monastery, was built in 1554.

The Fabrika - the beautiful stone quay along the sea edge of town square - was built in the middle of the 16th century. The 3l0 metres long quay was commenced in 1554 as an anchorage for the Venetian fleet. An older "mandrač" was incorporated into the new quay. This dated from 1459 although the small pyramids at its corners were added in 1745 as is inscribed on the stone plaque. The entire construction was a technical masterpiece for its time. Even the underwater parts were built with expertly dressed stone, while the upper part above sea level is a typical example of the Renaissance style of building (in the pattern of a honeycomb).

The monumental complex of the Provveditore Palace (for the Venetian head of the island) consisted of five buildings which could serve as forts, Only the clock-tower has been preserved, The rest of the complex disappeared when the "Palace" hotel was built in 1903. The Provveditore Palace was built by stonemasons from the island of Korčula in the 15th and 16th centuries, The impressive loggia was built at the beginning of the 17th century by the stonemasons Bokanići from the island of Brač. The same workshop probably built the "fontic" or granary (1610-1613) on the northern side of the Arsenal on the opposite side of the Pjaca. This monumental Arsenal was built partly in the first half of the 16th century. The oldest communal theatre in Europe was built under the same roof in 1612. However, its present-day interior dates from the 19th century. Next to the theatre today is the "Arsenal" gallery of modern art. A figurehead from a Turkish galley captured in the battle of Lepanto in 1571 is exhibited in its entrance-hall.

The cathedral of Pope St Stephen stands at the far end of the Pjaca, where two parts of the town meet. It was built on the site of an early 6th century Christian church and a later Benedictine convent of St Mary. The shrine of today's cathedral is the remains of a Gothic church from the 14th century. Its 15th C pulpit, the stone polyptychs of St. Luke and The Flagellation of Christ (in the manner of Juraj Dalmatinac), as well as the late Gothic crucifix, have all been preserved. The present three-aisled cathedral, with its bell-tower, is a
harmonious synthesis of the Renaisance, manneristic and early Baroque styles so typical of the Dalmatian architecture of the 15th and 16th centuries. It is the work of numerous local masters led by, Nikola Karlić (who worked on the facade between 1541 and 1543) and Ivan Pomenić (3620-1637), both from Korčula. The richly decorated facade, which is well adapted to the shape of the Pjaca, and its three-lobed gable are an echo of the Renaissance facades of Šibenik Cathedral, the Dubrovnik church of sv. Spas and the Zadar church of St Mary. The Baroque conception of space is further emphasised in the abundantly lit interior of the central apse and the spacious shrine. The slender bell-tower was inspired by that of the Korčula Cathedral (builders were Marko and Nikola Karlić). It was begun in the 1520s and completed by the middle of the century, although the planned eight-sided loggia has never been constructed.

The high altar is the work of Baltassare and Melchisedecha Longhene, while the altar of Our Lady in the chapel of the Hektorović family (with the Romanesque Our Lady of Biševo, famous for her miracles) is by Le-mardo Negri (1683-86). Another altar was built by Pietro Gosta, while the remaining eight were erected by the workshop of Ales-sandro and Paolo Tremignon at the end of the 17th century. The paintings - by Palma the Vounger (on the high altar), Andrea Celesti, Domenico Uberti, Antonio Grapinelli and Antonio Zanchi also came from Venice. The choir stalls (which were restored 1888) are by the Venetian Marko Antoni and dated 1572, modelled on the late-Gothic ones which had been destroyed in the cathedral fire the year before. The relics of the Hvar co-patron St Prosper (in a chest by Michelangelo Albarini from 1674, exhibited in the Museum) are kept in the north chapel; the south chapel houses a late Gothic crucifix with, "the Small Cross" which shed tears of blood on February 6th, 1510, at the dawn of the plebeian rebellion. The bronze door-frames and the new altar are by the contemporary Croatian sculptor, Kuzma Kovačić from Hvar (who also designed today's Croatian "kuna" coins).

Exhibited in The Biskop's Museum are examples of late-Gothic and Renaissance liturgical vesments as well as the work of gold smiths such as the pastoral staff of Bishop Pritić, by Pavao Dubravčić from Knin, and the chalice and monstrance of Bishop Toma Tomasini (founder of the Chapter Library, and the papal legate to Bosnian kings Stjepan Tvrtko II and then Stjepan Tomašević until the fall of Bosnia.

The neo-classical Bishop's Court dates from the 18th and 19th centuries - with esplanades and columns for the grape arbour and Baroque stucco decorations on the eastern wall. The once famous Dominican monastery of St Mark was built as a small castle-fort (enabling defence against invaders) above Donji Trg – opposite The Rector's Palače. However, only part of the main church apse has been preserved (along with several tombstones of both patricians and plebeians from Hvar).

"The Archaeological Collection Novak, in the Memorial House of Grga Novak, is the richest private Neolithic collection in the Mediterranean region. The Memorial House of Grga Novak is situated in old Hvar, in the region of Burak. It includes the Mediterranean Institute Grga Novak library and archive of prehistoric artefacts. The Memorial House exhibits the collections of Grga Novak (1888–1978) and of Slobodan Prosperov Novak. Slobodan Prosperov Novak, the nephew and pupil of Grga, is the owner of the Memorial House and director of the Mediterranean Institute."

The bell-tower, most probably the work of Tripun Bokanić from the 1600s, has also been preserved. The monastery was abolished in 1807 by the French authorities. A part of the monastery's treasures, including a valuable wooden Renaissance crucifix, was transferred to the Dominican monastery in Stari Grad. Finally in 1819, the monastery became a burial ground, the roof being removed.

The Church of the Holy Spirit in Groda has a picturesque asymmetrical facade, which is the source of a local tradition that sculptural fragments on it were transferred from other ruined Hvar churches. The oldest church is that of Sts Cosmos and Damian, next to the town clock tower ("Leroj"), with a beautiful early Baroque carved ceiling. It was re shaped from an old ruined house below the town walls. The convent of St John the Baptist and St Anthony the Abbot, not far from this church, was founded in the 17th century within the complex which the Benedictines inhented from the poet Hanibal Lučić, the author of "Robinja" (A Female Slave), the first Croatian secular drama. The church was completely reconstructed in 1998. The nuns are famous for the lace they make from the fibres of the agave plant.

The Franciscan monastery of Our Lady of Grace was built between 1465 and 1471 at Sridnji Rat next to the ancient church of the Holy Cross. This complex of buildings became a hospice for sailors when a new church was built with the votive donations of the general captain of the Venetian fleet, Piero Soranza, and a few local families. The relief in the lunette of the portal is by Don atello's pupil Nicholas of Florence (about 1470). The polyptych of the high altar (1583) in the church, and two triptychs on the partition in front of the shrine are by Francesco Santacroce. The cycle of Christ's Passion on the upper part of the partition was painted by Martin Benetović (+1607), a Hvar nobleman, organist and comic writer. The wooden choir stalls in the shrine were carved by Franjo Čučić from Korčula and Antun Spio from Zadar in 1583.,. The painting on the altar of the chapel of St Cross is by Francesco Bassano.

The gallery is completed by the artefacts exhibited in the monastery collection (including Ptolemy's Atlas from 1525), and a series of manuscripts and incunabulae, and the famous painting of the Last Supper by Matej Ponzoni-Pončun in the refectory of the monastery. Equally famous is the horizontal cypress in the court yard. According to tradition, it was replanted by Matej Ponzoni Pončun (as Michelangelo had done in Rome). The well-known stone mason from Korčula, Marko Andrijić, began work on the bell-tower above the cloister at the end of the 15th century. He created the prototype for a series of Dalmatian Renaissance and Baroque bell-towers. His brother Blaž completed it in 1507. Hvar has some of the most beautiful bell-towers in Dalmatia and can compete in this respect with Rab and Trogir. The Austrian authorities ruthlessly destroyed Venerandin in 1831, which had been built on the pattern of the Franciscan monastery, and also of the bell-tower of St Mark.

The chapels of the Stations of the Cross were erected in 1720 from the end of the main street in Burak as far as the Franciscan monastery. Ten of the original fountains have been preserved.

A series of late medieval, Renaissance and Baroque houses and mansions embellished the town streets. The mansion of the nobleman Nikola Užičić was begun in 1463 but has never been completed. The Užićići are a branch of the Piretić family from whom are also descended the Hektorovići, Barbići, Golubinići, Grivičići and the Jakše. To the left of the main gate is The Winter Mansion of the Paladinić family with its monumental balcony overlooking the town walls. Their summer Mansion was erected in front of it, obstructing the view from the house of the poet Petar Hektorović, which was the cause of a court dispute which lasted for years. There are other mansions and houses in the same street leaning to the town walls. The mansion of the Radošević family, with its seven early Baroque balconies, is the most outstanding one in Burak, that part of the town which is on the other side of the town square.
Among the numerous summer houses, the most outstanding is that of the poet Hanibal Lučić (today's Cultural Centre), which was begun in 1532 by Dubrovnik stonemasons, according to a de sign of the poet himself. One approaches this summer house from the Pjaca by a small paved path, edged on the northern side by long stone blocks which serve as a catwalk when rain water flows down from the hill.