BRUSJE
 The old road from Stari Grad to Hvar passes through the highest parts of the island Hvar. Because of the warm climate, that area is rich with various mediteranean vegetation. That is why Brusje is famous for its honey, wine, olive oil and lavander. The lavander, with its colour and smell, dominates all fields. The village was errected in the 16th century as houses for sheperds from Hvar, that is why it is connected with Hvar today still. Opening of the new road from Stari Grad to Hvar has brought back the idilic peace into Brusje. Let it not suprise you if you happen to run into donkeys resting in the middle of the road, and have patience for their well known stuborness.
DOL
 Little village Dol is situated only two kilometres from Stari Grad fields. The word Dol means vally, a name given because the village Dol is situated in a very fertile vally. Wineyards dominate the whole vally, and the church of St. Peter dominates this entire area.
GDINJ
 Today Gdinj looks like an abandoned village in the inland of the island Hvar, and in that way it shares the destiny of many villages on the island. The main building in Gdinj is the church of St. George from the 16th century. Although an old lady might tell you that there is nothing to see in Gdinj, that is not entirely so. The village looks like its sleeping, and every old house, even if its abandoned, tells a story about the tipical way of life on the island. There is only hope that one day more childrens laughter will be heard from these old houses.
HVAR
 Hvar is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Everyone who has visited Hvar, came back again and again. It is difficult to say what is so special about Hvar that makes you feel so calm and relaxed. It must be experienced with all senses.
History begins in the early stone age, while later findings where belongings of Illyrian tribes. Some arheologists believe that the mithical Harakleja was situated on this place, but what is sure and confirmed is the egsistance of first Greek than Roman settlements.
Hvar started expanding in the Middle ages, when it gets the look of a real town and when the building of the fortifications was completed, 1450 A.D. Above the town is a fortess called Fortica or Espanola. Under that kind of protection, the town expanded and a large city square was built. The square is surounded with the Cathedral of St. Stephen, City Loggia and the Arsenal with the oldest theatar in Europe from 1612 A.D.
The Franciscan monestary was built outside of the town, therefor fortifications where built arround it as protection. Many other valuable historical monuments are in the town Hvar. In front of Hvar are many little islands called Pakleni islands, which means Devil"s islands, allthough there is nothing devlish about them. The name Pakleni comes from the word paklina, which is a substance used in ship repairing, and is found on those islands. Today nobody comes for those reasons, it is very popular with tourists that seek peace on the secluded beaches.
IVAN DOLAC
 Along the road, on the south side of the island Hvar, just across the island Šcedro, is a village Ivan Dolac. It is a picturesque little village surounded with wineyards of the best quality grape. That is why Ivan Dolac is world known for excellent wine, as well as beautiful beaches.
JAGODNA
 Situated just under the road along the south side of the island, from Zavala to Sveta Nedjelja. To get to this small village, you must drive through a nice pine- tree forest and an auto-camp. Some of the most beautiful beaches on the island are here, which is the reason why so many people come back to Jagodna.
JELSA
 The town developed in the 13th century as a harbour for the village Pitve situated in the inland of the island, 3km away. Local habitants built their houses arround two churches- St.Mihovil on the north, and St. John on the south. One side of the harbour, for many years was a swamp, which was dried at the end of the 19th century. That is the time of the biggest development of Jelsa, when it had a very respectable fleet of sail boats. The town is dominated by the church of St. Mary, which was partialy fortified during the 16th century. That is why it successfully resisted the Turkish attacks that demolished the whole island Hvar. Only the church of St. Mary and Tvrdalj- the fort belonging to Petar Hektorovic in Stari Grad- resisted the attacks. In Jelsa it is not difficult to find evidance of life since the 3rd century B.C. That does not suprise because Jelsa is a very fertile field. Today life goes on here as on other parts of the island; fishing, turism, wineyards and olive trees are the main cultures. The wine from Jelsa has always been very popular, especialy during the Wine Festival in August.
MILNA
 The island Hvar does not have many peable beaches, but Milna has one of the most beautiful beaches on the island. It is situated about 5 km East from the town Hvar, and the new road from Hvar to Stari Grad will make this area prosper and expand more in the future. On the East side of the cove are restaurants, and on the West side is a baroque summer villa of the family Ivanic, next to which is an auto camp.
PITVE
 Driving from Jelsa towards the south side of the island, only a couple of kilometres from the sea, is the village Pitve. This is the most beautiful village on the island, and it has almost completly preserved its picturesce rural image. Allthough it looks abandoned, the interest for living in Pitve is returning. The stone houses built on the hill are surounded by wineyards, olive trees, and fields of rosemary and lavander. Not far from the village is the entrace into the tunel that leads to the south side of the island and villages Zavala, Ivan Dolac, Jagodna and Sveta Nedjelja. The tunel is 1400m long and very narrow, so that two vehicles can not intercept inside.
STARI GRAD
 Stari grad, the oldest town on the island was founded by the ancient Greeks. They built their new home here and named it Pharos. Pharos developed into one of the richest colonies on the Adriatic sea. The modern architecture made Stari Grad a real urban centre. After the Greeks, Romans continued living here, and findings confirm the egsistance of life during the early Christian, early Croatian and Romanesque period. That is what makes Stari Grad one of the most valuable archeological findings in Croatia and the Mediteranian.
The most important monuments in Stari Grad is the fortified Dominican monastery of St. Peter, churches of St. Nicholas, St.Jerolim, St. John, St. Roko the parish curch of St. Stephen . Very impresive are the 11 metre long Greek walls, the so-called Cyclopean Walls ( remains from the 4th century B.C.). The most popular monument is Tvrdalj. That is the fortified mansion of Petar Hektorovic, the famous Hvar poet, from the 16th century. Petar Hektorovic built the mansion to accomodate himself and his friends, so every part of the mansion tells a simbolic story . The centrepiece is the fishpool enclosed by a vaulted and arcaded terrace.
An amazing view of Stari Grad and the fields surrounding is best from the hill Glavica.
SUCURAJ
 Sucuraj is situated on the east end of the island Hvar. It is oriented towards fishing, and it is closest to the mainland. Throughout the medieval period it was called Plame, and got the name Sucuraj after the remains of the church of St. George from 1331 A.D. The village is almost hidden in a secluded cove, but many fishermen live there. The local habitants have always been strongly conected with the sea, and because of the lack of fertile fields on this part of the island, the locals kept sheep and goats. Today turism is a very important industry.The vicinity of the mainland has placed Sucuraj in a very important stratigical position, that is why a Baroque fort St. George was built to oversee the traffic in the chanel between the island and the mainland. It was ruined during WW II.
The majority speaks with a different dialect than the rest of the island, called the "što" dialect, while the rest of the island speaks with the "ca" dialect. The reason are Turkish conquests during the 17th century, when a large number of refugees came to these parts together with the Franciscans who build the church of St. Ante here .
SVETA NEDJELJA
 The only road that goes along the South side of the island, on the very East end, leads to the village Sveta Nedjelja. The winding road ends just below St. Nicholas, the highest peak on the island. The village is situated under a cave that was inhabited back in the early Stone age, so many miths and legends are connected to this area. The sloaped fields are famous for their excellent wine sorts that give the best red wine in Croatia.
SVIRCE
 This village is situated on the sloaps of the hill Gorica. It was founded as a part of the neighbouring village Vrbanj, but it slowly developed into a seperate comunity that built a very nice parish church of St. Magdalena. It has some very attractive architecture, as the village square with church of St. Mary, and the house of family Šimunic.
VELO GRABLJE
 On the old road, between Stari Grad and Hvar, situated in a valley, is the village Velo Grablje. It developed in the 16th century, just as Brusje, as a village of noble families Ozor and Gazar. It is mostly known for its wine, olive oil, lavander and honey, allthough many abandoned wineyards and fields tell us that many people are leaving that way of life.
VIRA
 Vira is located only a couple kilometres from the town Hvar, in a beautiful cove. In the vicinity of Vira, long ago, stood an Illyric settlement with fort. They used Vira as the north harbour, and most probably town Hvar as their west harbour. Vira today does not have many inhabitants, although they have a ferry dock, which has been closed for several years for ferrys, and given to the local fishermen for use.
VRBANJ
 This is the biggest village on the island Hvar. The locals have always lived here in a tipical rural way of life. Vrbanj was the home of Matija Ivanic, a legendary leader of a peasant rebellion in 1510, that lasted 5 long years on the island Hvar, untill the Venetians ended it in blood.
The parish church of the Holy Ghost was built in the 15th century, and it has valuable historical sacral objects inside, and it is one of the most beautiful churches on the island. Next to the church is a bell tower from which a beautiful view of Jelsa and the island Brac can be seen.
VRBOSKA
 Everyone that comes to Vrboska will be supriesed by the sight once they enter; in the middle of the island a sea channel and in it a small island. Niether is the channel a channel, nor the island a real island. Here nature played a little game, so the sea forms a long and shallow inlet, and at the end left a rock with thick pine wood. Because of the often tides, it looks like the sea is flowing back and forth.
Vrboska was founded in the 15th century as an occasionall settlement of Vrbanj, Svirce, Vrisnik and Pitva. Building of the church of St. Mary in 1465 marks the period when Vrboska starts to be permanently inhabited. In years to come, inhabitans build a harbour. Soon after another church is built, St. Lawrence, because the locals wanted to seperate from the church in Vrbanj.
Not long after that, Vrboska was ruined by the Venetians, as an act of retribution for joining the peasant rebellion leaded by Matija Ivanic from Vrbanj. Matija Ivanic had some ships and helpers in Vrboska, and that was enough for the Venetians to demolish the whole town. One more attack occurred in 1571 by a renegate fleet of Turkish battle ships with Uluz-Alija leading them. That was the reason to do something about defense. The church of St. Mary was fortified, so it looks very different and unique as a fortified church. Vrboska today is turned towards fishing and tourism, which in a great deal helped the building of the ACI marina and many hotels.
ZAVALA
 At the end of the tunnel that connects one part of the island Hvar with the other, the first thing in sight is Zavala. That village is on the south side of the island, which becomes a very rough and unreachable area. Zavala is a new discovery, first seen by tourists- adventurists. They where enchanted by the beautiful nature, esspecially the beach in Zavala. It is often heard that in Zavala are made the best wines on the island which is reason enough to keep coming back.
Accross Zavala is the island Šcedro, a well known and safe shelter for seamen during the past. Although it is not inhabited, it has always been very important to everyone living on Hvar because of its wineyards, fields and querrys. |