Island Hvar - Crystal blue sea, marvellous bays and pebble beaches, mild climate, lush vegetation, vineyards, olive groves, endless fields of lavander, historical and cultural sights make the island of Hvar, undoubtedly, the most beautiful island...
The island of Hvar was put among the ten most beautiful islands in 1997 by the Traveller Magazine.
Due to its geographical position Hvar was a place at the important sea route since the ancient times, where different cultures interweaved and influenced each other, and finally left traces to the present day...
Due to a mild climate, lots of sun, variety of hotel-and-catering centres with sport and recreational offer, many tourists visit Hvar both in summer and winter. Warm summers and gentle and moist winters enable Hvar to be one of the most attractive health resorts.

Georaphical position

Hvar belongs to the central island group of the Adriatic and it is the longest of the Adriatic islands. It is 67,5 km long and a maximum of 10,5 km in width. There are 11,459 inhabitants:

HVAR - 3650 inhabitants
JELSA - 1800 inhabitants
STARI GRAD - 1800 inhabitants

Hvar is an island with the highest average of sunny hours on the Adriatic coast. During winter, Hvar has an average temperature of 9°C while in summer temperature is 25°C.

The islanders make their living mostly of tourism, viticulture, olive growing and above all, growing of rosemary and lavander, and fishing...

Thanks to its position  at the ancient sea route, Hvar has richer history than any other island on the Adriatic. Constant fights for the island confirm its importance and value of its territory... All its conquerers have left their trace in history, a seal for the future...

Gastronomy

Take a walk along the sunniest Mediterranean island and enjoy the scent of spices and taste of fruits enriched in traditional Mediterranean kitchen by diligent Hvar people... Authenticity and unpolluted environment of the island of Hvar are the guarantee of top quality products and at the same time, blessing to the development of traditional Mediterranean kitchen. With so much love for the natural resources and a little bit of creativity your meal becomes a hedonistic ritual... Enjoy your meal! (more on culinary art)

Traditional dishes on the island of Hvar, and in Dalmatia in general, are recognized by modern nutritionists.
Food not overcooked, fresh fish and sea food, virgin olive oil, vegetables and wild grown plants out of an untoxicated area, when we take into consideration highly toxicated food in highly developed industrial countries, fit in Hippocrat's basic norms: "Let the food be your medicine, and your medicine to be the food you take".

Fresh sea fish (dentex, sea bass, gilthead, grouper, mackerel, pilchard) grilled, cooked or marinated; squids, cuttlefish, octopus, crabs (shrimps and lobsters), shellfish (mussels, oysters, Noah's ark) prepared as a fish soup or risotto, Dalmatian smoked ham (prsut) served with fresh or dried goat cheese, green and black olives, caper and small onion, lamb cooked or roasted, famous pasticada with gnocchi... these are some of the dishes you can taste and enjoy in numerous restaurants in Hvar.

Boiled vegetables are favorite dish (Swisschard with potatoes, tomato sauce).
Very often you can have a mixture of vegetables and wild grown plants with olive oil and basil vinegar served with cooked lamb.

Typical desserts in Hvar will enchant you with its simplicity and rich taste. Common ingredients are Mediterranean fruit (dried fig, raisins, almond), honey and fresh eggs; and rafioli, mandulati, smokvenjaci, paprenjaci and rozata (traditional names of cakes) can be taken with prosek (sherry), a sweet product of wine.

Variations of dishes prepared according to the traditional recipes, virgin olive oil and high-quality wines are simply irresistable and will guarantee you the highest gastronomic pleasure.

Wine production

As well as other islands of the middle and south Adriatic the island of Hvar is rich in autochthonous grape sorts out of which high quality wines are being produced in a traditional way. Manual work, no pesticides used and small yiels per wine-stock turn a grape into a drop of gold... (more on wine production...)

In the 4th century B.C. the Greeks started an organized production of grape during the colonization of the island of Hvar. The very beginning was on Stari Grad plain due to the vicinity of commercial and administrative town of Pharos.

Having conquered the whole island two centuries later,  the Romans began to spread the area of viticulture on every piece of fertile land and therefore upgraded wine production. From that time to the present day the grape has a direct influence on development on the island and remains an unavoidable companion  of a man being his food, drink and joy.
It is no coincidence that the wine production on the island of Hvar has developed beyond imaginable. The island of Hvar has an Adriatic climate influenced a great deal by the Mediterranean, mild winters, warm summers with long insolation. Favorable precipitation throughout a year and low humidity in the period of ripening have a good influence on the growth of grape and at the same time prevents the plant disease. Nowhere in this part of Europe there is a place that has a total sum of temperature during vegetation period so high as the island of Hvar has (294 days of vegetation × 20,4°C average temp. = 5936).
Long insolation of the island of Hvar is also significant for the growth of grape.
Top quality wines are being produced out of the sort plavac mali from the slopes on the southern part of the island. A yield of grape from this area is not more than 0,7 kg per wine stock. Top quality wine plavac has a characteristic intensive dark ruby red colour, rich essence, relatively high percentage of alcohol, moderate sourness (freshness), fullness and harmony of taste.
Quality wines  plavac are being produced from the vineyards of the central part of the island. Those wines are also exquisite and of intensive ruby red colour, pleasant, fresh and finely made.
Along with top quality and quality wines, dessert wines (prosecco) and porto wine of 17 to 19 % of alcohol are being produced.

Health tourism

The health tourism on the island of Hvar has a long tradition. Due to favorable climate with lots of sun, warm summers and mild winters, health tourism was developed even in 1868.

That was the year when "The Hygienic Society" was established in order to promote tourism and catering.That was also the first tourist society in Europe.

We have this tradition even today. Crystal blue sea, oasis of the intact nature, odour of lavander and the sun make this island irreplaceble for health tourism...

Herbs are gentle helpers to our health and, although their appear gentle they have a strong effect on our body.
During a pleasant walk visitors will get to know the flora of the island of Hvar, especially herbs containing essential oils (sage, chamomile, thyme, fennel, blackberry, lavander, rosemary) growing wide-spread on the island of Hvar.

Naturism

As a well-indented, with numerous hidden bays and nearby islets, the island of Hvar represents a real heaven for naturists... It is not only the beaches for naturists, but many isolated bays, so beautiful that take your breath away...
The islet of Zecevo is situated at the very entrance to Jelsa. The intact nature, pebble beaches overshadowed by pine trees, only 15 minutes by a taxi boat which takes you every day from Jelsa...

On the opposite side of the islet there is the Glavice peninsula, far and wide known among both naturists and other swimmers. Everyone can find its own peaceful spot, away from the bustle of the city. Near the Glavice, ashore, there is a nudist camp - NUDIST-Vrboska.

In front of the Hvar port extends the archipelago of 11 islands called the Pakleni otoci. They are destination for many excursionists who wish to relax amid the intact nature and the crystal blue sea. You can reach them by taxi boats which travel every day from the town of Hvar. Jerolim, Stipanska and Palmizana are among favorite naturist beaches on the Pakleni islands.

Folk customs

The procession "za Krizem" (following the Cross) 

Among folk customs, the most interesting are island processions during the Holy Week, especially the procession "za Krizem" which takes place at night from Maunday Thursday to Good Friday in the circle of six parishes: Jelsa, Pitve, Vrisnik, Svirce, Vrbanj and Vrboska.

It began as a petinent's procession after the miracle in 1510 when tears of blood were shed from the small cross in Hvar.

The processions from all six parishes begin on the stroke of midnight in the direction of sun's circle, so that they do not meet each other, as this would be a sign of misfortune according to popular belief.

The selected bearers of the cross lead the procession, barefoot and dressed in white tunics like all brotherhood members.

The choir sing in procession the impressive melodious song "Crying of Our Lady" from the 15th century.

History

Since Hvar lay in the middle of the main sea routes, history has left here many traces, maybe more than on any other Adriatic island. Constant fights over the island can only confirm its importance and value of its territory.. Each of the conquistadors left their traces in the history, a mark for the future...
The history of the island goes back into the prehistoric period, and the finds from two most important caves prove that: Grapceva and Markova špilja (caves) substantiate the existence of life on the island 6000 years old. Characteristic examples of painted pottery enabled us to identify the so-called Hvar culture (around 3500 to 2500 BC). The oldest depiction of a ship in Europe was found on a pottery fragment in Grapceva spilja.

The town of Pharos was founded in 385 BC by the Ionian Greeks, the Parans, predominantly as an agrarian colony. The map of land division of the fertile plain of Stari Grad is an exceptional document 2500 years old and belongs to that period. It is today one of 3 oldest plains in the world with preserved Greek land division.

After the fall of the Syracuse Empire in the middle of the 4th century BC, Pharos was without protection from invasion by the Illyrians. Pharos came under the rule of the Romans in 219 BC and was called Pharia. In the period of the Roman rule villae rusticae were built over the whole island, mostly in the town of Hvar, Stari Grad and around the present-day Jelsa.

In the early Middle Ages Hvar was under Croatian auspicies. In 1420 Hvar came under the Venetians and remained so until the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797. Hvar became the main Venetian port in the eastern part of the Adriatic. Later on Hvar came under the Austrian rule (1797) until the arrival of the French (1806), and their constant fight marked that period.

The Austrians reoccupied the island in the 2nd half of the 19th century and in the beginning of the 20th century bringing a period of relative prosperity. Around that time all the island ports were rebuilt. Its prominence in nautical and trade domination became quite large, so in that period there were four consulates in the town of Hvar: Greek, Parmesan, Papal and Napolitan.
The first meteorological station in Croatia was established in the tower of the monastery of Veneranda in 1858. Weather conditions helped to promote tourism on Hvar. As a result, the first tourist society in Europe was founded in 1868.

In 1918 the Italian army occupied the island and the occupation lasted until 1921, when Hvar, along with the whole of Croatia, joined the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, succeeded by the Republic of Yugoslavia after the Second World War.

Hvar obtained a new administrative position in the territorial reorganisation that took place after the recognition of Croatia as an independent state (1992)...

Outstanding palaces and churches, valuable paintings and sculptures, important literal and music works have been created over a long period, and still the artists find the inexhaustible inspiration in the beautiful island...
Hanibal Lucic, Petar Hektorovic, Vinko Pribojevic, Miksa Pelegrinovic... only a few of the protagonists of the Croatian culture who lived and worked on the island.

Interesting things

HVAR

is the sunniest place in Europe. It has 2700 hours of sunshine a year. During winter, if it snows guests have a free stay during snowy days...

THE ORIGINS OF THE TUDOR NAME IN MILNA

According to the legend, an English war ship sank near Hvar and one member of the English Royal family Tudor saved himself swimming ashore. He could have gone back to England, but wouldn't have left the beauty of Hvar.

THE NAME OF THE ISLAND

Is Greek in origin, from Pharos and from it the Romans derived the name Pharia. The Dalmatian Romans, under the influence of Croatian pronunciation in the medieval documents spelt the name as Quara. In the 11th century the Italians called it Lesina. This was derived from an old Croatian word les meaning wood. The Venetians called the island Liesna which meant "awl". It is probably because of the form of cutting edge of the eastern part of the island...

STARI GRAD

is the oldest town in Europe founded by the Greeks from the island of Paros in 384 BC.

THE ROMAN TAURIDA

stood on the site of the present-day islet of Scedro. Just in front of that islet in 47 BC there was a historical battle in which Caesar's fleet beat the Pompey's fleet...

THE OLDEST DEPICTION OF SHIP

in Europe is on the pottery fragment found in the Grapceva spilja. Some people believe that the Grapceva spilja was a place where Odysseus fought against Cyclops. The fragments from the legend: "...That was the land of the Cyclops about which Odysseus knew nothing. He just moored and saw a cave overshadowed by a laurel tree and a huge stone protected the entrance. There lived Cyclops, all by himself..."

THE FIRST METEOROLOGICAL STATION

was founded in 1858. It was established in the tower of the monastery of Veneranda. Today we have one of the most beautiful disco clubs inside the monastery.

IVAN VUCETIC

a police official from Hvar, was the first person in the world to perfect dactyloscopy, the identification method by fingertips, the basics for forensics.

HERAKLEA

Some archeologists suppose that a still unidentified Heraklea might have existed on the site of present-day Hvar town, as could be indicated by the coins founded bearing the name of that town...

HVAR

has the astronomical observatory in the fort of Napoljun, built by the Emperor Napoleon in 1811...

HVAR

has the oldest communal theatre in Europe built in 1612..

THE BENEDICTINES

in Hvar are very famous for making lace out of agava threads. There is a legend connected to the agava threads saying that the Neolithic man, who inhabited the Grapceva spilja, caught fish by a net made out of agava threads...

ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS PAINTINGS OF THE LAST SUPPER

is the one by Matteo Ponzoni, in the Franciscan monastery in Hvar...

THE TRADITION OF TOURISM

on the island of Hvar is 130 years old. The first hotel was opened in 1903. It was named the Queen Elizabeth, but was later renamed in the Palace hotel...

DURING WINTER,

if it snows guests have a free stay during snowy days...

IN ORDER TO PROMOTE HEALTH TOURISM

on the island, in 1868 was founded "The Hygienic Society" of Hvar - the first tourist society in Europe.

THE SQUARE OF HVAR, THE PJACA,

is the largest and perhaps the most beautiful town square on the Adriatic...

"QUEENS WATER"

is the Hvar's most famous product. It is the pure distillation of rosemary oil, made out of the young, upper parts of the plant. It has also been produced in pharmacy.

HVAR

is also the island of the pink fields of lavander. From the first twigs found in Velo Grablje, this aromatic plant developed all over the fields of Hvar. It blossoms in June, July and August. The medical part of the plant are flowers which should be picked as soon as they blossom.