Dominican Monastery

The Dominican monastery of St. Peter Martyr was established in 1481 by friar German of Piacenza. After the Turkish invasion of the Island of Hvar it was fortified with two round towers. The church itself, rebuilt in 1896, holds the tomb of the great Croatian poet Petar Hektorović and his mother Katarina. Verses written by Hektorović in Croatian language are carved into the stone above the entrance doors to the church. The monastery’s numerous works of art can be found on church altars. The most valuable of them by far is “Lamentation of Christ” by Venetian master Jacopo Tintoretto, once adorning the Hektorović’s altar in the church. The museum holds the oldest Greek inscriptions ever found on Croatian soil, testifying to the turbulent life of the Greek town of Pharos, from 4^th – 2^nd century BC. The monastery is also home to a large library with manuscripts and incunabula (first printed books), and part of this literary treasure is exhibited in the monastery’s museum