The construction of the town fortress began after 1278, when Hvar was under the Venetian rule. The fortress with the town walls forms a unique defence system. In 1551, a new fortress was built on the site of the old one, and a few years later it provided shelter for the local residents from the Turk attacks. It was restored at the beginning of the 17th century during the reign of Prince Pietro Semitecolo, with the construction of the Baroque defensive bastions

Eight kilometres east of the town of Hvar, you will see a picturesque play of nature. Layers of limestone, interlined with layers of reddish breccia, that have, sometime in the distant geological Hvar history, risen vertically. The softer breccia deposits were washed away by the rain and the sea, leaving vertical cavities of a reddish colour, resembling a huge organ emerging from the seabed

The cultural and intellectual elite gathered in Hvar since ancient times. The Arsenal, which served as a shipyard for galleys, was built between 1292 and 1331, while the Hvar’s historic theatre takes up the second floor of the Arsenal building. The auditorium with boxes was built in 1803, when the Theatre Society was founded, and today’s neo-baroque appearance dates back to the mid-19th century. Two wall scenographies have been preserved, the 1819 fresco is still on the back wall of the stage, while the fresco depicting the duke’s court, dating from 1900, was restored and placed on movable panels