2017
Croatia includes more than 1,200 islands, rocks and reefs off its east coast, facing Italy 100 miles across the Adriatic sea. Only 48 of the islands are inhabited.
Split, Croatia’s second largest city, is situated on the Dalmatian Coast; just off its shoreline is Croatia’s fourth largest island, Hvar, situated at the center of the Adriatic sailing routes.
Hvar has always been an important base for commanding trade up and down the Adriatic, west across to Italy, and throughout the wider Mediterranean to the south. Inhabited since prehistoric times, initially by a Neolithic people whose distinctive pottery gave name to the Hvar culture, and later by the Illyrians. The ancient Greeks founded the colony of Pharos in 384 BC on Hvar’s Stari Grad, making it one of the oldest towns in Europe. They were also responsible for setting out the agricultural field divisions of the Stari Grad Plain, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In medieval times Hvar city rose to importance within the Venetian Empire as a major naval base. Prosperity brought culture and the arts, with one of the first public theaters in Europe, nobles’ palaces, and many fine communal buildings.
The 16th century was an unsettled time, with the Hvar Rebellion, coastal raids by pirates and the Ottoman army invading from the mainland. After a brief time under Napoleonic rule, the island became part of the Austrian Empire, a more peaceful and prosperous period.
About 1900, construction of accommodations for visitors began to grow. Since then, the island’s growth has developed into an almost continual expansion of hotels, apartments, restaurants, marinas, museums, galleries and cafes. Today, Hvar is a popular destination, consistently listed in the ‘top 10 Islands’ by Conde Nast Traveler magazine.
With classic Mediterranean weather and ancient architecture, the islands off Split are beautiful, and so very interesting.
