Explore Hvar

The Arsenal on Hvar's harbour was built between 1292 and 1331 as a shed for the commune's galley, extended in the 16th century and rebuilt after an Ottoman attack in 1571. In 1612 a public theatre was built on its first floor; the stage and auditorium with boxes seen today date from 1803 and were restored up to 2019.

Hvar Cathedral, dedicated to St. Stephen, closes the eastern end of St. Stephen's Square on the site of a 6th-century church and a later Benedictine convent. The three-aisled church combines Renaissance, Mannerist and early Baroque forms beside a 17th-century bell tower; inside are parts of a 14th-century Gothic church and a 15th-century pulpit.

The Franciscan monastery stands on a small peninsula at the eastern edge of Hvar town, begun in the late 15th century on the site of a chapel of the Holy Cross. Its church has a lunette statue of the Virgin by Nikola Firentinac and the tomb of the poet Hanibal Lucić; the refectory holds a Last Supper by Matteo Ponzoni.

Španjola Fortress, called Fortica in Hvar, stands on the hill north of the town and closes the line of the town walls. The Renaissance fortress was completed in 1551 on a site fortified since prehistory, with three semicircular bastions and a bastion added to the west in the early 17th century; its walls look over the town and harbour.