Hvar

HVAR is with its 300 square metres the fourth largest island in the area with the population of 11,459. The road which links the town of Hvar with Sućurje at the eastern end of the island is 84 km long. The high plateau between St. Nicholas hill (626 m) and Hum (603 m) which extends from Sv. Nedjelja to Jelsa and is partly under pine woods and partly under arable land is marked by distinctive beauty and a fresh climate. The flat part of the island between Stari Grad, Vrboska and Jelsa is covered with vineyards which produce up to 50,000 hectoliters of wine per year.

The island of Hvar was populated already in the prehistoric times (caves Grapceva and Po-krivenik, with painted pottery). The island was later inhabited by the Illyrians, who came into conflict with the Greek colonizers in the 4th century BC. Numerous tumuli on the island are of Illyrian origin. Similar as the islands of Korcula and Vis, Hvar accepted the Greek settlers but was the only one that had an Ionic settlement (Pharos, today Stari Grad). The remains of the ancient colony include parts of walls, graves with pottery of Apulian origin and numerous inscriptions. Hvar played an important role in the Roman-Illyrian conflicts, when its rulers (Demetrije Hvaranin) tried to preserve its independence. In Roman times Hvar lost its earlier importance. On the collapse of the Roman Empire, Hvar came under the Byzantine rule, as well as the entire Dalmatia. In the 7th century it came under the Nerentani (Narentini), with whom it joined the Kingdom of Croatia in the 11th century. In the following centuries Hvar recognized the sovereignty of the Croatian-Hungarian ruler, the Bosnian King Tvrtko, the Split Duke Hrvoje, the Dubrovnik Republic, Venice (1278-1797, with an interruption in the period 1358-1420), France and Austria. After the First World War, together with the entire Dalmatia, it was annexed to Croatia. In the 16th and the 17th centuries Hvar was a prominent centre of the Croatian literature (Petar Hektorovic, Hanibal Lucic). The town of Hvar and other towns and villages on the island have numerous architectural and cultural monuments, which bear witness to outstanding artistic traditions of the island, the economic prosperity of its population and the relations Hvar used to maintain with cultural centres of the past centuries.

Most of the villages developed around Velo Polje; larger places are found along the coast (Hvar, Stari Grad, Jelsa, Vrboska). Economy is based on tourism, farming, viticulture, olive growing and especially on cultivation of rosemary and lavender; fishing is an additional occupation of the rural population.

Tourism is especially developed in the town of Hvar and in Jelsa.

The island is characterised by gentle winters, warm summers and many hours of sunshine (2,718 hours of sunshine a year) making it the sunniest island in the Adriatic. The air temperature in the winter months is 9.1°C, an average air temperature in January is 8.4°C and in July 24.8°C. The average annual air temperature is around 16.5° C. Autumns tend to be warmer than springs.

Major places on the island are connected by the regional road (Hvar - Stari Grad - Jelsa - Bogomolje - Sucuraj). There are ferry lines via Hvar, Sucuraj, Stari Grad and the cove of Vira and Split.

Modern marinas are built in Vrboska and on the Pakleni Islands.