What to see in Stari Grad on Hvar

Stari Grad is a town on the island of Hvar in Croatia. It lies in Split-Dalmatia County, and the locals call it Stori Grod. It is situated on the western part of the island of Hvar, at the bottom of the Starogradska bay. The patron saint of this little town is Saint Roch. A church in Stari Grad is also dedicated to him.

Stari Grad has a rich history and we must mention it

Stari Grad was the ancient Greek city of Faros, founded at the beginning of the 99th Olympiad of antiquity, that is, in 384 BC. It is assumed that it was founded by Greek settlers from the island of Paros in the Aegean Sea.

Historians consider that with the founding of the city of Faros urban civilisation began in the Croatian lands and that Faros is the oldest city on the territory of today's Croatia.

From the establishment of the Diocese of Hvar in 1147 until the founding of the new town of Hvar in 1278, the seat of the diocese was also at today's Stari Grad, that is, the bishop resided in Stari Grad.

For several centuries Stari Grad was under Venetian rule, until Napoleon's conquests. It was part of the Illyrian Provinces. After Napoleon's fall it became part of the Habsburg Monarchy, and after the Austro-Hungarian, that is the Croatian-Hungarian, compromise it found itself in the Austrian part of Austria-Hungary. It had a turbulent history, so that even after the First World War, within a few years, it was under Italian occupation.

Historical upheavals did not bypass this town, so instead of describing the whole sequence of events, we will move on to more recent history and say that with Croatia's independence Stari Grad also became part of today's Croatia.

It was not spared during the Greater Serbian aggression either, but Stari Grad survived that hardship too. Today it has become a tourist town that many people love to visit.

Stari Grad offers numerous events

Among the events worth singling out are: the Wild Flower Festival, the Stari Grad Summer Performances, the Days of Hungarian-Croatian Culture, the Evening of kantonjo and Don šparogih.

Among the events of this little town we should especially highlight the celebration of the anniversary of the founding of Stari Grad under the name "Utemeljiteljima u čast, precima u spomen", which is held with the mass "Združenim precima u spomen".

Tourism in Stari Grad

Here we would like to continue our writing in the context of the portal and write a few sentences about the first steps of tourism in Stari Grad.

If we leave out the myths and turn to the well-known written history, we can say that tourism in this area is mentioned at the beginning of the 20th century.

Namely, 1920 can be singled out as the year tourism began in this town, when Stari Grad got its first hotel, called "Mosorska vila". The hotel had about fifteen rooms, a restaurant and several city restaurants.

A town bathing area was set up in the bay of St Jerome, and in 1929 the first guide to the town was printed, published by the "Society for the Improvement and Advancement of Stari Grad". Stari Grad primarily promoted its ancient past and archaeological heritage, continuing the tradition of archaeological tourism.

Only in the 1960s were tourist facilities built intensively, mainly new hotels and private accommodation. Later Stari Grad experienced another stagnation, again because of the wars that affected it, but today there is an obvious need for ever greater accommodation capacities. The unhappy times are behind us, and the view of the future shows us a brighter picture for the little town on the island of Hvar.

Many people like to visit this place, both because of its beautiful beaches and especially its sunny location, and because of the historic buildings and monuments that speak of the city's turbulent past.

Beaches in Stari Grad