Hvar Cathedral, Hvar, Croatia - SpottingHistory.com

The most impressive building in Hvar is definitely the Cathedral of St. Stephen, standing on the eastern side of the city square, at the far end of the Pjaca, where two parts of the city meet. It was built on the site of an early 6th-century Christian church and a later Benedictine convent of St Mary.

The shrine of today's cathedral is the remains of a Gothic church from the 14th century. Its 15th-century pulpit, the stone polyptychs of St. Luke and The Flagellation of Christ, as well as the late Gothic crucifix, have all been preserved. St. Stephen's is a rather unremarkable triple-aisled church with a nice 17th-century bell tower, and is a harmonious synthesis of the Renaissance, manneristic and early Baroque styles so typical of the Dalmatian architecture of the 15th and 16th centuries.

References:

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User Reviews

Miro Miljković (13 months ago)
Very nice. Worth checking

Dario (2 years ago)
Nice square, best to photograph in the early morning or twilight for the lighting.

Karim Tarek Sorour (2 years ago)
One of the most impressive cathedrals in Central Europe. The whole square is great to walk around and enjoy.

Michael Gosden (2 years ago)
Beautiful cathedral and a lovely piazza with very pretty houses - especially at night when the lights are amazing!

David Bisset (2 years ago)
The cathedral is a good example of Dalmatian Renaissance with an adjoining romanesque bell tower. Inside the altars are mostly baroque with somewhat mediocre paintings. A great highlight is two ambos from the previous cathedral. The building is open in the morning and late afternoon; there is a small fee.

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The Broch of Gurness is an Iron Age broch village. Settlement here began sometime between 500 and 200 BC. At the centre of the settlement is a stone tower or broch, which once probably reached a height of around 10 metres. Its interior is divided into sections by upright slabs. The tower features two skins of drystone walls, with stone-floored galleries in between. These are accessed by steps. Stone ledges suggest that there was once an upper storey with a timber floor. The roof would have been thatched, surrounded by a wall walk linked by stairs to the ground floor. The broch features two hearths and a subterranean stone cistern with steps leading down into it. It is thought to have some religious significance, relating to an Iron Age cult of the underground.

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In the 9th century, a Norse woman was buried at the site in a stone-lined grave with two bronze brooches and a sickle and knife made from iron. Other finds suggest that Norse men were buried here too.

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