How would you feel waking up to such a view? We loved it so much, it was difficult to leave our balcony:
Flemming and I were going to visit Stari Grad, the oldest town in Croatia. The same year 384 BC when the Greek philoshoper Aristotel was born, the Greeks from the island of Paros settled the town on the island of Hvar, and named it Pharos.
We took a bus to Stari Grad, and began our day there from a healthy drink in one of the cafes. I had my favourite freshly pressed beetroot juice – it was delicious:
In that cafe, they had a glass for tips, called “karma box” 🙂 That was too much for my karma 🙂 but I loved their copper straws for drinks:
A good starting point for visit to this ancient town is Skor square from the 17th century, with old buildings of once noble families:
This square is often described as picturesque, but in fact, the other square of the St. Stephen church, was more beautiful, in my opinion. You’ll see pictures later in this blogpost.
Srinjo Kola, the oldest street of Stari Grad, from the times of the earlier settlers of the island:
Srinjo Kola was always the street of craftsmen and merchants, today there are art galleries and shops.
Tvrdalj Palace was built over a period of 50 years, in the 16th century by the Croatian poet Petar Hektorovic:
Petar Hektorovic was born and died in Stari Grad. He collected the songs of the Hvar’s fishermen and was an important figure in the Croatian literature of that period. Hektorovic was from a local noble family, he designed the villa himself in the Renaissance style. During the 16th century, the island of Hvar came under attack. Petar Hektorovic fortified his house so that it could act as shelter for the local citizens. Tvrdalj Palace today is a museum.
We had a stroll on the Riva, a seafront promenade where locals go to be seen (photo below). It is often described as “lined up with palm trees” – but as you can see, there were no palm trees. It was lined up with restaurants, but the best restaurants were inside the old town, according to the reviews.
Not all of them were open for lunch, but Antika was. Antika was a small restaurant recommended by Gault & Millau, and we didn’t regret. The staff was very kind and friendly, and our sea bass filet was great. Flemming especially liked the olive oil with homemade bread – it was really tasty:
More walking around after lunch brought us to the iconic Bell Tower at the Church of St. Stephen. It was built between the 9th and 10th centuries for the Bishop of Hvar. During the Ottoman raids, the church was heavily damaged, but rebuilt in the 1600s:
Flemming at the foot of the Bell Tower:
The church of St. Stephen is on the right on the picture below, but please note the building in front:
One of its doors (or gate) was repaired in a very special way:
The lower part was replaced (green colour), and the upper undamaged part was kept as it was. Very interesting, and we saw such reparations in several places.
In the late afternoon we took a bus back to Jelsa where we stayed. After a stroll on the Riva of Jelsa (that was lined up with palm trees, as promised), we decided to go for a swim.
Beaches in Croatia are oftenmost rocky:
But there would always be a swim ladder or something. It was so refreshing to come into the water!
In the evening we were back on our balcony, sipping cold champagne, talking about Stari Grad, and adoring the wonderful view of Jelsa we had.
