A commune, part of the Venetian Empire during the 13th to 18th centuries, it was an important naval base with a strong fortress above, encircling the town walls and protecting the port.

[4] Cultural life thrived as prosperity grew, and Hvar is the site of one of the oldest surviving theatres in Europe, opened in 1612.

[7] The port of Hvar, set in a picturesque natural bay, with the Pakleni Otoci island chain protecting it to the south, is a safe haven for boats year round.

The mountain range that stretches the length of the island acts as an effective barrier between Hvar town and the settlements to the north.

The modern Stari Grad to Hvar road, with its new tunnel which was opened in the year 2000,[9] now provides quick and easy access between the north and south.

Hvar town enjoys a sunny Mediterranean climate, typical of the southern Adriatic, with mild wet winters and hot dry summers.

[13] The ancient Greeks founded the settlement of Faros (384 BC) on the north of the island, from where they could control the fertile agricultural area, now known as the Stari Grad Plain.

The Venetians commissioned the construction of a new fortress, town walls, public buildings, and with the new prosperity, villages were gradually established along the nearby coastline.

During this time, Hvar was the centre of the economic, political and cultural life on the island, and played an important role in Venetian shipping.

The 16th century was a return to more unsettled times, with persistent conflicts between the nobles and citizens, and repeated attacks from the Ottoman Empire, now occupying the mainland.

In previous times, the fleets were the Venetian navy, or merchant traders from round the Mediterranean, North Africa and the Black Sea, even as far afield as up the Atlantic coast.

Along with independent Dubrovnik, Hvar was an important centre of early Croatian literature, as well as for architecture, sculpture, painting and music.

Well-known Croatian cultural figures such as Hanibal Lucić, Petar Hektorović, Vinko Pribojević, Mikša Pelegrinović, Martin Benetović and Marin Gazarović lived and worked on Hvar in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The permanent display contains the most valuable paintings, sculptures and prints from the collection, and temporary exhibitions are organised within the Museum project Summer of Fine Arts in Hvar.

Other galleries, such as Lođa, Zvijezda Mora, Anuncijata, and Skorpion also host special exhibitions, and museums offer archaeological and historical displays.

Within the walls, the public buildings and palaces combine Venetian architectural style, with a distinct local flavour in materials and workmanship.

This town square is the largest in Dalmatia at 4,500 m2 (48,000 sq ft), and was fully paved in 1780 when this section of the original bay was filled in.

This was the site of an earlier church and medieval Benedictine monastery, which became a cathedral when the Bishopric of Hvar was moved from Stari Grad in the 13th century.

Today, the interior of the loggia is decorated in a neo-Renaissance style and serves as a reception hall and exhibition room for the Hotel Palace, and also for the town of Hvar.

[5] In 1795 the Venetian District Governor Marco Dandalo finished the building of Mandrac by putting Baroque pyramids on the walls around it.

On the cape to the south of the town lies the Franciscan Monastery with a church of Our Lady of Mercy, built in the late 15th century.

Ljetnikovac Hanibala Lucića (Hanibal Lucić's Summer Residence) lies in the fields outside the town walls, to the east.

Fontik (grain warehouse) was built in 1612 along the northern front of the Arsenal and also a big terrace above it, called Belvedere, from which the theatre, founded the same year, was entered.

In the mid-19th century the complex was sold to the renowned natural scientist Grgur Bučić, who founded one of the first weather stations in Croatia in 1858.

In the nearby street, insurgents swore to kill all the local noblemen which was why the wooden crucifix cried in blood in the house of Bevilaqua on 6 February, according to a legend.

The relief of the Annunciation is in the Renaissance lunette above the portal, made under the stylistic influence of Niccolò di Giovanni Fiorentino.

Church of St. Mary was built in the 15th century as a single-naved Gothic building, at the place of the earlier chapel of the Holy Cross.

Inside the lunette of the main portal is a sculpture of the Madonna with Child, the work of Niccolò di Giovanni Fiorentino, set up in 1465–1471.

Originally in the defensive system of the city walls, Clock Tower (Leroj) used to belong to the Duke's Palace complex, which was pulled down at the end of the 19th century.

In 1870, the owner, doctor Dominik Gazzari changed the façade and the palace got its present look in the 19th century on the basis of Vičenco Kovačević's design.