Villages along the coast are Brna, Račišće, Lumbarda and Prižba; Žrnovo, Pupnat, Smokvica and Čara are located inland.

Fast passenger catamarans connect those two ports with Split, Dubrovnik and the islands of Hvar, Lastovo and Mljet.

Greek artifacts, including carved marble tombstones can be found at the local Korčula town museum.

Roman villas appeared through the territory of Korčula and there is evidence of an organised agricultural exploitation of the land.

Along the Dalmatian coast the Slavic peoples including the Croats poured out of the interior and seized control of the area of the Neretva Delta, as well as the island of Korčula, which protects the river mouth.

The Christianisation of the Croats began in the 9th century, but the early Croatian rural inhabitants of the island may well have fully accepted Christianity only later; in the early Middle Ages the Croatian population of the island was grouped with the pagan Narentines or Neretvians, who quickly learned maritime skills in this new environment and became engaged in piracy against Venetian trade ships.

[citation needed] Initially, Venetian merchants were willing to pay an annual tribute to keep their shipping safe from the infamous Neretvian pirates of the Dalmatian coast.

Doge Pietro II Orseolo launched a naval expedition along the coast and assumed the title Duke of Dalmatia.

In the 12th century Korčula was conquered by a Venetian nobleman, Pepone Zorzi, and incorporated briefly into the Republic of Venice.

Around this time, the local Korčula rulers began to exercise diplomacy and legislate a town charter to secure the independence of the island, particularly with regard to internal affairs, given its powerful neighbors.

[citation needed] The brothers of Stephen Nemanja, Miroslav and Stracimir, launched an attack on the island on 10 August 1184, raiding its fertile western part.

[citation needed] In 1221, Pope Honorius III gave the island to the Princes of Krka (the Šubić family).

During the 13th century the hereditary Counts of Korčula were loosely governed in turn by the Hungarian crown and by the Republic of Genoa but also enjoyed a brief period of independence.

In 1255, however, Marsilio Zorzi conquered the island's capital and razed or damaged some of its churches in the process, forcing the Counts to return to Venetian suzerainty.

However the Kingdom of Hungary restored rule of the island, and in December 1396 Croatian-Hungarian King Sigismund gave it to Đurađ II Stracimirović of the Balšić dynasty of Zeta, who kept it up to his death in 1403, when it was returned under the Hungarian crown.

In 1571 it defended itself so gallantly against the Ottoman attackers at the Battle of Lepanto that it obtained the designation Fidelissima from Pope Pius V.[26] Korčula had for years supplied the timber for the wooden walls of Venice, and had been a favourite station of her fleets.

The Montenegrin Forces of vladika Petar I Petrović-Njegoš conquered the island with Russian naval assistance[27] in 1807 during his attempt to construct another Serbian Empire.

On 4 February 1813 however, British troops and naval forces under Thomas Fremantle captured the island from the French.

This short period of British rule left an important mark on the island; the new stone West quay was built, as well as a semi-circular paved terrace with stone benches on the newly built road towards Lumbarda, and a circular Martello tower, "forteca" on the St. Blaise's Hill above the town.

[31] After the Armistice of Cassibile between Italy and the Allied powers in September 1943, it was briefly held by the Yugoslav Partisans who enjoyed considerable support in the region.

[citation needed] The 17th century saw the rise of Petar Kanavelić who wrote love songs, occasional epic poems and dramas.

Over ten days a series of concerts and supporting events focus on Baroque music, promoting the richness of Korčula's cultural monuments and the whole town as a unique architectural treasure.

[42] The main Croatian ferry operator Jadrolinija runs a service linking Korčula Town with Rijeka, Split, Hvar, Mljet, Dubrovnik and (from May to September) Bari.