Authentic Hvar
Hvar is full of delights, some shared with other parts of Dalmatia, while many are specific to Hvar island. Here we present a selection of extra special places to visit. These three villages represent different aspects of Hvar’s past and present lifestyle: Humac is a dormitory village which is only used seasonally; Malo Grablje used to be a permanent settlement, but was largely abandoned during the last century; Zastražišće is still a residential village with a working population.
All three are made up of the stone houses and outbuildings typical of Hvar and Dalmatia. The buildings themselves are representative, in the way the houses are grouped or spaced; the various styles of the buildings, which reflect whether they were peasant homes or built for elite noble families; the doors, windows, internal layout and facilities; every detail marks the function of each part of each building. Hvar’s historic old stone houses are good examples of the materials and architecture most suited to the island conditions.
These three villages are being preserved to maintain their historic charm, while being restored in keeping with the changed needs of present times. They offer the visitor the chance to glimpse how life was on Hvar in the past – tough for the peasantry, easy for the nobility, but with the perennial backdrop of threats from invading marauders. The modern visitor can marvel at the relics of history, while enjoying the peace, joy and beauty of the environment, which have survived the passing centuries.
HUMAC
About the village:
Situated some 350 metres above sea level and 10 km east of Jelsa, Humac grew up in about the 15th century as a shepherds’ settlement, but in the last few centuries, as the surrounding land was turned to agriculture, it has served as seasonal housing for the villagers of Vrisnik who traditionally farm the fields to this day. The fact that there is no cemetery attached to the village shows that it was never permanently inhabited. There is no mains electricity or water supply. Its rustic charm has been well preserved, and Humac is now a designated eco-ethno village.
How to get there:
You can get there by car or bicycle along the main road between Jelsa and Sućuraj, the turning for Humac is marked, and you can drive right up to the village and park there. If you have a suitable off-road vehicle you can drive along the ridge which runs across the top of the island. You can join this macadam track just before the entrance to the Pitve-Zavala tunnel, where it turns off to the right, if you come from the Pitve side. This track is also suitable for long-distance walkers. Because of its height above sea level, it offers wondrous, diverse views of the hills, valleys and sea along the way.
What there is to see:
* historic, charming stone houses, some beautifully restored, some still in ruins; all show the priorities of past times: conserving water was a basic essential; none of the houses had a bathroom; in the communal courtyards, there were grape presses, and usually a bread oven: there was much communal living and sharing of basic facilities.
* beautiful views across sweeping landscapes and seascapes.
* spectacular sunsets.
* night sky: with no street lighting, Humac is perfect for watching the stars. Because of its lack of light pollution, in 2020 it was chosen as the location for a meteor camera, alongside a meteorological station.
What you can visit: – the village is well signposted
* In the village there is a charming, beautifully restored parish church; also a little museum featuring tools and memorabilia from local life in past times. The keys to the church and museum are held in the restaurant, Konoba Humac.
* A short walk out of the village, up a gentle hill there is a telescope which gives amazing magnified views of the seascapes and landscapes around Hvar, across to Brač and the mainland.
* On the edge of the village is the mill where lavender and other herbal plants are processed into oils.
* About half an hour’s walk from the village is the Grabak Cave (Grapčeva špilja) with spectacular stalactites and stalagmites, dating way back to Neolithic times. There are regular tours during the summer months which you can book into.
Where you can eat:
The Konoba Humac is a family run restaurant, with a well-earned excellent reputation. The owners cultivate olives, grapes and strawberry trees, which are certified organic, as they have long been fully committed to organic agriculture. Please note, meals have to be ordered in advance. (The restaurant is also on Facebook) Contact phone no.: +385 (0)91 523 94 63.
If you want to stay:
Several of the houses have been beautifully restored as guest houses for summer rentals, perfect for anyone wanting a secluded retreat. Here you can find peace for rest and relaxation; a base for exploring the exquisite natural surroundings; or an inspiring environment in which to write or paint.
Special events:
Humac’s patron saints are Ss. John and Paul, so the village feast day is celebrated on June 26th with mass in the little chapel, followed by the feasting and revelries common to all Hvar’s saints’ days.
The village has been revitalized under the Adristorical Project, an EU-funded initiative run by local associations committed to renovating abandoned settlements and re-purposing them, in particular turning them into select, high-quality destinations for tourists and cultural events. In the summer, Humac is well equipped to play host to special themed outdoor events, such as the 2014 gastro festival featuring typical local dishes from each of the six villages covered by the Adristorical Project (to get a flavour of the event, you can watch the video: ‘Zemlja čudesa, projekt Adristorical – Humac‘ but it is in Croatian); and the 2015 ethno festival featuring a book promotion for legendary mountaineer Stipe Božić, an outdoor art exhibition, a trip to the Grapćeva Cave, and gastronomic specialities of local dishes and wines (video ‘Humac – Hvar Etno Festival‘- in Croatian).
MALO GRABLJE
About the village:
Malo Grablje, which is about 6 km from Hvar Town, lies in a wooded hollow at a distance of 2 km above Milna on Hvar’s south coast, and 2 km below Velo Grablje to the north, and is 2 metres above sea level.
There are traces of human presence from prehistoric times near the village, most notably in Babin’s Cave on the Motokit Hill and another cave above the Pardikovine valley. The first known written record mentioning Malo Grablje dates from 1539, while the earlier bigger settlement of Velo Grablje dates from the 15th century, when people moved there from the central part of Hvar. It is thought that Malo Grablje was founded by the Ozori patrician family. In its earliest days the inhabitants of Malo Grablje mainly kept livestock, but later agriculture took over, with vines and olives as the main crops. At the end of the 19th century pyrethrum and rosemary were cultivated, the former to be processed as a natural insecticide, the latter for distillation into oil. After World War II, the area around Malo Grablje was increasingly planted with lavender. In 1853 Malo Grablje was officially recorded as containing 10 houses, 13 families, 10 mules, 1 donkey, 72 goats and 104 sheep. In 1910, there were 178 residents registered in Malo Grablje, the maximum recorded.
At the height of its prosperity, Malo Grablje had a library and a school. Its parish church, dedicated to St. Theodore (known locally as St. Tudor), dates from 1882. As in many other Hvar villages, the population declined as agriculture became less profitable. Malo Grablje, uniquely, was totally abandoned by about 1967, but not because its agriculture became unsustainable. The residents mainly settled a couple of kilometres to the south in the coastal village of Milna, which they developed for tourism. Land plots in Milna had been bought during one of Malo Grablje’s phases of prosperity in 1905, and distributed to the village’s residents. Milna was a minor tourist destination from the 1920s, and the 1960s offered the local people the chance to develop their tourist activities on a serious level. This was much more lucrative than agriculture. After that, just one resident, Berti Tudor, returned to set up a restaurant in Malo Grablje, which became the nucleus of a different kind of tourist activity in Malo Grablje. Like Humac, Malo Grablje is an eco-ethno village, which has benefited from EU funding to help the village’s revitalization through the Adristorical Project.
How to get there:
By road: from the south, near the turning for Milna, the road to Malo Grablje off the main road (116) is clearly marked – this is also the way up by foot; from the north, off the old road (6252) between Stari Grad and Hvar Town, you turn down to Velo Grablje, go through that village and on to Malo Grablje. The road is asphalted all the way between the two main roads. For hikers, there is a good long walk down from the Vidikovac Levanda Restaurant on the old (6252) road, which is signposted and takes you down to Velo Grablje, where, instead of following the asphalted road, you can take the old footpath to Malo Grablje, which starts to the left of the road as you leave Velo Grablje, and is signposted.
What there is to see:
Malo Grablje nestles inside wooded hills, and has a magical atmosphere, enhanced by the peace and solitude of its abandoned houses. The old well and the paths have been restored under the Adristorical Project, and some houses are being renovated. There are relics from past times, most notably a large, apparently still viable olive press in one of the houses.
What you can visit:
Motokit Hill at 335 metres above sea level offers phenomenal views over land and sea. There is a cross at the peak, made of cypress wood, which was placed there in 1993 by Jakov Tudor Lovre-Lorenca, and consecrated by Hvar’s Bishop Slobodan Štambuk. This cross replaced one erected by Ivica Tomičić on Maundy Thursday 1985, on the site of a previous wooden cross which had burned in a big fire on 27th July 1984 – it is said that when the original cross burned it diverted the fire from engulfing the village of Velo Grablje. The Motokit peak can be reached by a footpath leading off from Malo Grablje, which is signposted. Heading north away from Milna, the path is to the right, leading fairly gently uphill. There is a separate path, more suitable for rock-climbers, which peels off to the right of the main path to head upwards over very stony ground. Before reaching the Motokit peak, there is a turning off for the Neolithic Babin’s Cave, which is even harder to access.
Where you can eat:
Stori Komin, run by Malo Grablje’s first ‘returnee’ Berti Tudor, is highly recommended for its ambiance and Dalmatian cuisine. It operates mainly in the summer, but meals can be arranged for groups at other times of the year. Contact mobile number for Berti Tudor: 00 385 (0)91 527 6408.
If you want to stay:
Villa Fulmin, run by members of Malo Grablje’s Tudor family from their former family home, offers 4-star luxury accommodation in the village. Contact details: 00 385 (0)21 745 002; mobile nos.: 00 385 (0)99 691 5353, or (0)91 501 9552.
Special events:
* Saint Theodore’s feast day on February 17th is still celebrated in Malo Grablje, when mass is said in the church, after which there is feasting and merriment. Apart from that, the church is usually opened just twice in the year, on the first Sunday in May and the first Sunday in October.
* Malo Grablje is one of the locations of some of the outdoor events within the Hvar summer festival.
ZASTRAŽIŠĆE
About the village:
About 19 km east of Jelsa and 32 km west of Sućuraj on the eastern tip of Hvar Island, Zastražišće spreads out over a wide area, as it consists of a conglomeration of several little settlements: Mola Bonda (called Zaninovići in the Cadastar records), Kuzmičićev dvor, Jerkov dvor, Podstronje, Donje Polje, Grudac, as well as Vela Stiniva by the sea. The village dates back mainly to the 15th century, although the area around the village is known to have been populated in the early Stone Age. Numerous Antique and Late Antique artefacts have been found there. Saint Barbara’s chapel in Mola Bonda was built on the site of an older 14th century church, and later reconstructed in medieval times.
The first inhabitants of the village most likely came from the settlements further west, from Pitve, Vrisnik, Vrbanj, Svirče, Jelsa and Vrboska. Mainly shepherds at first, they later turned more to farming the surrounding land. Hvar’s patrician families were granted ownership of most of the land, such as the Zečić family (15th century), the Anđelović family from the 17th to the 19th centuries. Patrician houses in the village were grander than the normal: the Anđelinović family constructed two defensive towers on their properties in 1624, to protect against Turkish attacks. One of them has been preserved and is now privately owned by a villager, while the other has been destroyed.
The first known population record in 1673 shows that there were 40 families totalling 287 residents. The numbers rose to 638 in 1931, declining to 177 by the time of the 2011 census. The parish church of St. Nicholas probably dates from the 16th century at the earliest. Small at first, it was enlarged by stages, reaching its present size in the late 18th century. The hill above Zastražišće, Vela Glova, was originally named Stražišće, meaning ‘sentinel post’, because of its strategic position at 316 metres above sea level. It is the site of a prehistoric hillfort which watched over the sea towards Makarska, looking out for marauders. This hillfort occupied 240 m2, and was surrounded by a low wall. Based on ceramics found there, the hillfort has been dated to between 1200 and 1000 BC. There are numerous tumuli (ancient stone mounds) nearby. A second prehistoric hillfort has been discovered more recently on the Piriška Glava hill in the north-western part of Zastražišće.
How to get there:
Zastražišće is on the main (116) road between Sućuraj and Jelsa.
What there is to see:
* Traditional rustic houses: Donje Polje (Jerkov dvor, Kuzmičićev dvor) is considered a particularly fine example of rustic architecture. Besides its stone houses, courtyards and alleyways, it contains a little church dedicated to Our Lady of the Snows, and several votive shrines. There is a large communal water tank, as well as a school and post office building nearby.
* St. Barbara’s Chapel, the oldest in Zastražišće, is a good example of early Christian and Medieval sacral architecture.
* The parish church of St. Nicholas, with phenomenal views over land and sea.
* The surrounding fields with traditional (UNESCO-listed) drystone walling.
* The olive mill, active during the olive harvest in the autumn.
* The etheric oil distillery. The old distillery, in the same building as the olive mill, used to be run by the St. Nicholas Cooperative, but is now in the hands of Grgo Lučić (contact details below), who, in 2021, is in the process of building a new distillery.
For local products and souvenirs:
* OPG Grgo Lučić – all-natural, home-produced etheric oils, ointments, soaps, creams and hydrolates. Mobile nos: +385 (0) 91 1775115 or +385 (0) 91 9347565; e-mail: lui.grgo@gmail.com
* OPG Franko Mateljan – beeswax, cosmetics, healthcare products, insect repellents, balsams made from organic autochthonous Hvar plants. Mobile no.: +385 91 580 6304; email: opg.fmateljan@net.hr Website: https://www.facebook.com/f.mateljan
* OPG Ante Mateljan Babić (fb page) – lavender oil, olive oil, figs, herbs, souvenir items based on local plants and produce. Tel. +385 (0)21 775 009; email: donjepoje@gmail.com
What you can visit:
* The Vela Glova hill, with the remains of its historic hillfort, its nearby ancient tumuli, also its wonderful views north and south.
* The ‘Kod kućera’ family farm. Address: Zastražišće D16, 21466 Zastražišće; mobile no.: +385 (0)91 550 5563; email: dubac14@gmail.com; web: FBKod_Kućera
* The fascinating ancient olive tree, which also offers beautiful views up to St. Nicholas’ Church and beyond to the Biokovo mountains on the mainland: contact Andrija Gabelić, mobile:: +385(0)91 321 0036, email: a.kolumbic@gmail.com.
* The exquisite coves to the south, including Uvala Prisinjak, with a few summer houses on the beach, and Uvala Veli Črvanj, reached by macadam track from Zastražišće or Poljica.
* The charming Vela Stiniva cove to the north, which is accessed by road from Zastražišće; it contains several seaside buildings, including an 18th century summer house belonging to the Duboković-Nadalini family. Its steep cliffs are a designated rock-climbing location. The Dubac cove, further east, is accessed by a macadam road, and offers a very secluded shingle beach.
Where you can eat:
* ‘Šer Žane‘ Vela Stiniva. Restoran „Šer Zane”. Address: Zastražišće 77 (uvala Vela Stiniva) 21466 Zastražišće; mobile no.: +385 (0)91 765 8205; email: karmen.zencic85@gmail.com; Facebook page
*The ‘Kod kućera’ family farm (see details above)
If you want to stay:
Click on ‘Accommodation’, then choose Zastražišće from the drop-down menu in ‘Choose destination’.
Special events:
* Zastražišće’s Easter Processions: on the afternoon of Maundy Thursday, there is a Procession led by the current year’s Cross-bearer round five Zastražišće churches and chapels. At 6am on Good Friday morning, the Cross-bearer leads the Procession to the next village, Poljica, then on to the Vela Stiniva bay, where the Cross is symbolically dipped into the sea, as a gesture to remember and unite all the many people from the settlement who have moved elsewhere in Croatia or abroad. After this the Procession heads back to Zastražišće.
* St. Nicholas is Zastražišće’s patron saint, and (under normal conditions) his feast day on December 6th is always celebrated in fine style, starting with a concelebrated Mass in the morning, followed by music, dancing, singing and of course eating and drinking into the early hours of the next morning.
