Architecture, Bari

A visit to Lecce can begin with Piazza Duomo, once used as a fortress and today considered the most elegant "salon" in the city. T http://www.italia.it/en/discover-italy/apulia/lecce.html

Cattedrale di San Matteo—the cathedral of Salerno—houses ancient Greek columns, Roman sarcophagi, medieval pulpits, and the body of St. Matthew the Evangelist Although World War II bombs devastated most of medieval Salerno, the Duomo's lovely 11th-century atrium courtyard was spared. It contains 28 antique columns pilfered from the ancient Greek ruins of Paestum. Behind them are Roman sarcophagi recycled in the Middle Ages as the tombs for local grandees. The cathedral was founded in 1081 by Hauteville Norman adventurer Robert Guiscard who by then had conquered his way to becoming Duke of Apulia and Calabria (which, at the time, covered pretty much all of southern Italy; the neighbouring Dutchy of Naples was confined just the sliver of land around the Bay of Naples itself). Robert was, for good measure, also Duke of Sicily. An earthquake in 1688 caused most of the cathedral to be rebuilt along baroque lines, though from the older church remain a fabulous pair of inlaid ambones (pulpits) similar to those at Ravello. Proof that the city of Salerno was once a much bigger deal than it is today: The cathedral crypt, lavishly decorated with precious marbles in the 17th century (and restructured in the 1960s), houses the bones of St. Matthew the Evangelist. http://www.reidsitaly.com/places/salerno/see/the-duomo-of-salerno/

This castle, located on the Bonadies Mountain, was built in the VII century on behalf of the Lombard Prince Arechi II who moved the capital of the Dukedom from Benevento to Salerno. To this day, the castle still dominates and guards over the city. http://www.turismoinsalerno.it/salernoartecultura_e.htm

Built in the 11th century with support from the Rufolo family, the Duomo is a combination of Baroque and Romanesque styles. Dedicated to St. Pantaleone, the church has undergone extensive modifications and restorations over the past 900 years. The Duomo’s shining white façade dates back to the last major restoration in 1931. The Duomo’s bell tower, which dates back to the 13th century, shows Moorish and Byzantine influence. Today, the Duomo is primarily remembered for five attractions: The first is the bronze door, which was temporarily removed for restoration in 2010. Constructed in 1179 by Barisano da Trani, the door is of special interest because fewer than two dozen bronze church doors are still extant in Italy, three of them by Trani. The second item of special note is the pulpit, which is supported by six spiraled columns sitting atop marble lions. Across from the pulpit, to the left, is the Ambo of the Epistles that boasts two wonderful mosaics of Jonah and the Whale. The fourth area of special interest is the Chapel of St. Pantaleone the Healer, a 3rd century physician who was beheaded, on orders of the Emperor Diocletian, after he converted to Christianity. The Chapel has a small ampoule of the saint’s blood, which is said to liquefy every year on July 27th, the anniversary of his martyrdom. The chapel also has a silver bust of the town’s venerated saint. The final attraction is the cathedral's museum, which is accessible through a side entrance on the Via Richard Wagner. https://www.ravello.com/attractions/duomo/

Built by a wealthy merchant family in the 13th century, the villa has a rich and storied past. Boccaccio, one of the earliest authors of the Italian renaissance, wrote a story about the villa and its owner in his Decameron, which was published in 1353. In its prime, it was one of the largest and most expensive villas on the Amalfi Coast, and legends grew about hidden treasure on its premises. In the 14th century, the Rufolo family hosted banquets for King Robert II of Naples and other Norman royalty. The gardens and grounds of the Villa Rufolo are open year around and attract visitors from all over the world. Juxtaposed against the sea, the sky, umbrella pines, and the Church of the Annunziata below, the gardens, with their profusion of flowers, have a magical quality to them. https://www.ravello.com/attractions/villa-rufolo/

Sitting high atop a promontory that offers stunning views of the Mediterranean and the dramatic coastline below, the Villa Cimbrone is the crown laurel of Ravello. Its origins date back to the 11th century, but the villa and the gardens were extensively renovated by a British nobleman, Lord Grimthorpe, in the early 20th century. With its expansive gardens and dramatic views, the villa is a popular place for weddings, honeymoons, and receptions. The villa is a private 5-star hotel (Hotel Villa Cimbrone), but the gardens are open to the public and it ranks, perhaps, as the most memorable sight on the Amalfi Coast. A century ago, shortly after it was renovated by Grimthorpe, the Villa Cimbrone became a popular retreat for London’s famed Bloomsbury Group, a circle of early 20th century intellectuals that featured Virginia Woolf and Lytton Strachey. Other noted guests, included Winston Churchill, author E.M Forster, and famed economist Maynard Keynes. D.H. Lawrence, the author of Lady Chatterley’s Lover, literally left his mark on the villa’s garden, when he and a friend decided to give the Statue of Eve a fresh, and unauthorized, coat of paint. https://www.ravello.com/attractions/villa-cimbrone/

The Walls of Dubrovnik (Croatian: Dubrovačke gradske zidine) are a series of defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the citizens of the afterward proclaimed maritime city-state of Dubrovnik (Ragusa), situated in southern Croatia, since the city’s founding prior to the 7th century as a Byzantium castrum on a rocky island named Laus (Ragusia or Lave). With numerous additions and modifications throughout their history, they have been considered to be amongst the great fortification systems of the Middle Ages, as they were never breached by a hostile army during this time period.[2] In 1979, the old city of Dubrovnik, which includes a substantial portion of the old walls of Dubrovnik, joined the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. The oldest systems of fortifications around the town were likely wooden palisades. Today’s intact city walls, constructed mainly during the 12th–17th centuries, mostly a double line, have long been a source of pride for Dubrovnik. The walls run an uninterrupted course of approximately 1,940 metres (6,360 ft) in length, encircling most of the old city, and reach a maximum height of about 25 metres (82 ft). The bulk of the existing walls and fortifications were constructed during the 14th and 15th centuries but were continually extended and strengthened up until the 17th century. https://www.godubrovnik.guide/dubrovnikthingstodo/ancient-city-walls/

Amalfi Cathedral is a 9th-century Roman Catholic structure in the Piazza del Duomo, Amalfi, Italy. It is dedicated to the Apostle Saint Andrew. Predominantly of Arab-Norman Romanesque architectural style, it has been remodelled several times, adding Romanesque, Byzantine, Gothic, and Baroque elements. The cathedral includes the adjoining 9th-century Basilica of the Crucifix. Leading from the basilica are steps into the Crypt of St. Andrew. A wooden 13th-century Crucifix hangs in the liturgical area. Another crucifix, made of mother-of-pearl, was brought from the Holy Land and is located to the right of the back door. The High Altar in the central nave is formed from the sarcophagus of the Archbishop Pietro Capuano (died in 1214). Above the altar is a painting by Andrea dell'Asta of The Martyrdom of St. Andrew. The front facade was rebuilt in 1891 after the original one collapsed. It is of striped marble and stone with open arches that have lace detailing not commonly found in Italian sacred architecture while the tiled cupola is quite common amongst churches of the area. The tympanum's mosaics portray “The triumph of Christ” in a work created by Domenico Morelli and whose original designs are retained in the Town Hall. https://www.livesalerno.com/amalfi-cathedral

Fort Lovrijenac or St. Lawrence Fortress, often called “Dubrovnik’s Gibraltar”, is a fortress and theater located outside the western wall of the city of Dubrovnik in Croatia, 37 m above sea level. Famous for its plays and importance in resisting Venetian rule, it overshadows the two entrances to the city, from the sea and by land. Early in the 11th century the Venetians attempted to build a fort on the same spot where Fort Lovrijenac currently stands. If they had succeeded, they would have kept Dubrovnik under their power, but the people of the city beat them to it. The “Chronicles of Ragusa” reveal how the fort was built within just three months time and from then on constantly reconstructed. When the Venetian ships arrived, full of materials for the construction of the fort, they were told to return to Venice. The Croatian leg of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series takes place in Lovrijenac. https://www.godubrovnik.guide/dubrovnikthingstodo/fort-lovrijenac/

The Ethnographic Museum has its origins in the collection of traditional culture that began to be formed in the first decades of the twentieth century. Its holdings were very much enlarged with specimens of traditional attire and lace donated several times by that great benefactor of the museum, Jelka Miš (1875 -1956). In the course of time, the collection grew into the ethnological department of Dubrovnik Museum, and in 1950 opened its first display of original ethnographic folk handicrafts from the local area on the second floor of Fort St John. At the end of the eighties, the ethnographic department was relocated to the building of the Dubrovnik Republic’s granary, popularly known as Rupe/The Holes, which derives from the name for the underground grain storage areas carved out of bedrock or tufa. https://www.godubrovnik.guide/dubrovnikthingstodo/ethnographic-museum/

The Franciscan Church and Monastery is a large complex belonging to the Order of the Friars Minor. It consists of a monastery, a church, a library and a pharmacy. It is situated at the Placa, the main street of Dubrovnik, Croatia. Church and bell tower of the Franciscan church The earliest monastery was built in the 13th century outside the walls. A new monastery inside the walls and close to the Pile Gate, was built in 1317, but its construction took centuries. Parts of the complex were rebuilt several times. The church was destroyed by the earthquake of 1667. Amongst the losses was a statue by Pietro di Martino da Milano. The only element remaining is the decorated portal overlooking the beginning of the Placa, the main street of Dubrovnik. It was sculpted in 1498 in Gothic style by the workshop of the brothers Leonard and Petar Petroviċ. The almost life-sized Pietà in the central lunette, decorated with flamboyant leaves, is flanked by the figures of St. Jerome (holding a model of the pre-earthquake church) and St. John the Baptist. On top of the lunette stands the figure of the Father Creator. The interior of the church was reconstructed in Baroque style with a single nave. The marble pulpit survived the earthquake of 1667. The main altar with the statue of the resurrected Christ between four twisted marble columns was created by the sculptor Celia from Ancona in 1713. The five side altars were sculpted by the Venetian Giuseppe Sardi between 1684 and 1696. The decorations on the altar of St. Francis were painted in 1888 by the painter Celestin Medovic. The poet Ivan Gundulić is buried in this church. The monastery was built in 1360 in late Romanesque style by the master Mihoje Brajkov of Bar. https://www.godubrovnik.guide/dubrovnikthingstodo/franciscan-church-and-monastery/

The Rector’s Palace (Croatian: Knežev dvor) is a palace in the city of Dubrovnik that used to serve as the seat of the Rector of the Republic of Ragusa between the 14th century and 1808. It was also the seat of the Minor Council and the state administration. Furthermore, it housed an armoury, the powder magazine, the watch house and a prison. The rector’s palace was built in the Gothic style, but it also has Renaissance and Baroque elements, harmoniously combining these elements. Originally it was a site of a defence building in the early Middle Ages. It was destroyed by a fire in 1435 and the town decided to build a new palace. The job was offered to the master-builder Onofrio della Cava of Naples, who had previously built the aqueduct. It became a Gothic building with ornaments sculpted by Pietro di Martino of Milan. A gunpowder explosion badly damaged the building in 1463. The renewal was offered to the architect Michelozzo of Florence. But he was rejected in 1464 because his plans went too much in the style of the Renaissance. Other builders continued the work. The capitals of the porch were reshaped in Renaissance style probably by Salvi di Michele of Florence. He continued the reconstruction from 1467 on. The building suffered damages from the earthquake of 1520 and again in 1667. Reconstruction was in Baroque style. A flight of stairs and a bell were added in the atrium. In 1638 the Senate erected a monument to Miho Pracat (by Pietro Giacometti of Recanati), a rich shipowner from Lopud, who had bequeathed his wealth to Dubrovnik. https://www.godubrovnik.guide/dubrovnikthingstodo/rectors-palace/

The origins of the Museum go back to 1872, when the Patriotic Museum was founded, for in its holdings it had a smallish collection of artworks of a cultural history character. More systematic collection of material began after World War II, thanks to the urging of the curator and first manager of the cultural history department, Dr Božo Glavić, to whom goes the credit for moving the collection into the Rector’s Palace and setting up the first in situ display, opened to the public in 1950. During the course of time, the collection turned into first a distinct department of the Dubrovnik Museum, and then into the Cultural History Museum, a component of Dubrovnik Museums. The holdings of the museum consist of material of distinctly cultural, historical and artistic value, with about ten thousand objects created over a time span from the end of the 15th to the beginning of the 20th century. It has been systematised into fifteen collections featuring painting, printmaking, furniture, textiles, ceramics, metals, icons, glass, photographs and photographic materials, miscellanea, documents, postcards, the writer Ivo Vojnović, old weaponry and numismatics. https://www.godubrovnik.guide/dubrovnikthingstodo/cultural-history-museum/

The Sponza Palace (Croatian: Palača Sponza), also called Divona (from dogana, customs), is a 16th­century palace in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Its name is derived from the Latin word “spongia”, the spot where rainwater was collected. The rectangular building with an inner courtyard was built in a mixed Gothic and Renaissance style between 1516 and 1522 by Paskoje Miličević Mihov. The loggia and sculptures were crafted by the brothers Andrijić and other stonecutters. The palace has served a variety of public functions, including as a customs office and bonded warehouse, mint, armoury, treasury, bank and school. It became the cultural center of the Republic of Ragusa with the establishment of the Academia dei Concordi, a literary academy, in the 16th century. It survived the 1667 earthquake without damage. The palace’s atrium served as a trading center and business meeting place. An inscription on an arch testifies to this public function: https://www.godubrovnik.guide/dubrovnikthingstodo/sponza-palace/

The Museum of Modern Art Dubrovnik was founded in 1945. The building now occupied by the Museum of Modern Art Dubrovnik was originally conceived and built (1935 – ­1939) as the showcase residential mansion of Dubrovnik ship owner Božo Banac, and in 1948 it was converted into exhibition premises and museum. It was designed by the well­known Croatian architects Lavoslav Horvat and Harold Bilinić in the neo­Renaissance­cum­Gothic style, along the lines of masterpieces of Dubrovnik urban and villa Renaissance architecture (the Rector’s Palace, the Divona/Sponza, the Sorkočević Villa and so on). Through the conversion works, nine exhibition rooms were created, along with two storerooms and some smaller working areas. Together with the large terraces looking on to the sea and its garden, the Museum has 900 square metres of indoor and over 1100 square metres of outdoor exhibition space. https://www.godubrovnik.guide/dubrovnikthingstodo/museum-modern-art/

Pompeii was probably founded by the Oscans around the 8th century BC. This ancient Italic people settled on the southern slopes of Mount Vesuvius along the banks of the Sarno River, which was navigable at the time. Pompeii became an important commercial center early on, catching the interest of the invading Greeks and Etruscans. The Etruscans were conquered on the waters off Cuma, and the city came under domination by the Samnites in the 5th century BC http://pompeiisites.org/en/

Tower of All Saints, locally called Kula Svih Svetih is also called Capello tower or Rampada. It is built 1493, as part of 12 Korcula towers. It is located on the South-East part of Korcula Town walls, situated in Rampada street, Zakerjan area. Nowadays, the only basement is left of this tower. It is named after All Saints Church located in its near vicinity. https://www.korculainfo.com/towers/all-saints/

Bishop’s Treasury Museum is located in Bishops Palace in an elegant two-storey palace on Sveti Marko Square in Korcula Old Town. The museum is also called Abbey Treasury of St Mark (Opatska Riznica Svetog Marka). The ground floor covers parish office, library, archives and Kitchen exhibition hall. On the first floor, there are exhibits of Treasury hall, while the top floor covers residence of the parish priest. The museum exhibits numerous works of art including some paintings by Blaz Jurjev and Tiepolo. There are also old manuscripts with illuminated codex from the 12th century, alabaster sculptures from the 15th century as well as a statue of Mary Stuart from the 17th century. This is an interesting museum collection worth to visit if you are in Korcula. https://www.korculainfo.com/bishops-treasury/

Korcula Town Museum (Gradski muzej Korcula) is located at St Mark’s Square facing Cathedral Sveti Marko. The Museum is housed in Gabrielis palace that was built in 15th and 16th century. It is 3 storey building with basement and attic. Museum has various collections covering Korcula’s history and culture from Ancient history to nowadays. https://www.korculainfo.com/museums/korcula-museum/

Vapor Art Gallery is lovely Korčula art space located in the very Sea Gate medieval Tower right next to Morska vrata town entrance. The gallery offers for sale large selection of major Croatian contemporary and modern artists including paintings by Stipe Nobilo, the local painter, Vasko Lipovac and others https://www.korculainfo.com/vapor-art-gallery/

St. Mark’s Cathedral is probably the most important building in the Korcula Old Town. It is built in Gothic-Renaissance style, completed in the 15th century at the place of other church from 13th century. It was built by local masters and craftsman of stone masonry, very well known in renaissance and baroque Dubrovnik and Venice. Most famous among them was stonemason Marko Andijic who completed the cathedral’s tower and cupola (1481) as well as elegant ciborium above the main altar. Cathedral’s facade is decorated with the truly beautiful fluted rose and various relief and statues (photos), while the main door – portal is framed by statues of Adam and Eve and figures of lions. Inside the Cathedral there are two Tintoretto’s paintings. This is the largest Church in the city, oriented east-west. Here on the highest point on the peninsula and central square was a smaller Church most likely consecrated to the Mother of God. https://www.korculainfo.com/st-marks-cathedral/

Arneri Palace in Korcula extends from the western edge of the Old Town to Trg Svetog Marka – the main Old Town square (also, known as Pjaca). Built in Venetian Gothic architecture by Arneri family, this elegantly ornamented palace dates from late sixteenth / early seventeenth century. Beside the artistically valuable courtyard (see above photos) the windows and the walls of the palace in the south street are decorated by intricate building and sculpting details. The palace, being among the most beautiful buildings in the town is a well-known town landmark. https://www.korculainfo.com/arneri-palace/

House of Marco Polo – believed to be house in which Marco Polo, the famous world traveller and writer was born. It’s recently bought by Korcula’s Town Authority which is currently planning to reconstruct and redone it into the Museum of Marco Polo… At present, just the part of the house is opened for visitors to have a look around. Climb narrow stairs and enter to the Loggia that has great views over Korcula Old town’s roofs. https://www.korculainfo.com/marcopolohouse/

Kula Zakerjan (Zakerjan tower), is also named Berim Tower. It stands on the north of Korcula Town (see map below) in the Zakerjan area. The tower was built between 1481 and 1483 under the rule of Giovanni Mocenigo who was doge of Venice from 1478 to 1485. The tower is shaped like half-cylinder and has similar crenellation – the distinctive pattern that framed the top of the walls of this medieval tower. On the Northside of the tower, facing Peljesac Channel, there is Venetian coat of Arms of Governor Viaro and Doge Mocenigo. On the Southside, facing Korcula Town, above the arch, there is Tiepolo Coat of Arms. The tower was built by the workshop of Marko Andrijic, the local stonemason. Nowadays, Zakrjan Tower houses popular Massimo Bar that serves drinks on the top of the tower’s terrace. https://www.korculainfo.com/towers/zakerjan/

In 1738 Charles of Bourbon decided to transform his hunting lodge located in the wood of “Capodimonte” in a Royal Palace – Museum in order to host the Farnese Collection received from his mother. http://www.visitnaples.eu/en/diario-di-viaggio/discover-naples/top-10-things-to-do-naples/

Near the Gesú Nuovo church, there is the monumental complex of Santa Chiara, one of the most important buildings commissioned by the French Kingdom of Anjou for the Franciscan order. Built in 1340, it is a rare example of Medieval architecture in Napoli. The convent was to accommodate both monks and nuns in two separate buildings but at the same time depending on the same church. The church was then built in a simple Gothic style, with the typical Neapolitan yellow tufa. Unfortunately, the church has been reconstructed changing the original features into the Baroque style with marbles, polychrome stuccos and exorbitant decorative elements by Domenico Antonio Vaccaro between 1742 and 1769. Sadly, in 1943 the church was partially bombed during the second world war. It was decided that it would be rebuilt in its original Gothic style. It was reopened in 1953. Most of the antiques sculptures have returned to their original location, including the splendid tombs of the member of the Anjou family, like the monumental tomb of Robert of Anjou dated 1343, the tomb of Mary Valois, second wife of Robert, and his son's tomb. A small part of a fresco still remains from the medieval decoration attributed to Giotto (who stayed in Napoli between 1328 and 1333) and his workshop. The fine cloister outside the church is richly decorated with majolica tiles and it is a pure gem of the eighteenth century, designed by Domenico Antionio Vaccaro. He left the original medieval plan of the cloister but redesigning parts of it, adding two wide paths in the middle, the fine majolica decorations on the pillars with motif of vine shoots and wisteria twisting up, flowers, lemons while the seats are decorated with scenes of the city and country life in the eighteenth century. http://www.girlfromnaples.com/santa-chiara-church-and-cloister/

This noble semicircular piazza (19th Century) is enclosed on one side by the royal palace, on the other by the neoclassical façade of the church of San Francesco di Paola, built on the model of the Pantheon in Rome and prolonged by a curving colonnade. Two equestrian statues stand in front of the church: one, by Canova, depicts Ferdinand I of Bourbon, the other is of Charles III of Bourbon. The royal palace was built at the beginning of the 17th Century by the architect Domenico Fontana and has been remodelled several times. The façade retains more or less its original appearance. Since the late 19th Century the niches on the façade have contained eight statues of the most famous Kings of Naples. A huge staircase with twin ramps and crowned by a coffered dome leads to the apartments and the sumptuously decorated royal chapel. It was only after 1734 that royalty lived in the apartments. The richly ornamented rooms have retained their numerous work of art, tapestries, paintings, period furniture and fine porcelain. https://www.italyguides.it/en/campania/naples/piazza-del-plebiscito

The Castel dell’Ovo is the oldest standing fortification in Naples. The castle’s name comes from a legend about the Roman poet Virgil, who had a reputation in medieval times as a great sorcerer and predictor of the future. As early as the twelfth century there were pre-norman fortifications erected on the remains of part of the villa of the Roman general Lucio Vicinio Lucullo, later transformed into a castle by Frederick II and expanded in the Angevin period, when the fortress took the name "Egg Castle" https://www.visitnaples.eu/en/attractions-and-places-in-naples/castles-in-naples/castel-dellovo

Today's parish church, the Church of the Assumption was erected on the foundation of the early gothic church and was expanded and fortified in 1535. The church vestry preserved valuable liturgical vestments and several crosses of artistic value and the painting of "Mother of God and the torture of Fabian and Sebastian" of the Flemish-Venetian painter Pietera de Costera is especially valuable. 15th of August, the day of Vela Gospa (The fiesta of the Assumption) there is a fiesta in Jelsa when people from the surrounding places visit Jelsa. On the night of Good Thursday from Jelsa starts the procession Za Križem (Procession of the Cross) towards Pitve then further on towards Vrisnik, Svirče, Vrbanj and Vrboska. After a 22 km long journey, with the first rays of the morning sun, the procession returns to the parent church. This unique tradition which has been going on for 500 years is on a representative UNESCO list of non-material cultural heritage of the world. https://www.visit-hvar.com/tours/church-of-the-assumption-jelsa/HV-TR-125

One of the most significant monuments of the island of Hvar is definitely the Church – fort erected in 1571, after the Turkish attack on the location of an older church that originated in 1465. The church has the shape of a fort with an observation post and a loop-hole and from its top, there is a beautiful panoramic view of the surrounding places and fields. The church preserves valuable works of Stefan Celesti ('Lady of Mount Carmel'), Antonio Sciuri ('Mary's Childbirth'), Giuseppe Alabardi ('Resurrection' and 'Placing into the tomb') Marko Rašica ('Lady of Mount Carmel') and Celestin Medović ('Homage of the Three Kings'). https://www.visit-hvar.com/tours/church-fort-of-st-mary-vrboska/HV-TR-23

An easy stroll from Hvar's square, along the sea and the waterfront soon brings you to the Franciscan monastery. Within the peace and quiet of the monastery walls, you can enjoy a rich display of museum exhibits (collections of Greek, Roman and Venetian coins, liturgical items, atlas of the ancient cartographer Ptolemaeus, rare exhibits of amphora, etc.), as well as paintings of Venetian artists like Francesco Santacroce and Palma Junior. The monastery is known for its magnificent painting of the Last Supper (2 x 8 m) which leaves everyone breathless. Some critics believe it is the work of a painter from Ravenna Matteo Ingoli, whilst others think that the painting belongs to the school of Palma Junior. One more rarity that makes the monastery famous is the 300-year old cypress that is located in the garden of the monastery. https://www.visit-hvar.com/tours/franciscan-monastery-hvar/HV-TR-28

In the 19th century during the period of sailboats Stari Grad marked the development of the shipping industry and naval construction. There is a rich naval collection preserved in Palace Biankini in Stari Grad. The collection was founded by the Centre for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage of the island of Hvar in 1966 and besides documentation on naval construction; it also displays various nautical instruments, paintings of Hvar captains, old nautical charts and literature on navigation. https://www.visit-hvar.com/tours/palace-biankini-and-naval-collection/HV-TR-38

Tvrdalj was built as a fort for defence from the Turks by the renowned poet from Hvar Petar Hektorović. It was erected by filling up the sea and one could enter it only over a bascule bridge. In the centre of Tvrdalj, Hektorović designed and built a Romanic park with a fishpond. Tvrdalj has numerous stone inscriptions, but the one saying 'Omnium Conditori' is the most significant one, since, with it, Hektorović dedicated his Tvrdalj to God, the Creator of everything. https://www.visit-hvar.com/tours/tvrdalj-stari-grad/HV-TR-24