A quick look inside one of Hvar’s least visited attraction: the Benedictine Convent, home to UNESCO lace.
One of the lesser things written about Hvar is that it is the only island in the world which houses three UNESCO heritages: The Stari Grad Plain, the Za Krizem Easter Procession in Jelsa, and the lace from the Benedictine Nuns in Hvar Town.
So off the tourism radar are the nuns, despite their prime location in the heart of the old town, that few tourists know of the existence of the agave lace, never mind the convent. Not that I have been actively looking for a picture, but I have never seen the inside of the building in ten years on Hvar.
Until now.
The latest fabulous collection of 360 panoramas of Hvar have been released by VirtualTour. We have already bought you several fantastic panoramas, including inside the theatre, and the latest selection includes some stunning scenes of the convent and Franciscan monastery. Click here for a tour.
The notable Hvar poet Hanibal Lucić has an association with the Benedictine Convent on Hvar, which has played an important role in the town since the first nuns arrived in 1664. The house in which Lucić was born in 1485 was donated to the nuns by his descendants.
The convent’s most significant contribution to the town was in education, as the nuns operated the first school in Hvar, from 1826 to 1866. The closed-order convent is still active today and, among other duties, the nuns produce some of the finest souvenirs from Hvar, in the form of intricate lace made from agave leaves.
Click below for a selection of the lace made by the nuns – an excellent Hvar souvenir.
