The lavender fields of the Hvar interior

UNESCO Landscape

Stari Grad Plain (UNESCO) & the Lavender Interior

Hvar · Central Dalmatia

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CATEGORY: UNESCO Landscape
COUNTRY: Croatia
REGION: Hvar · Central Dalmatia
DURATION: 1–2 days

ABOUT THIS ATTRACTION

The Stari Grad Plain is a working relic: when Greeks from Paros founded Pharos in 384 BC, they divided the fertile plain into regular plots of 180 × 900 m bounded by dry-stone walls — the chora — with rainwater cisterns and watchtowers. Twenty-four centuries later the same parcels grow the same crops: grapes and olives, plus the lavender that made the island famous. UNESCO inscribed the plain in 2008 as the best-preserved Greek land division in the Mediterranean; the lavender fields of the interior — Velo Grablje, Zastražišće — bloom purple in June and scent the island’s honey.

HISTORY & BACKGROUND

The story behind it

Pharos was one of the first Greek towns on the Adriatic; its plain fed the city-state for centuries and was never re-parcelled — Roman, Venetian and Croatian farmers respected the Greek grid. Lavender arrived in the 19th century and by the 1960s Hvar produced a tenth of the world’s lavender; the harvest survives, smaller and prouder.

WHAT TO SEE

What to see here

The dry-stone walls and parcels of the plain (a walk or bike from Stari Grad).

The lavender fields of Velo Grablje in June.

The old town of Stari Grad on the bay.

GOOD TO KNOW

Facts & Curiosities

The Stari Grad Plain was divided by Greek colonists in 384 BC — plots of 180 × 900 m, bounded by dry-stone walls.

UNESCO World Heritage since 2008 — the best-preserved Greek land division in the Mediterranean.

The same crops — grapes and olives — have grown on the plain for 24 centuries.

Hvar once produced about a tenth of the world’s lavender; the June bloom still purples the interior.

WHY IT MATTERS

Why it matters

It is a 2,400-year-old farm system still working — agriculture as world heritage.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Before you go

Access

The plain is crossed by lanes and bike paths from Stari Grad (15 min from Hvar town by car or bus).

Best Time

June for the lavender; spring and autumn for the plain.

Pairing

Stari Grad in the morning, Hvar town in the evening.

THROUGH THE LENS

From the road

MAP & LOCATION