Ivan Dolac - Island Hvar

Key Info

West from Zavala and east from Sveta Nedjelja small village of Ivandolac is placed. It was first mentioned back in the 15th century. The village's main occupations are agriculture and tourism, quite similar to almost all the villages's of this part of the island. These villages were called ""plaže"" (beaches). Thus Ivandolac is a ""plaža"" of the village of Svirče.

Svirče stands partly in the valley and partly on the lower southern slopes of Gorica hill and is a ""daughter village"" of Vrbanj. Its attractions include the church of St. Magdalene (20th c.), which replaced an old church from the 18th c. but retained its bell tower, and an old cemetery with Cyprus trees (19th c.) which is protected as a historical monument.

Especially interesting, both architecturally and ethnographically, are the old part of the village, the Carić houses which are linked together with small bridges, and the old residence of the patrician family Šimunić which played a prominent role from the 16th to the early 19th c. Protected by a wall, the residence houses nice specimens of halberds and the crown of a well with the inscription RADO SIMONI FECIT MDL. Below the house a mediaeval shepherd's dwelling dating from the same period as Kraljevi dvori.

The chapel of St. Mary (Sveta Marija) in the square, built about 1820 on the site of the former village loggia, has an interesting rustic choir. In the house of the self-taught sculptor Josip Makjanić (1837—1929) can be seen a collection of wood carvings. Svirče is an outstanding example of urban architecture in rural Hvar.