Pjaca

Pjaca — officially St. Stephen's Square — is the main square of Hvar Town, and at roughly 4,500 square meters it's the largest square in all of Dalmatia. It didn't start out as a square at all: the spot was originally a shallow bay, gradually filled in over the centuries until it became the open space between the town's two old fortified quarters, Groda to the north and Burg to the south.

A communal well was put in at the center of the square in 1520, and the whole square was finally paved with stone in 1780 — the same look it has today. At one end stands the Cathedral of St. Stephen, built gradually between the 16th and 18th centuries and funded largely by the townspeople themselves.

These days it's lined with cafés and restaurants rather than fortifications, and in the evening it fills up with people out for a walk or dinner. many gulet cruises in Croatia call in here, usually docking nearby in Hvar Town and using the square as the natural starting point for exploring the rest of the old town.