Visiting Jelsa on the Island Hvar

The town of Jelsa is situated in a bay on the middle of the north coast of the island of Hvar. To the south of the town are dense pine woods on the sloping hills of the island’s ridge. Jelsa is the only place on the island with an abundance of fresh water, as a result of which there is more luxuriant vegetation here than elsewhere. The agricultural plain lying to the west of Jelsa is the UNESCO protected world heritage site Starigrad Plain. Although the exact location and extent of the ancient Jelsa are not well understood, remnants of the old protective wall can still be seen on the west side of the Gradina peninsula.

The present town of Jelsa was founded as a port for the village of Pitve in the 14th century. The 1424 Statute of Hvar mentions it as being 3 km from the sea, under the hill of Gozd, in the quest for sea and fishing, and having good fresh water. The first houses were built around the church of Sv. Mihović (St Michael) at Mala Banda on the northern side of the bay. A further group of houses developed on the south shore, around the church of Sv. Ivan (St John).

Modern Jelsa is a bustling town, with many small businesses, and the local municipality administration. It is an important tourist centre for the island, with regular passenger catamaran services to Split. Tourism “officially” began in 1868, though it has been practiced as far back as ancient Roman times. The oldest hotel in Jelsa dates to 1911.