Supetar Monuments

Besides its beaches and restaurants, we recommend you visit the parish church of Annunciation (18th c.) along with the surrounding buildings of (Leroj – the clock tower) and the Church Museum. Outside the Museum, there is a stone sculpture representing St. Victor, the work of Petar Jakšic, a contemporary sculptor from Supetar. He is also the author of the sculpture representing the Mother Theresa, which can be seen at the entrance of the church courtyard. Inside the church, the alter-piece Madonna with Saints is the work of local painter Feliks Tironi (1722-1808), whilst the organ that of Petar Nakic in 1737.

Outside the church, do not miss the early Christian mosaics dating back to the 6th century. The church itself was built on the site of an early Christian basilica dedicated to St Peter – hence the town’s name Supetar!

The first thing you see as you enter Supetar harbour from Split is the Mausoleum of the family Petrinovic. Set amongst ornate cyprus and pine trees in the cemetery, the Mausoleum is the work of Croatian artist - Toma Rosandic (1878-1957). By the church of St Nicholas, there are two early Christian sarcophagi with crosses and just below the cemetery, the ruins of the Roman Villa Rustica.

Whilst in the cemetery, you will also find a number of tombstones by the renowned Croatian sculptor Ivan Rendic (1849 -1932). Some of the finest examples are the Pieta, above the tomb of Mihovil Franasovic, the Art Nouveau styled tomb of Rinaldo Culic, and the mausoleum of the family Radnic.
Rendic spent both his youth and the last 11 years of his life in Supetar. He studied in Trieste, Venice and Florence and is generally regarded as the most important Croatian sculptor of the 19th century. There are 208 listed works of Rendic displayed in 51 cities across Southern Europe. Further examples can be seen in the ”Gallery Ivan Rendic”, on the upper floor of Supetar’s town library. To get there, just go behind the supermarket in the harbour. Outside the gallery, you will also see his sculpture representing the Allegory of Mind. On the same square, there is a little church dedicated to St Martin (18th c.), nowadays used solely for art exhibitions.

One third of all preserved early Romanesque churches in Dalmatia can be found on Brac. About an hour stroll up the hill from the town is the 11th/12th century Romanesque church of St Luke. Of special note inside is an engraving of a galleon, which is the oldest known depiction of Dalmatia’s seafaring history. To get there, walk up the street Petra Jakšica, then take the street Put Svetog Roka and cross the main road to join the old road to St. Roch. There you can stop off at this fine 18th c. baroque church and take in the beautiful views over Supetar). St Luke’s is just 10 minutes walk further on.

Everywhere you look on Brac you will see small circular stone buildings set amongst the olive groves, called bunja. With their characteristic domed roofs, the bunja of Brac are some of the finest examples of these ancient shepherd dwellings in the Mediterranean, following the pattern of those in tholos, Crete; the nuragho in Sardinia; cabana as they are called in Provence; barraca in Catalonia; casella in Ligury, and closer to home - trullo in Puglia and kažun in Istria.