Zavala, island of Hvar

Zavala

It is 13 km from Jelsa, on a route that includes a 1.4 km long one-way tunnel through the massif of Mount St. Nicholas, which stands 626 meters high. At the top, there is the Church of St. Nicholas, built by the famous “rebel” Matija Ivanić.

Zavala is located on the southern side of the island of Hvar, overlooking the open sea. It was Pitve’s port on the cape Zača (Žalac) and has been an independent settlement only since 1991.

It has 170 inhabitants. To the east, a road leads to Gromin Dolac, and to the west, to Ivan Dolac and Sveta Nedjelja. The Church of St. Peter of Verona was built in 1331, and a chapel of the same name in 1727, along with the Chapel of St. George in 1866. In 2015, Rate Radonić crafted the Stations of the Cross from wood.

On the steep slopes above Zavala, there are vineyards of the Bodanjuša grape and numerous olive groves. Along the coast are rocky beaches: Petrašćica, which features a cave, and the beaches of Skalinada, Zavala, and Port Beach. There are several hundred apartments available for rent.

A tourist boat departs daily to the island of Šćedro, just 2.5 km away, where there is a restaurant with apartments. The old name for the islet of Šćedro was Torta, and in the past, it had two inhabited places, Mostir and Nastan. There is also a heliport on Šćedro.