Hvar Arsenal
Hvar Arsenal is a historic building in the town of Hvar, Croatia. It began in the 14th century as a maintenance shipyard for the commune’s galley and grew into a multi‑purpose complex. The best‑known part is the historic theater, built in 1612 on the first floor above the galley space.
The arsenal’s location was chosen to protect the port and fit with the city walls. The earliest records show construction between 1292 and 1331. The ground-floor walls sit on older layers, and a clay‑finished slipway inside served as a work surface for galley maintenance. The original design was simple and weather‑tight, built to support the municipality’s duty to maintain a municipal galley for Venice.
In 1528–1559 the building was expanded. The second phase added length (about 40 meters for bays 2–8) and built up to today’s height. An inner terrace provided dry storage, and new western and eastern façades were completed.
The arsenal was burned in the Ottoman attack of 1571, and a gunpowder explosion in 1579 caused further damage. A third construction phase rebuilt the interior and expanded the complex. An inner floor ran the length of the building and divided it into eastern and western sections, supported by seven circular arches. The eight bays visible today reflect this arrangement. The northern and western façades were rebuilt, and northern warehouses were turned into a communal warehouse called Fontik. The third phase also brought more decorative detail, with better‑proportioned and symmetrically arranged façades. The theater’s entrance faced the Belvedere terrace on the Fontik side, reached by a new staircase on the western façade. Above the northern entrance sits the inscription ANNO PACIS SECUNDO MDCXII (The Second Year of Peace, 1612).
The galley Sveti Jerolim, maintained by Hvar, took part in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, and some hull decorations remain. The roof was rebuilt in 1727 under engineer Francesco Melchiori. After 1716, Hvar no longer had to equip a galley, and the town began to support the army instead. In 1814, Dalmatia and Hvar came under Austrian rule, and the arsenal was used by the Austrian army, which damaged the interior.
Between 1801 and 1803, Societa del Teatro rebuilt the interior with a wooden two‑level auditorium designed by Petar Crescini. A major renovation took place from 1888 to 1900, preserving the Neo‑Baroque interior. In the 20th century, the ground floor was largely used as a warehouse, while a cinema was added later. The eastern part of the first floor theater operated for much of the century but was closed for safety reasons in 1996 and subsequently renovated for fire safety.
Coordinates: 43°10′20″N 16°26′30″E.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 23:20 (CET).