Besides being the sunniest spot in Europe, Hvar is known for the Venetian Renaissance buildings edging its main square. Here we look north at the loggia and clocktower of the Rector's palace (equivalent to city hall) at the bottom of the hill protected by the Spanish Fort. These remnants are now part of a hotel once favored by Elisabeth, Empress to Franz Joseph, during the 1800s. The Habsburgs ran Dalmatia from 1815 until Austria-Hungary's collapse at the end of WWI. They are the ones who started the Hygiene Society of Hvar where sick folks could recover in the town that had more sunshine than any other in Europe. Venice called the island "Lesina" -- a word that described pine and oak forests that perhaps covered the island in their day. For the most part, these seem to have been replaced by scrubby brush.
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