Tvrdalj Castle

Tvrdalj Castle is a castle in Stari Grad, on the island of Hvar, Croatia. Tvrdalj was the summer season residence of Petar Hektorovic, the Croatian poet. During the 16th century, the island of Hvar came beneath attack from the Ottoman Turks. Hektorovic, one of the nearby nobles, undertook to support his house so that it could act as shelter for the neighborhood citizens. Tvrdalj is a properly-preserved Renaissance constructing, with a protracted closed facade on the seaward side, to protect it from assault.

The interior courtyard consists of a sea-water fishpool, enclosed by means of a vaulted and arcaded terrace. Next to it's miles a tower with a dovecote. The residing quarters, collectively with the servant quarters, and several wells, are organized around the pool. Behind the main buildings is a walled lawn wherein Hektorovi? cultivated herbs and medicinal plants. A series of inscriptions are set into walls of the mansion in Latin and Croatian. Those in Croatian are considered to be some of the oldest extant.