This square is the largest in Dalmatia, 4 500 square metres, and was previously bordered by gardens. The cathedral and the Bishop's Palace form the eastern side, and it is ringed by public buildings and grand palaces. On the north-west side the square extends to the Governor's Palace and borders the sea-board called Fabrika. In the middle of the square, in front of the cathedral, there is a large well from 1520. The square was fully paved only in 1780, while the area in front of the Loggia was already paved in 1537.
In this part of the square there is a stone pillar called "standarac" (municipal flagpole) used for flying the flag. In the part, municipal resolutions were read in front of this pillar, to which criminals were tied and displayed.
Here is a quotation from a famous speech by Vinko Priboevic that was made in Hvar in 1525, in which this learned Dominican, a contemporary of the time of the town's biggest expansion, gives his own description of the town:
"Should you travel from Greece towards Venice, on the right, at the beginning of that channel, there is a harbour that can accommodate many vessels. The port is enclosed by three rather small hills, the middle one being the largest. On the top of this hill there is an inaccessible fortress, surrounded by sheer cliffs (according to Sabelik), and fortified by a very strong wall. The fortress can be reached with difficulty from the west side, by a steep and very narrow path, where there are three strongly fortified round towers. The town of Hvar spreads out over the hill below the path. The town itself occupies a large part of the valley, which covers the area between the eastern hill and the above-mentioned hill with a fortress on top. A suburb of almost 700 houses, built of square stone blocks, reaches to this eastern hill. The town is very conveniently situated, as it has a free circulation of air from the east and the south, where the sea enters the port. The other part of the valley is occupied by two spacious squares which frame the beautiful cathedral and the Bishop's Palace. The upper square, which faces east, gives a lovely glimpse of the fresh-water spring and a circle of green gardens. The lower square touches the monastery of St. Mark the Evangelist, which lies near the sea at the bottom of the west hill where the Dominican priests live according to the rules of their order. Among the many decorations of this very spacious square in front of the door of the Bishop's Palace, there is a well of extraordinary size.
And what can I say about the superb Governor's Palace which stands out splendidly against the port and the square and is protected from the westside of the town by the church of St. Marcus the Evangelist and four magnificent towers..."
