Drvenik Voyage Tips and guide

Contents

Drvenik is a coastal town of 420 people (2021) on the Makarska coast between Split and Dubrovnik, 24 km south-east from Makarska. Drvenik consists of two settlements, Gornja and Donja Vala, about a kilometre apart. Donja Vala is further north, and Gornja Vala is further south.

• With the ferry from Sućuraj, Hvar-island [1].
• It is on the Adriatic highway, the most important Croatian coastal road.

• The old village of Drvenik (Staro srlo Drvenik). The old village of Drvenik sits above the town of Drvenik, high on the slopes of the mountain Rilića. It was formed on inaccessible terrain for protection against robberies and attacks, first by pirates and then by Turks. The village was completely evicted after the 1962 earthquake. The traditional architecture and organization of the space has been preserved  
• Complex of houses Ivičević (Sklop kuća Ivičević u Drveniku). In the centre of the Drvenik settlement, next to the coast, a complex of now-ruined houses that belonged to the distinguished Ivičević family was built. The complex consists of two residential and commercial two-story buildings with attics that were built next to each other in the 19th century, with gables facing south.  

• Fort on Gradina (Utvrda na Gradini). To the east of the village of Kostanić, on a hill called Gradina, there is a fortified complex consisting of a crumbling defensive wall with a series of loopholes that follows the topographical characteristics of the hill and a multi-story tower with a series of loopholes to the north. In this locality, the continuity of life has been present since prehistoric times, and the remains of prehistoric and ancient ceramics have been found. The fort was mentioned in the 15th century in the possession of the Vlatković Dukes of Hum, and in 1686 the Turks conquered and burned it. At the foot of the fortress, the archaeological remains of the church of St. Kuzma and Damjan. 
• Church of St. Jurja (Crkva sv. Jurja u Drveniku). The single nave church of St. Jurja in Drvenik was built in the 15th century, east of the village of Kostanići. It is located in the cemetery. The one-nave building is supported by a pointed vault, and in the 18th century a new, larger sanctuary was added. On the main facade, there is a simple profiled entrance above which is an eight-leaf rosette, and in the gable there is a three-part horsetail. Medieval tombstones are built into the foundation walls of the church.  

• Apartmani Gabric, Živogošće – Blato 34, ☏ +385 21 628 741. €40-80. (updated Feb 2023)