Andrija Kačić Miošić Square, the largest town square, with his monument placed in the center, is located near the waterfront in the centre of Makarska. A variety of entertainment and other events take place in the square. It is named after the most significant poet, not only of the Makarska Riviera, but also of the entire Dalmatia. He is the author of the most popular book in Dalmatia, which has so far undergone 64 editions, "Pleasant Conversation of the Slavic People" (Razgovor ugodni naroda slovinskog). Andrija Kačić Miošić’s monument was made by the famous Croatian sculptor Ivan Rendić.
The statue was erected in 1890. The costs of making the statue were paid by donations from the people all over Croatia, and on the day of the unveiling ceremony, many came to Makarska to attend the big event. The constituent part of the statue was a mosaic in the shape of a kilim, depicting the coat-of-arms of all the countries mentioned by Kačić in his "Pismarica". The armorial bothered the government in Vienna, which took it as a sign of striving for the unification of Croatian territory that was divided at the time, and hence forbade it. The statue was therefore incomplete, which infuriated the sculptor Ivan Rendić who deliberately missed the unveiling ceremony. However, the armorial was preserved and was put where it belonged in 1922.
The Late Baroque Church of St. Mark rising on the elevated northern part of the rectangular town square. A grand stairway and an elevated terrace lead to the church. Once the sole cathedral of the Diocese of Makarska, and today one of the two cathedrals of the Diocese of Split-Makarska, named after St. Mark the Evangelist, this church is a symbol of the renewed diocese of Makarska. The structure dominates the entire space. Built in several phases starting from 1700 until its dedication in 1766, this church is the result of the efforts of two bishops of Makarska. Several builders worked on the church, but the Venetian military captain and engineer Bartol Riviera finished it.
Its construction began in 1502, and through the following centuries the building expanded. The Franciscans came to Makarska in the late 15th century and settled outside the settlement near St. Mary's Church. In 1518. it was declared a monastery, which was destroyed for military reasons by the Venetians in 1572 during the War of Cyprus (1570 – 1573). The Turks also demolished the church later on. It was damaged again during the Cretan War in the 17th century when the Turks set on fire part of the monastery along with the church, and the other part was damaged in an earthquake in 1667. Throughout many centuries of the monastery’s existence, the Franciscans have created a library that now holds around 5000 books, 24 incunabula, many journals and manuscripts.
The Church of St. Philip Neri was built in 1758 in the central part of the Makarska waterfront. With its facade and a separated bell tower, it fits perfectly with the houses surrounding it. The Church was built in the Baroque style, with barrel vault and semi-circular apse. The only thing that has remained from the former main Baroque altar is the altar stone, which was renovated after the earthquake. In the nave of the church are four Baroque marble altars with altarpieces. In 1968, the Church was declared a cultural monument.
Traces of prehistoric settlements, as well as some parts of late antiquity and Venetian architecture can all be found on St. Peter's Peninsula. St. Peter's Church, marked even on the oldest maps dating from the 16th and 18th century, was reconstructed based on the appearance of the previous church from the 15th century, which was built on the foundations of its forerunner from the 6th century. It was badly damaged in the earthquake in 1962. The following year, during the afternoon Good Friday church service, the remains were completely destroyed and thrown into the sea, by order of the ruling municipal authority. . It was renovated and extended multiple times; in the 15th century it probably acquired the Gothic form and in the 18th, the Baroque form.
The parish church of St. Jerome located in Veliko Brdo was built in 1745. It is a simple building with a stone rosette on the facade and a bell-cot with three bells, built in 1879. The church has a gothic vault. The main marble altar was upgraded in 1956 and a painting of St. Jerome was placed on it. The nave has two side altars made of stone and marble: the altar dedicated to Our Lady and to St. Joseph. On the triumphal arch in the niches are two small baroque statues of St. Francis and St. Anthony. The church was painted both from the outside and the inside in 1998, and new benches were acquired.
St. Michael's Church was a parish church until 1745. It is mentioned for the first time by Turkish inspector Osman-aga and then in the report submitted by the bishop of Makarska Fra Marijan Lišnjić to the Holy See in 1672. An altarpiece from the Church has been preserved - the painting of St. Michael from 1684, the work of Matteo Ottoni Scopuli. It was mended in 1844 by Franjo Kaer and then restored again by Mr. Slavko Alač in 1998. Because of humidity within the Church after the earthquake in 1962, the painting was temporarily placed in the Parish Church of St. Jerome on the altar dedicated to Our Lady. Today, it is located in the Franciscan monastery in Makarska.
The Parish Church of St. John the Baptist is located in Makar. It was built in 1854 on the site of an older church, which began to be constructed at the initiative of Friar Ivan Kačić Mitrović and was continued in 1602 under Friar Pavao Kačić Jakić. The Church is significant for its inscription regarding its construction from 1612 that was written in Croatian. It ends with the verses that are the oldest evidence of literary work in the Croatian language in the Makarska area.
The new Parish Church of the Queen of Peace has just been completed. The construction started in 1999 after Pastor Stipe Ljubas obtained all the necessary documentation. The Church is located in the Zelenka area.The front of the Church is dominated by a tall bell tower. There is also a pastoral center with residential premises and necessary facilities. The whole center has the surface of 1700 m2, 350 m2 of which takes the Church.
Family Ivanišević-Uzmenović is mentioned among the most renowned Makarska families after the Turks left at the end of the 17th, and throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Together with several other families, they were part of social class that made the greatest contribution to the spiritual and material development of Makarska and its area. In the small Lištun Square, situated next to Kačić Square, a Baroque palace was erected - the house of the Ivanišević family. It reflected the taste and wealth of the aristocracy of Makarska, and it now represents the most beautiful monument of palace architecture in the town. At the beginning of the 18th century, the Ivanišević family erected the two-story open-porch palace with wooden fence posts, and its eastern wing had economic function. The Palace was damaged in WW II and is still awaiting complete reconstruction.
On the way to the big town beach, you will pass by another palace - the Tonoli House. It was built at the end of the 18th century by Venetian doctor named Tonoli. He built the house for himself and his family as a luxurious building just outside the town center. Today, the Makarska Town Museum and the Makarska Tourist Board are located there. Upon graduating from Medical School in Padua in 1804, Luigi Tonogoli worked as a doctor and surgeon in Makarska from 1807. He was prominent during the battle against the plague in 1815, which he wrote about in his manuscript "Observationes in Pestem Macarensem anni MDCCCXV". The manuscript is now kept in the Library in Forli in Italy. On the western side of the Makarska seafront, he built a two-story building in the style of Late Baroque, where the Town Museum is now situated.
One of the key elements in placing the cemetery in Makarska right at the eastern entrance was the convenient position, i.e. the distance from the town’s border. It aligned with the French regulation from 1808 on placing cemeteries outside settlements and churches, although it had not been fully complied with until the time of the Austrian rule, starting from 1826. It did not change significantly after its reconstruction in 1933 until the 1970s when it was expanded beyond the old wall to the east.St. Cross Cemetery took on its present-day appearance in 2004 after its renewal by the Town of Makarska.
Makarska was one of the first towns on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea that had its own library, and it was more than 250 years ago. Contents of the library, as well as of other libraries that existed in the greater area of Makarska are kept in the Makarska Public Library and represent its core value.It is a public institution established for the purpose of providing library services and standardized as an independent public library, under the provisions of the Library Act. It was founded on March 4, 1995, and its owner and founder is the town of Makarska.
Address: Don Mihovila Pavlinovića 1/1 (p.p.96)
Phone: +385 (0)21 612 042
e-mail: gradska.knjiznica@makarska.hr
All around Kačić Square, and especially in the "wide street" Kalalarga can we find traces of the Baroque architecture, which can be noticed on entrance doors, balconies, windows or coat-of-arms carved in stone. The ground plan of the main square and the layout of the surrounding streets have been preserved to this day. Kalalarga was the heart of the city and the main place for events. Every year since 1994, it is the place of celebration known as the Night of Kalalarga, which attracts more and more visitors every year.
At the entrance to the beach, on the Promenade of Franjo Tuđman, there is the statue of the first Croatian president Franjo Tuđman, a work of sculptor Kažimir Hraste.The cast bronze statue is 3,3 m high, placed on a 1,5 m high stone pedestal.
Memory of the fallen soldiers in World War II and the liberation of the Makarska area from fascism and fascist terror. Nowadays, there is an observatory placed within the Memorial Centre where you can enjoy the night sky during clear summer nights.
The public water fountain was built in 1775 by Ioseppo Bisazzio on the southeast of St. Mark's Church. It is still used today for refreshment from the summer heat. The work is significant because of the coat-of-arms that is still used as the official symbol of the town of Makarska, which has been carved on its right side.
The Venetians have left us another mark of their rule - a stone pole for flying a flag, the so-called markovac or štandarac. It is decorated with a depiction of the Venetian lion holding an open book, which shows that the flagpole was built in times of peace.
The monument to Napoleon (or to Marmont) is located at the west entrance to the town, which reminds us of the short-lived rule of the French. The monument, installed south of the Franciscan Monastery in 1808, was actually dedicated to Marshal Marmont. Upon the arrival of the Austrians in Makarska, following the defeat of Napoleon in 1814, the original inscription was demolished and a new one was carved to honor the Austrian Emperor. In 1818, the monument was moved to the place where it still stands today.
At the entrance to the town’s harbour, a beautiful statue of St. Peter stands there. He is the patron saint of the Church, Rome, the pope, fishermen, bakers, butchers, bridge builders, horologists, cobblers, of the hungry and the weak, shipwrights, and of many locations all over the world. The statue is located at the top of St. Peter Peninsula, which protects Makarska's bay from the open sea. St. Peter is holding the keys to Heaven, as Jesus gave them to him in the Gospel of Matthew. People from all over the world visit this valuable religious monument and believe in its protection and strength. The statue is made by the sculptor Tomislav Kršnjavi. It is 3,60 m high and weighs 900 kg.
The Monument to the Swimmer "Bonaca" was made in 2006 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of tourism in Makarska. It is the work of Ivica Šoda-Cotić and depicts a tourist enjoying the sea. The monument, made of marble and bronze, is placed in front of the Town Museum.
The sculpture represents a local man from Makarska named Jura, referred to as galeb (seagull, i.e. ladies’ man in Dalmatia), seducing a female tourist. Galebarenje, the technique of seducing women, was very popular in Makarska. The monument is the work of Nikola Šanjek, a sculptor from Varaždin who also named it “Move with the times”. It is 205 m high, made of bronze, and was erected to honour all tourists visiting Makarska.
In a small park in Osejava stands a monument in honour of the Croatian war veterans, as the symbol of those who died for the independence of their country.
A huge anchor weighing 5300 kg stands in the part of Makarska called Plišćevac. This genuine anchor belonged to the old merchant ship “Makarska” that sank near Marseille in France in 1978. Three members of the crew died when the ship went down. Before that happened, the old anchor was replaced with a new one, which is why we still have this old anchor. It is 3 m high, 2 m wide and almost 1 m thick. It was rusty when it was brought, hence the members of the fishing club Arbun decided to repaint it in its original black colour and they made a stone pedestal for the anchor.
Franjevački put 2
HR-21 300 Makarska
Phone: +385 21 612 002
E-mail: info@makarska-info.hr
