Muzej Staroga Grada

About the museum

The Muzej Staroga Grada looks after the objects and memories of the oldest urban settlement on Croatian soil, a town that has lived continuously since the founding of the Greek polis of Faros in 384 BC. Its care extends to the surroundings, in which the Starogradsko polje (Stari Grad Plain) is a unique example of a cultural landscape; since 2008 the historic core of Stari Grad and the Stari Grad Plain have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The museum is housed in the Biankini Palace, a neo-Renaissance house with a garden, built in 1896 west of Hektorović’s Tvrdalj by the Biankini brothers, four sons of the shipowner and captain Juraj Biankini. The staircase and the panels above the doors were painted by the Zadar painter Ivan Zamala, and the garden, in the Classicist style, was shaped by Petar Biankini. The palace was damaged in the Second World War and served various purposes. From 1963 the Zbirka umjetnina Juraj Plančić (Juraj Plančić Collection of Art) was housed there, and the Kapetanska soba (Captain’s Room) was set up in 1967.

The archaeological collection opened in 1995, a permanent hydroarchaeological exhibition in the basement in 2003, a lapidarium in the garden in 2009, and in 2011 a gallery space for temporary exhibitions was set up on the ground floor. Today the palace is the town museum. The permanent exhibition comprises the cargo of a 4th-century Roman merchant galley, a display on the dry-stone walls (suhozidi) of Hvar, an exhibition on the early history of Faros, the Salon Gelineo Bervaldi and the Captain’s Room.

Highlights

• Cargo of a 4th-century Roman merchant galley, displayed in the basement of the palace
• Exhibition “Faros – Faria – Stari Grad” on the early history of the town
• Captain’s Room and Salon Gelineo Bervaldi from the 18th and 19th centuries
• Works by four 20th-century artists from Stari Grad, among them Juraj Plančić
• Preserved interior of the palace with painted staircase, and garden with lapidarium

Permanent exhibition

• Stalni postav Muzeja Staroga Grada – The display in the Biankini Palace shows the history of Stari Grad from prehistory and the Greek Faros to the 19th and 20th centuries, including the cargo of the Roman galley in the basement.

Founded

1963

Operated by

Grad Stari Grad

Director

Vilma Matulić

Admission & discounts

Members of professional societies and of ICOM also enter free of charge.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible: not available
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The museum is housed in a historic building that is not accessible to people with disabilities. Guide animals are welcome.

Kids & families

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Getting there & parking

The museum can only be reached on foot: via Tvrdalj Square from the north, or via the Jurjevac campsite from the south.

Amenities & dining

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

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