Best of Bol pick · Things to visit · west of Murvica, by sea or on foot
Blaca Hermitage
A 16th-century monastery built into a cliff in a remote valley west of Murvica by Glagolitic priests fleeing the Ottomans. It is now a museum: the priests' rooms and kitchen, their library, clocks and weapons, and the instruments of its last priests, who were astronomers, left much as they were in 1963.
Why it is a pick
- Built into a cliff by Glagolitic priests in the 16th century; the first church dates from 1588
- A library, clocks, old weapons and the astronomy instruments of the Miličević priests
- Rooms kept much as the last priest left them in 1963
- A walk through wild country to reach it, from the sea or from the road
Good to know
- By sea: take a boat or a private transfer from Bol to Popova vala bay, then walk about 45 minutes uphill
- By car: drive from the inland road, park about 1 km away and walk the rest
- There is no café or shop: bring water and proper shoes
- Arrive at least an hour before closing
To do To confirm: Blaca: opening hours and prices for 2027 (ours come from a February 2025 listing).
Also our pick for things to visit
Dominican Monastery and Museum
The Dominican monastery on the Glavica headland at the east end of Bol, founded in the 15th century on the site of a late Roman castle. Its church holds an altarpiece of Our Lady with saints from Tintoretto's workshop, and its museum, renovated in 2021, shows archaeological finds, rare ancient coins, Glagolitic books and Venetian paintings.
Branislav Dešković Art Gallery
Bol's art gallery, in a Renaissance-Baroque palace from 1694 on the harbour. It holds more than 400 works, the finest collection of 20th-century Croatian painting and sculpture on any Adriatic island, from Meštrović and Rendić to Job, Vidović and Murtić.
Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Bol's Baroque parish church, Gospa od Karmela, built between 1668 and 1788 a few steps from the harbour. Look for the carved rose window and the stone angel holding Veronica's veil over the door, then step inside for the ornate Baroque altars and the marble pulpit.
House in a House (Paloc)
A 19th-century house in Bol whose walls were built around a poor farmer's house when he refused to sell. The brothers building it drowned on the way back from Venice, the house was never finished, and the little house still stands inside it.
Small Format Gallery
About 350 works by 260 Croatian painters and sculptors, from Bukovac and Vidović to Murtić and Ana Opalić, on the first floor of the old Croatian Reading Room of 1897 on the waterfront in Bol.
Church of St John and Theodore
The oldest church in Bol, known locally as the Templar chapel: a tiny stone church about a thousand years old, beside the Dominican monastery on the Glavica headland. It was built over a late Roman building, and traces of early frescoes and an old water cistern lie at its foot.