Severo, nice to meet you. A father, a husband, a pharmacy owner, an art collector. Although stemming from a Iong line of pharmacists (my grandfather graduated pharmacy in Vienna in 1895), I have an MA in Art History too and have used this passion of mine in decorating Villa Varda. Every detail was thought through and crafted with the utmost care, being careful not to harm the object's original nature.

I will be a proper host to you, in order to establish a kind of trust that allows us to perhaps cooperate in the years to come. If you have doubts, if you need anything, feel free to ask, I'm here for you. ;)

The 500-year legend behind Villa Varda - Latica – The Myth of the St. Cross


Villa was once known as the Bevilaqua House, named after its owner, Hvar’s harbor master and Admiral Niccolo Bevilaqua, who lived in late 15th and early 16th century.

On the 6th of February 1510, the skies darkened, a heavy rain fell down upon Hvar, followed by a strong storm. At 7 PM the ground shook three times and the roof of St. Annunziata’s church exploded in pieces.

At the same time, in the house next to the church, the Bevilaqua House, the admiral’s granddaughter was storing clothes and cleaning the room of dust. She found a small sooty crucifix, took it into her hand to clean it when a thick, dark liquid started dripping from the crucifix.

She called her mother and her father, who said that this was probably the color that has melted off the crucifix. Still, to make sure, they called the town’s painter, Stjepan (Stephen) Vitaglich, who momentarily found out that it was not color dripping from the crucifix, but blood!

Alarmed, they called upon the church’s canon and curator, Matija (Matthew) Lukanich. He was already shaken by the fact that the church’s roof went to pieces only minutes ago. When he found out about the blood he fell into a state of excruciating pain and near-madness.

As it happens, it was the very Lukanich who swore on that very crucifix in early 1509 to kill all of Hvar’s nobility. Lukanich was, along with Tomo (Thomas) Bevilaqua, the girl’s father and admiral’s son, the main conspirator of a planned coup and massacre that was to follow. Tomo Bevilaqua died in an accident in November of 1509, so the coup had to be postponed.

Now looking at the same crucifix bleeding made Lukanich fell into despair.
At first, all parties involved and the citizens of Hvar understood this as a warning from God, that saying to sustain from any bloodshed. As hours passed, Lukanich fell more and more into madness, ending up flagellating himself to death, six days after the discovery of the crucifix.

In the end, Hvar ended up in a civil war, which began in May 1510 and lasted for four years. Feel free to find out more by entering 'Hvar rebellion' into a search engine of your choice.

The events of 6th of February were first noted in detail by Hvar’s judge, Pavao (Paul) Paladinich. Other testimonies were collected by an apostolic visitor 69 years later, in 1579, from individuals who were children in time of these events. All testimonies were published in A. Gabelich’s ‘The uprising of Hvar’s commoners’ and J. Bracanovich’s ‘500 years of St. Cross worshipping’.
The bloodied crucifix and the adherent blooded cloth are kept today in the Hvar cathedral.

Be as it may, whether you believe in the story or not – you will be enjoying your vacation inside a living part of history, now there exclusively for your pleasure!

Severo