Discover Pitve: Wine Growing, Churches and Za Križen

When looking for a hotel for a stay in Pitve, considering the village’s themes can help you plan your trip. These include its rural heritage, wine-growing tradition and the Za Križen procession. Visitors can walk through the cobbled lanes and admire the stonework of the historic settlement. The rural heritage complex of Pitve is protected as a cultural asset.

Historic Village Setting and Churches

The Church of St James is designated as an individual cultural asset. Its architecture is Historicist, with a Late Gothic style. The first parish church of Pitve on the site of today’s church is first mentioned in historical documents in 1452. The site thus brings together a long-documented church history and the architectural description of the present building.

The Chapel of St Roch is located in lower Pitve. It was thoroughly renovated inside and out in 2011. Prayers and special celebrations in honour of St Roch and Our Lady of the Snows are occasionally held there. The information about these celebrations describes occasional religious use, not a regular event calendar.

Wine Growing in the Collection and Everyday Life

The Vinogradarska Collection is a permanent exhibition of the Jelsa Municipal Museum. It was established as part of the restoration of the building and the collection. Its holdings include traditional tools for working the land, in vineyards and in konobas, equipment for making and storing wine, and traditional kitchen utensils. The collection presents Hvar’s rural life, wine growing and winemaking as part of the island’s culture and identity.

Wine growing in Pitve is not just a collection topic: cultivated areas include olive groves and vineyards. After the harvest, residents produce wine and olive oil. This lets you connect the collection with the village’s agricultural tradition without equating historic work tools with farming today.

Za Križen: An Overnight Procession

Pitve is one of the six central Hvar settlements that take part in the Za Križen procession. The tradition has existed for more than 500 years. Every year on the evening of Maundy Thursday, the procession sets out from Pitve and five other settlements, visits the parish churches of all six villages and returns to its home church at daybreak on Good Friday. The exact calendar dates change with the date of Easter.

The procession is described as covering around 25 kilometres and lasting about eight hours. Together with its overnight schedule, this conveys the scale of the tradition: it extends from the evening of Maundy Thursday into Good Friday. The six participating villages are Jelsa, Pitve, Vrisnik, Svirče, Vrbanj and Vrboska.

Understanding Cycling and Walking Routes

The OVER THE TOP cycling route runs for 23.09 kilometres on asphalt and gravel through Pitve towards the Pitve–Zavala Tunnel. Check route conditions before your cycling trip. The wider destination of Općina Jelsa also has a moderate Nordic walking route between Jelsa and Pitve: it is 8 kilometres long and takes approximately two and a half hours. The two routes therefore differ not only in the type of activity, but also in their stated distance and duration; conditions on the walking route may vary seasonally.

Another Connection to the Procession in Općina Jelsa

In the wider destination of Općina Jelsa, the Following the Cross Gallery in Jelsa offers another connection to the procession. It is located in the bell tower of the Parish Church of the Assumption of Mary and opened on 1 July 2026. The artefacts on display were contributed by the communities of the six participating villages: Jelsa, Pitve, Vrisnik, Svirče, Vrbanj and Vrboska. Guided storytelling tours from 18:00 to 21:00 cover the history, symbolism and distinctive features of the procession. As tour arrangements may change, check the latest information before visiting.

Discover more destinations: Gdinj, Vrisnik, Ivan Dolac, Humac, Vrboska, Zastrazisce, Jelsa, Zavala

Return to the wider travel overview: Općina Jelsa.