Vis is located at a point from which everything on the Adriatic is either accessible or can be monitored. Neither large nor small, the island of Vis has a rich history, from the Hellenes, who established a city with ramparts, houses along a street grid, with a waterfront and necropolis, followed by the unruly Illyrians; the Romans, who gave it a theater and thermal baths; and the Croats, who settled there in the tenth century and several centuries later built Renaissance country palaces and, in the nineteenth century, civic buildings and institutions. Vis is a strategic point for trade routes and the site of naval battles that determined who was the master of this sea. It is an island of the bourgeoisie, fishermen and farmers. Above all, there is a unique ambience in Vis, which is sprawled around the harbor of Sveti Juraj, in Komiža, which is squeezed in the base of its bay, and in the fields in the interior, covered by grapevines, with room only for the villages scattered around their edges.
However, Vis is most of all a marvelous island! For those who come here with their boats, it offers a lot. Give it the time that it deserves—a minimum of ten days. Only then will you experience it in its full splendor and sail into at least some of its fifty-four coves. You will become acquainted with its two largest towns and the local people, and dine at their tables. You will have the opportunity to go into the interior, walk around the fields, visit the villages and climb Mount Hum.
