


| The rest of the town |
| Korčula |
Opposite the cathedral, a Venetian palace houses the Town Museum (Gradski muzej July & Aug: daily 9am-fpm & 5-7pm; rest of year Mon-Sat 9am-lpm), whose modest display includes a copy of a fourth-century BC Greek tablet from Lumbarda - the earliest evidence of civilization on Korcula - and, upstairs, a re-creation of a typical Korcula peasant kitchen, with an open hearth surrounded by cooking pots and bed warmers.Close by the main square, down a turning to the right, is another remnant from Venetian times, the so-called House of Marco Polo (Kuća Marka Pola; daily loam—fpm & 5-7pm; 101(n). Korčula claims to be the birthplace of Marco Polo — not as extravagant a claim as it might seem, since the Venetians recruited many sea captains from their colonies, and Marco Polo was indeed captured by the Genoese in a sea battle off the island in 1298. Whatever the truth of the matter, it seems unlikely that he had any connection with this seventeenth-century house, which is little more than an empty shell with some terrible twentieth-century prints on the walls; it's worth visiting only for the outstanding view from the tower over Korčulas terracotta-coloured rooftops. From here you can descend towards Setaliste Petra Kanavelića, the seafront walkway which leads round the outside of the peninsula. Walk south to the junction with Kaporova to find the Icon Gallery (Galerija ikon; July & Aug daily loam—noon & 5-7pm, rest of year apply at the tourist office), where there's a permanent display of icons in the rooms of the All Saints' Brotherhood. Most of the exhibits were looted from Cretan churches at the end of the Candia War (on the pretence of saving them from falling into infidel hands), when Venice had to hand over the Mediterranean island to the Ottoman Turks. Among the Pantokrators and Virgins emblazoned in gold leaf is a haunting fifteenth-century triptych of the Passion. From here, a covered bridge similar to the one outside St Michael's Church takes you into All Saints' Church (Crkva svih svetih), with its brooding Renaissance interior and one of the most impressive Baroque altarpieces in Dalmatia — an eighteenth-century Pieta carved from walnut wood by Austrian master George Raphael Donner, enclosed by a fifteenth-century ciborium in imitation of the one in the cathedral. On the far side of the altar is another of Blai Jurjev's fifteenth-century masterpieces, a polyptych centred on a chilling Deposition, below which the tiny figures of the All Saints' Brotherhood — identifiable from their trademark white robes — kneel in prayer. If you're in the mood for more paintings, head west from the old town along Put sv. Nikole to the Maksimilijan Vanka Gallery (Galerija Maksimilijana Vanke; July & Aug daily 6-9pm), some five minutes' distant, which hosts summer exhibitions by prominent Croatian artists. |