Our story started with a simple idea: to reinstate Revelin as a ‘guest house’ fitting for the Tvrdalj Castle, and to strengthen its bond with the local community. The Tvrdalj Castle was built upon Ancient Greek foundations dating from 384 BC, between the hills and the sea. We wanted to provide for it so it can continue to provide for future generations. We wanted to capture how the pace of time is somehow different here. Revelin has lived through many centuries and is a place of collective memories.
Philosophy in stone
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Past and future
Revelin is a beautiful piece of Croatian history that aims to redefine the idea of what an island holiday rental stands for. The Tvrdalj Castle was from the very start a new idea. Its creator, renaissance humanist and poet Petar Hektorović, designed it to be a microcosm of the world and a home for all creatures, and positioned it to align with the movement of the sun. He inscribed the walls with wisdom, creating a truly individual house that has stood for five centuries.
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Inspiring change
Hektorović’s philosophical poems are inscribed in stone at the castle. An enigma for centuries, they speak of humanity’s search to understand its place in this world. According to his ingenious design, all rainwater that falls on Revelin leads to the Tvrdalj fishpond. This also keeps the ground floor at a cooler temperature all year round. Revelin captures his optimistic renaissance enthusiasm, seeking ancient and contemporary wisdom to inspire change.
Φ Revelin Destination and Community Initiative
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Revelin projects
Petar Hektorović created the Tvrdalj Castle for himself, his community and his friends. Revelin aims to continue his cultural legacy.
2025 projects include the exhibition of interior and exterior camera obscura photographs taken inside Revelin from our first artist in residence, Uroš Abrams. In his collection of dreamy photographs, ‘Window View’, Abrams explores the relationship between inner and outer worlds through projected camera obscura images that enter the closed house and appear on the curtains. The images invite visitors to experience photography as a light trace that fades away. The exhibition is in the Stari Grad Museum from 28.4 to 20.5.2025.
2024 projects involve the production of a short documentary film Srinjo kola 2024 Sve će biti dobro by the anthropologist Pavle Menalo. The film focuses on the fragile balance of time in Stari Grad. The premiere in August 2024 was followed by a memorable street party, bringing the one-thousand-year old Srinjo kola, ‘Middle Street’, once the main shopping street of Stari Grad, back to life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eokpWEZp9YA
2023 projects in cooperation with the Museum of Stari Grad include the book Nihil Occultum, which reengages with Hektorović’s mysterious inscriptions. Revelin’s camera obscura led to local artist Vilma Matulić’s 2023 exhibition ‘Nihil Occultum’. Linked annual pinhole camera workshops are held for local schoolchildren.
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The future
Revelin has its foundations in the stories of Ancient Greece yet is a forward-looking venture. We aim to engage the local community to bring about positive change. Using our local knowledge, we find great local guides to organise activities for guests to highlight the best of the island, from archaeology, cycling the UNESCO Plain to wine tours and tasting.
Revelin, with its views across the Stari Grad townscape, is a place of complete historical continuity. We remember that it was sculpted by many hands, minds and ideas over millennia, and we seek a sustainable future.