indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Type Island
Usage Croatian
Other Forms FormsChakavian dialect: Hvor or For, Greek: Pharos, Φάρος, Latin: Pharia, Italian: Lesina
Meaning & History
Hvar is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, located off the Dalmatian coast.As a Greek colony, the island was known as Pharos "lighthouse". However, it's not clear if the name really comes from the Greek word for lighthouse. It was more likely an Illyrian word for something, since it's unlikely that the lighthouse preceded the name for the island. As part of the Roman province of Dalmatia, it was known as Pharia and, later, Fara.From the 7th century onwards, the Byzantine Theme of Dalmatia, including Fara, was settled by the Pannonian Avars and Croats. Under the linguistic influence of the newcomers, the official name became Quarra – because the Slavic languages did not originally have the f/-sound. Later, the name was Slavicised further as Hvar.