Gradac - the administrative and tourist center of the riviera with the most beautiful and the longest beaches...
Town of Gradac is a tourist hub of Gradac Riviera. Old settlement has been around since prehistoric times. Stone slabs from the Bronze and later Iron Age can testify to that fact. In Classical antiquity, Roman Civitas Biston existed in the location of Gradac. Old coastal hub of the Narona colony was an important Roman stronghold in this part of the Adriatic. Specimens of Roman money, and a rim part of a monumental structure from 2nd-3rd century were found at Gradina locality.
In medieval times in Gradac region there stood an old town of Lapčan (Labinac), which is mentioned by the great Byzantine emperor Constantin. Under its current name, Gradac is mentioned for the first time in 1649. It owes its name to a fortress that once stood on a high ground above today’s church of St. Michael, built during the Cretan war (1645-1669). There is a preserved drawing that depicts a naval-land battle between the Turks and Venetians near Gradac in 1666. On that drawing the tower was set ablaze.
In an abandoned village of Čista above Gradac one can find remains of deserted houses built in indigenous architectural style. One of the oldest preserved structures in Gradac region is a chapel of St. Paškvalin on Plana hill. Beside an old parish church of St. Anthony is the local cemetery. And new church of St. Michael was built in 1852. Tradition of Gradac’s tourist offer secured that tourism is developing rapidly in this part of the Riviera where one can find a stretch of hotels and catering contents, and of course the center of entertainment and night life.