Sumartin

Sumartin occupies a deep bay at the eastern end of Brač, facing Makarska and linked to it by a year-round car ferry. The crossing takes about 60 minutes, and a ticket on this route reserves a place on the selected sailing; Jadrolinija advises arriving at least 45 minutes before departure. Franciscan friars and mainland refugees founded the settlement in the mid-17th century after fleeing Ottoman pressure. Their story survives in the Franciscan monastery and Church of St Martin, while the protected pre-Romanesque Church of St Nicholas stands on the hill between Sumartin and Selca. A day by the water can move between the village beach beneath the church, Jezero beach and Puntinak across the bay. The Lučica–Rasotica walking and cycling route follows coast and olive groves towards Selca, while blue-and-white Via Brattia markings place Sumartin on a roughly 140-kilometre island circuit. Though compact, its ferry port makes Sumartin Brač’s eastern road gateway.

Sumartin is a port settlement on eastern Brač whose daily pulse follows the ferries arriving from Makarska. Franciscan friars and mainland settlers shaped the village in the mid-17th century during the Cretan War, and the monastery complex remains its historical anchor. The present Church of St Martin was completed in 1913 to a design by Ćiril Metod Iveković, while construction of the monastery building began in the mid-18th century under Friar Andrija Kačić Miošić. Above the village stands the much older pre-Romanesque Church of St Nicholas. The ferry waterfront, Franciscan heritage, fishing berths and coastal paths give Sumartin a character distinct from the larger resorts of western and southern Brač.