Vrbnik stands on a cliff 48 m above the sea, so picturesque it is celebrated in traditional song. It grew up on the site of a prehistoric settlement and in the Middle Ages it was a Frankopan castle. It was mentioned for the first lime in 1100, and in 1388 it received a charter written in Glagolitic. ln the past century it bas spread beyond the old town centre and is now one of the commune centres. The old town waIls are still visible only towards the south-west. The Parish Church of St. Mary**, on raised ground in the centre of the town, was built in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Renaissance bell-tower was built in 1527. The main altar piece, The Assumption is the work of an anonymous Venetian painter of the 16th century. A particularly valuable painting is the Last Surfer by Marin Cvitovié of Kotor, which dates from 1599. The St. Mary Chapel and the Gothic polyptych of St. Anne are the work of local masters of the 15th century. St. John's Chapel (Sveti Ivan) in the graveyard is a Gothic building, constructed in the 15th century, for the Fraternity of St. John, which still exists today. ln the bar of Sveti Juraj there is a medieval church with the remains of Romanesque wall decorations.