About Sibenik

Šibenik sits at 43°44′ north, 15°55′ east on Croatia's central Dalmatian coast, exactly where the Krka River meets the Adriatic Sea. It lies roughly 80 kilometres southeast of Split and 79 kilometres northwest of Zadar. The 2021 census counted 31,115 residents in the city proper and 42,599 across the wider municipality, making Šibenik Dalmatia's third-largest city after Split and Zadar. Under Austro-Hungarian rule, its deep, sheltered harbour ranked as the empire's third-busiest port, right behind Trieste and Rijeka.

History

Unlike Split, Zadar or Trogir, which grew out of Roman or Illyrian settlements, Šibenik was founded directly by Croats, which is why it is often called the oldest native Croatian town on the Adriatic. It first appears in writing in a charter granted at Christmas 1066 by the Croatian king Petar Krešimir IV, and locals still nickname it "Krešimirov grad", Krešimir's town. The settlement was granted formal town status in 1167 under the Hungarian king Stephen III and became the seat of its own diocese in 1298. In 1412, after a three-year war, the Republic of Venice took control of the city and held it until Venice's own fall in 1797.

The most dramatic episode of Venetian rule came on 17 August 1647, when the Ottoman commander Tekeli Mustafa Pasha laid siege to Šibenik with a force estimated at 25,000 to 30,000 soldiers, reportedly the largest invading army seen in Dalmatia since Roman times. The citizens, who had rushed to complete two new fortresses only a year earlier, repelled the assault and kept the city under Venetian, rather than Ottoman, rule.

Architecture and Landmarks

Šibenik's skyline is dominated by the Cathedral of St James, built entirely of stone, without mortar, brick or wooden supports, over 105 years, from 1431 to 1536. Venetian builders Francesco di Giacomo and Antonio Busato began the work in Gothic style; in 1441 the Dalmatian architect and sculptor Juraj Dalmatinac took over as chief master builder and worked on the cathedral until his death in 1475, after which the Florentine-trained architect Nikola Firentinac completed its unusual domed roof and Renaissance facade. A frieze of 71 sculpted human faces still encircles the exterior of its apse. The cathedral was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000.

Šibenik is also known as the "town of four fortresses". St Michael's Fortress, first recorded in 1066, is the oldest, and the medieval settlement grew up around it. St John's Fortress and Barone Fortress were both raised by the citizens in a single, frantic 58-day effort beginning 1 August 1646, in anticipation of Ottoman attack. St Nicholas Fortress, built in the 16th century on the islet of Ljuljevac at the mouth of the Šibenik channel and armed with 32 cannons, was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2017 as part of the transnational "Venetian Works of Defence between the 16th and 17th centuries" site.

Screen Fame and the Gateway to Kornati

Šibenik's fortifications found a new audience in 2015, when HBO's Game of Thrones used the city as a stand-in for Braavos during its fifth season. The Cathedral of St James played the Iron Bank in the season's ninth episode, while St John's Fortress doubled as the fighting pit of Meereen.

Inland, Krka National Park, with its travertine waterfalls and river canyon, lies about 18 kilometres from the city. Offshore, Šibenik serves as the main mainland gateway to the Kornati archipelago — around 150 islands, islets and reefs scattered over roughly 320 square kilometres of sea, 89 of which form the core Kornati National Park. The islands have no permanent inhabitants or fresh water and can only be reached by boat, which is why so many visitors explore Sibenik by private gulet charter.