SIBENIK, THE CENTRE OF THE CROATIAN ADRIATIC

The Central Mediterranean, a fortified town by the sea, the library of the historical sites and culture, protected by the limestone rocks and mountain hinterland, blessed with more than 300 islands, islets, cliffs and reefs in its waters, a rich vineyard treasury united in a unique poetry of the urban centre. 

You can visit Sibenik on a day tour from Split and see the magnificent waterfalls of the Krka National Park or discover the Plitvice Lakes on Full-Day Tour from Sibenik.

UNESCO: THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. JACOB

Imagine yourself living in the 15th century and looking at the outstanding construction made of white stone blocks in the clouds without any supporting part made of wood or any other connecting material - surely it would seem to you as a dream. Today exactly this construction is the most significant one in the area of Šibenik, built up in precisely 105 years in a unique Gothic and Renaissance style with a frieze of 71 human heads in the exterior, and sculptures and mosaics in the interior – the Cathedral of St. Jacob was enlisted in the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2000.

ŠIBENIK – THE OLDEST ORIGINALLY CROATIAN TOWN ON THE CROATIAN COAST

The fortified town of Šibenik was founded by Croats around the 9th century. Due to the development of the medieval Croatian state the town Šibenik made a progress and it was mentioned for the first time in the 11th century in a document written by the king Petar Krešimir IV. Shortly afterwards there were many different nations fighting for this town – from the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy over Byzantium to Venice, but the town was still making progress, spreading and developing its culture, art, navigation, trade and economy in general. Šibenik was under the Venetian rule for long 400 years, but from that period we have the most significant historical and cultural sites of Šibenik today. Among them is also the main symbol of the Town today – the Cathedral of St. Jacob.

The Town hall in Šibenik is situated on the medieval central town square (the Square of the Republic of Croatia), used to be Plathea communis. This is a very harmonious and transparent Renaissance building erected between 1533 and 1546.

The ground-floor encompasses the cloister (with columns supporting semi-circular arches) from which there was an access to the offices of communal administration.

The medieval Mediterranean garden of the monastery of St. Lawrence in Šibenik has been renovated and opened in 2007, after being forgotten for almost 100 years. It is a part of the Franciscan monastery of St. Lawrence and a structural part of the program scheme of the Šibenik's private lyceum.

Visovac is a little island situated in the area of the lower flow of the river Krka between two waterfalls in Krka National Park – the Roški waterfall and Skradinski buk. The island is owned by the Catholic Church. Prior to human habitation of the island, it was only a "White rock" in the middle of the lake.

This locality was protected in 1974. The protected landscape of the Channel-Harbour encompasses the area from the Šibenik Bridge to the end of the Channel of St. Anthony, more precisely to the fortress of St. Nicholas with the accompanying surrounding sea area. No one has yet passed through the Channel of St. Anthony without experiencing awe at this rare sight of beauty.

Grebaštica is a picturesque settlement 15 km towards south from Šibenik, located by the Adriatic road called Magistrala, in a deep bay near the peninsula of Oštrica.Grebaštica was for the first time mentioned in 1298 as "Grebac". The remains of Roman buildings prove that a Roman settlement existed here. A stone lid of a Roman sarcophagus was found in the village cemetery near the church of Sts. Petar and Marija, and some remains of the Roman road in stone can still be seen.