Šibenik-Croatia / Šibenik

Šibenik

Šibenik lies at the mouth of the river Krka into the sea. The town origin dates back from the 11th century, but during that time it has the status of a fortified settlement Castrum Sebenici, and belongs to the diocese of Trogir. In 1298 by efforts of the Dukes Šubić of Bribir, Pope Boniface VIII declares Šibenik a town and seat of the diocese on 1st May.

The origin of the name Šibenik is unknown. It was probably named after a village located among shrubs (šiblje), while studying the ancient Croatian terminology indicates that the places on hills or hilltops were also calledšibenik.

Šibenik has a beautiful medieval old town, surrounded by fortresses, abundant with high stone houses, winding cobbled streets, numerous staircases, archways, churches, monasteries and in the heart of the city lies the grand Gothic-Renaissance cathedral.

FORTRESSES

Three fortresses are dominating the town, while the fourth is located at the sea entrance to the town. The fortresses had an important role in defending the town from the Ottoman attacks. St. Mishael's fortressrises almost 60 meters above the sea, and provides a good control of St. Anthony's channel and the Bay of Šibenik. The first written records of the existence of the fortress on this site are dating from the 12th century, while the modern fortress was built in the 14th century. A considerable reinforcement was obtained at the time of the Ottoman-Venetian Wars. North of the old town, on the hill of St. John, where once a church stood, at a height of almost 120 meters above the sea, theSt. John's fortresswas built in 1646. At the same time the fortress Šubicevac was built on the east, also called Barone, named after the commander of the town defence during the Ottoman invasion in 1646-1647. The construction of both fortresses lasted only three months, all the citizens of all ages contributed to the construction. In 1647 the Ottomans attacked the town, which then had about 12.000 inhabitants. The town was under the siege of 20.000 Ottomans for a month. However, the brave people of Šibenik managed to defend the town which never fell into Ottoman hands. A crucial role in the defence had the fortresses ofSt. John and Barone. TheVenetianRepublic built already in 1540, at the first serious signs of Ottoman threat at the entrance of St. Anthony's channel on the isle of Ljuljevac, which was once the Benedictine monastery of St. Nicholas, one of the most beautiful Renaissance fortresses, the St. Nicholas fortress.

THE CATHEDRAL

Around the central town square, now called the Square of the Republic of Croatia, the most important buildings in Šibenik are located: the cathedral, the city hall, the city lodge, the Duke's and the Bishop's Palace.

The cathedralwas built on the site of the Romanesque churchof St. James, which was not prestigious enough to be a cathedral. The decision to build the cathedral was made in 1402, but construction started some thirty years later because of Venetian attacks under whose rule the town fell in 1412. The masters Busato and Pincino built the cathedral according to the design of Francesco di Giacomo, however, ten years later, town and church authorities were dissatisfied with their work and replaced them with Juraj Matejev Dalmatinac, who was a very highly regarded and respected architect. He completely changed the original design of the cathedral. Master Juraj dedicated special attention to the development of the western part of the church, its sanctuary and the apses. He added a transept to the existing project and built three apses. Below the southern apse he also added a baptistery, he built a sacristy and created a foundation for the future dome. He also started with the arching over of the aisles. The masterpiece of Juraj Dalmatinac and his associates is a frieze with 71 human and 3 lion heads. The heads probably represent Juraj's contemporaries, fellow citizens and people he met in life and are a unique example of religious architecture of the Renaissance. Juraj Dalmatinac died between 1473 and 1475, and his associate Nikola Firentinac continues the work on his masterpiece. In terms of architectural technology, the work of Juraj Dalmatinac is revolutionary. The entire construction is made by installation, all elements are prefabricated, including the relief decoration, and were then merged into a unified whole. The contribution of Firentinac to the completion of the cathedral project is of great importance in the Renaissance architecture of the 15th century. Unlike countless examples of three-leafed decoration of early renaissance churches, which are only decorative settings, behind which a classic roof structure stands, the stone roofs of Firentinac have a functional ending on the three-leafed decoration of the western front. At the junction of the main aisle and the transept, master Nikola built an octagonal drum, divided into 16 windows, above which a cupola rises, consisting of 8 segments, made of prefabricated stone slabs. The statues of St. Michael, Šibenik's patron, St. Mark, the patron ofVenice, and St. James, after whom the church was named, are the crown ornament of the upper part of the cathedral. After the death of Firentinac in 1505, the building of the cathedral was completed 30 years later, and it was not consecrated until 1555. The cathedral of St. James was made stone, implementing the mounting method, which is one of the reasons why it was included in the UNESCO list of world art heritage, other reasons are iconographic innovation, and unity of outer and inner space.

Opposite the cathedral, there is the Town Hall, built in the Renaissance style from 1533 to 1542. The building was completely destroyed during the allied bombing and rebuilt after the war.

East of the hall, there is the Small Lodge, where many of the town activities were performed, while the central pillar served as pillory.

Southeast of the cathedral the Duke's Palace is situated and houses of the Šibenik county museum since 1975.

At the eastern entrance to the Square of the Republic of Croatia (Trg Republike Hrvatske) there is the Gothic churchof St. Barbara, which houses the Collection of sacral art dating from the 14th to 18th century.

CHURCHES

Among the remaining churches, we must mention the church of St. John, built in the 15th century in the Gothic style, with its distinctive Renaissance staircase with the relief of St. John with the members of the fraternity. The church of St. Grisogono was built in the 12th century and today art exhibitions take place in this church. The church of St. Nicholas by the shore was built at the beginning of the 17th century; it belonged to the fraternity of Šibenik's seamen. The church still keeps many votive gifts of the seamen. The Gothic Church of Holy Salvation, with the late Renaissance bell tower, belonged to the Templars, the flagellant fraternity and later to the Benedictine nuns. After the abolition of numerous monasteries during the French rule, in 1808, the church was awarded the Serbian Orthodox Church, and was dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin and contains many cultural and historical objects.

MONASTERIES

As far as monastery complexes are concerned, we must mention the monastery of St. Frances, which has collected rich material for the study of history over the centuries. The monastery has a very valuable library, which houses a number of important illuminated manuscripts and charters from the 11th - 14th century, including the Šibenik Prayer from the 14th century. The church ofSt.Frances is a national sanctuary ofCroatia's first saint, St. Nikola Tavelić. The second Franciscan monastery complex of St. Lawrenceis situated in the Gothic palace Foscolo. The medieval monastic Mediterranean garden of St. Lawrence was opened in 2007, after it has been neglected and forgotten for nearly a hundred years. The garden has about 120 species of herbs and medicinal plants.

During the second half of the 19th century there has been a collapse of the town walls, whose ruins can be seen in the park and the city began to expand towards north and east.

Then, at the site of the main gate, the theatre building was built, which opened to public in 1870.