Fortress of St. Nicholas in Šibenik

Fortress of St. Nicholas in Šibenik is one of the outstanding examples of fortification military construction in the world and included in the list of UNESCO World Cultural Heritage as such, along with the defense walls in Zadar. The interesting thing about this fortress is that it has never actually accomplished its military function because it was never active. It is a fact that in a battle with the Spanish military armada a cannonball was fired from the fortress and it had fallen only a few meters away due to the wooden base of cannon which felt apart. In addition to this anecdote, St. Nikola is also interesting because of its shape. Raised at the entrance to Šibenik Canal that leads to the city, which is the place that can be described as the gate of the city, it was built in the form of a keychain. Whether this form is intentional or accidental, we do not know it reliably, but we know that the fortress is among several unique examples in Europe with its triangular formation and without the prominent tower. There are theories according to which the shape of the islet of Ljuljevac, on which it was erected, also conditioned the form of the fort, with the theory that its shape was due to the speed of construction. The fort was built in several decades after the fall of Skradin into the hands of the Turks and completed in 1553. It is considered to be the monument of Venetian architecture between the 15th and 17th centuries. If you have stayed in some of the comfortable apartments, rooms or vacation houses in Šibenik, you will be able to see the fortress only from the outside. It is in the process of being reconstructed so that the wombs of its walls and terraces with the astonishing view to the nearby islands would soon be open to the public. In other words, Šibenik is unique by the number of fortresses, the Fortress of St. Nicholas is one of the four fortresses surrounding the city, thus Šibenik never fell into the hands of the Turks who were tirelessly besieged.