While Dubrovnik and Split – Croatia’s de facto capitals – have had to adjust more than any others because of best-in-travel listings, overtourism and the cruise ship economy, Sibenik to the north has been able to avoid any stain on the city. So far, it retains the feeling of an outlier. It’s the Dalmatian coast as it once was.
In this respect, Sibenik’s majestic forts, Unesco-worthy cathedral and pedestrianised Old Town seem almost unique. Here, locals sip espresso, slurp ice cream, sit on steps and – more or less – master fjaka, the Dalmatian art of aspiring to do nothing. And that’s not mentioning the slow-motion pace of life in its cradle of islands beyond glimmering Sibenik Bay and St Anthony Channel.
In a way, it is as if the protected port city has absorbed energy over the centuries from its many overlords and invaders – Venetians and Greeks, Hungarians and Ottomans – and now decided it’s overdue time to sit back and relax. Indeed, Sibenik was founded by Croats more than one thousand years ago, making it the oldest native Croatian town on the Adriatic. You could say then, that its people have earned their right to fjaka more than most.
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What to do
Get lost in the Old Town
Sibenik has red roofs reminiscent of Dubrovnik, minus the hoards of tourists
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Begin at the triple nave Cathedral of St James, which bears witness to the cross-Adriatic exchange of architectural ideas between Italy and Croatia in the 15th and 16th centuries. Sibenik is the only city in the country with two Unesco marvels to shout about and the cathedral is its first; a holy house, but also an art and sculpture lesson writ in stone.
Like in many Croatian coastal cities, strolling from polished street to pedestrianised sunlit square is the only way to truly appreciate all the architectural pomp. So from the cathedral, climb past Gothic-Renaissance monuments to sea-view wine bars to art-filled stone churches as pretty as you’ll find anywhere.
Tour a fort (or two, or three, or four)
High points come thick and fast the higher through the Old Town’s inner streets you ascend. Among these is the medieval St Michael’s Fortress, a white stone bastion rising steeply, as if straight from the water like an Atlantis reborn.
Visit St Nicholas’ fortress
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From its battlements,…
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