Šibenik

History:

Sibenik is the oldest croatian city on the east adriatic coast and it is situated in the protected natural harbor in the middle of the east part of the adriatic coast.
The name Sibenik was first mentioned in year 1066. (king Petar Kresimir IV). In the 15. th century Sibenik is under domination of Venice and it stays like that for almost 400 years. From this period comes the most famous and most beautiful monument - st.Jacob cathedral built during the 15 th and 16 th century (by Juraj Dalmatinac and Nikola from Firenza). At the end of the 18. century Sibenik is under the domination of Austria ( small period in 18.ct. under Napoleon Bonaparte) untill 1918. From 1918 - 1941. Sibenik is the part of Croatian, Slovenien and Serbian monarchy under serbian king Djordjevic. During the World war II. Sibenik is the part of the Musollini's Italy and from 1945. part of the communist state Yugoslavia. From 1991 sibenik is again part of free Europe and independet state - Croatia.

Geographic position and climate:

Sibenik is situated on the 43˚44' north latitude and 15˚55 east longitude. The relief is charachterised bay a very intended coastline and its melting with the extremely colourful outback (Zagora). It's hills, the mountains and the Plavno basin, it's fertile fields (namely Kninsko, Kosovo and Petrovo), the Bukovica plane with Promina mountain and the rivers Krka and Cikola conribute to the diversity of the county landscape.
Sibenik is very well conected with the "Zagreb-Split highway" (4 km away from the city) and with 2 airports: Zadar (60 km away) and Split (80 km away).
The climate is typically mediterranean. The insolation is very high in the coastal part of the region (2710 hours of sun per year) but decreases as one goes further inland. Summer temperatures are relatively high but a very pleasent wind called "Maestral" makes the heat ieasier to sustain. Winters are moderate and mild in the maritime parts. Apart from the wind "Maestral" the winds "Bura" and "Jugo" prevail in the greatest part of the region.

Cultural heritage and tourism:

For the past 40 years the children's festival has became one of Sibenik's so called trademarks. The festival is the unique event in Croatia as well as in the entire Europe. The festival promotes the estethic education of the children and youth and it also helps them to develop all artistic forms of creativity, which is all considered to be the cultural - pedagogical reason for this event.
Tourism has been developing for the last 10 years and today stands for the most important industry. This has been contributed by the 2 National parks in the area as well as the beauty of the coast and kindness of the local population.

Photogallery Šibenik Tourist board: