After the tourist success of historical fortresses in Šibenik, the fortress in Klis is becoming more popular as well.
The St. Michael’s fortress, as well as the Barone Fortress, are the historical heritage which the town of Šibenik finally included in its tourism offer a few years ago, and there is little doubt that the reconstructed Tanaja Fortress and perhaps the most valuable of them all, the Fortress of St. Nicholas, will follow the same path. While Šibenik is a town with four fortresses, one of the few such places in the world, in its vicinity there is another fortress which is becoming increasingly popular with both tourists and locals. It is the Klis Fortress, reports Šibenski Portal on November 14, 2017.
Due to its geographical position connecting the Dalmatian coast and the hinterland, Klis is often called the Key of Dalmatia. After the reconstruction of the Prince’s Palace at the Klis Fortress, as well as the project “The Historical Fortress in Contemporary Attire”, and the shooting of the popular TV series Game of Thrones, the number of visitors from all over the world has increased, with almost 40,000 people now coming to the fortress annually.
The Municipality of Klis, which would like to get the official status of a town, has recognised Šibenik as an ideal partner from which to learn how to manage the fortress. Therefore, Šibenik and Klis are participating in the EU project “Fortress Reinvented”, which will add modern facilities to two of them.
“The Municipality of Klis has so far invested more than four million kunas in the Klis Fortress via EU projects, and this is a good basis for further activities. We want to do even better, and for this purpose, we have partnered with Šibenik in this project. Your positive experiences will surely be useful to us,” said Darija Radić, a Klis representative, at the recent conference held in Šibenik.
Klis can definitely build a rich future on the foundations of its even richer past. The town is the starting point of Croatian national history and the first capital of Croatia, proclaimed shortly after the arrival of Croats to this region in the 7th century. Duke Trpimir ruled Croatia from that very fortress.
The Klis Fortress is one of the most prominent fortifications in Croatia and is mentioned for the first time in the 5th century. However, its fame mostly dates from the times of the wars with the Turks, when the captain of the fortress Petar Kružić and his “Uskoks” resisted the Turkish conquest for decades.
Translated from Šibenski Portal.
