A city where the streets have secret names.
This week’s Insider’s guide by The Guardian published on March 30, 2016, featured the beautiful Croatian town of Šibenik. Written by Marina Petković, the article presents the sights, aromas, and sounds of Šibenik complete with audio files and, of course, more than a few great photos.
Here’s what Marina had to say about her beloved city:
Away from the crowded streets of Croatia’s usual tourist haunts, the fashion-conscious city of Šibenik – where electricity first flowed – has a thriving festival scene, dazzling Dalmatian vistas and a good line in complaining.
In five words
Hidden, bohemian and otherworldly sunsets
Sound of the city
Silence, and then the sound of church bells crashing in. With 24 churches and six monasteries, not many other cities can sing this chorus like Šibenik. The bells ring every half hour – it’s as though the city were talking to you, telling you its stories. That’s the city’s sound from September through to May until the noise of tourists on the streets takes over.
The best building
In my opinion, St James Cathedral is the most important architectural monument of the 15th and 16th centuries in Croatia. This impressive structure was built on the site of an old Romanic church next to the sea, taking 105 years to build out of nothing more than stone blocks without bonding compounds. As a result, the cathedral looks exactly the same on the outside as it does within.
During the Croatian war of independence in the early 1990s, the cathedral was bombed, causing severe damage to the dome, which had to be disassembled and restored. This unfortunate event was also an opportunity to make a detailed analysis of the unique architectural technique used for its construction. The cathedral is also decorated with 71 sculptures of men, women and children – the first time in Europe that everyday people were put in the context of a sacral object.
Homegrown talent
The Fog Sellers are an experimental band recognised for their innovative tunes. The trio plays a combination of electronic and jazz sounds – which could be classified as “lounge music” – and their instruments create an unexpected sound.
Top insider’s tip
If you want a local to help you find a street by its name, you are out of luck. Here, in most cases, folks use street names that are passed down from generation to generation, with meanings known only to them. But that shouldn’t deter you from walking through many of the little stone-covered streets that have been walked upon for almost a millennium. If only floors could talk!
You should also find a spot to hear klapa music performed live – it will give you goosebumps, even if you don’t understand the words. This type of folk singing has been inscribed in the Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage list and is definitely not to be missed.
To read the whole article featured in The Guardian, follow the link.
