Zadar to Šibenik

The ride to Sibenik (Sheebenik, emphasis on the 1st syllable) was much better than other recent rides and we found it pleasant for much of it. For quite a way we were on part of the Eurovelo #8 which meant the roads chosen are more bike suitable and quiet. This Eurovelo route does make its way through Croatia but much of it is still under development, not paved, and often quite rough and rocky, better for mountain bikes. We had no further challenges like we had last week thankfully, only trouble finding and getting to our apartment once in Sibenik. We are staying in the old centre here situated on a steep hill and stairs are the major mode of movement, not easy with a fully loaded tandem. The other issue in these narrow streets with tall buildings is that GPS loses satellite signal so you can’t reliably use it for navigation. Eventually we did succeed in locating the “apartman” and there were some wooden boards forming a ramp over the stairs up to it so we could roll the bike up. Our Sibenik apartment is very cute with a little private garden and we are directly under a large old fortress, St. Micheal’s, which is an important tourist destination within the city

For our first day in Sibenik, we started with the 3 fortress tour. First the one beside us, St. Micheal’s, then the Barone fortress and finally St. John’s. The first one is the oldest, from the 11th century, most developed and has a large open air concert venue that hosts musical concerts. In fact there was one last night, it was a bit noisy around our bed time. The other 2 fortresses are on opposing hills so there was definitely some climbing to be done but only on foot and no heavy bags so it is too easy. All 3 give you some very good views of the city and areas around here. As you can well imagine the city was protected from 3 places when needed through history and the countless wars. We spent the rest of the day exploring the old centre and its narrow winding streets as well as the important UNESCO listed St. James Cathedral. It is positioned lower in the old town and and makes an imposing statement when viewing from the fortress above. It was built in the 15th century by an architect and sculptor named Juraj Dalmatinac. The main reason it is classified as a UNESCO site is related to its interlocking stone construction method for the church and the dome as well as other renaissance artistic styles. One very unique and interesting feature is the 71 heads of the architect’s contemporaries sticking out of an outside wall. They are interesting in that they look like regular people with expressions and liveliness, an unusual thing to see as opposed to the usual biblical characters. On top is a statue of St. Micheal, the patron Saint of Sibenik, slaying Satan.

As in other parts of Europe and the world many places and streets are called Saint this and that. Saint is Sveti in Croatian and when George first saw this he didn’t realize it meant saint, didn’t know what it meant and thought it was a funny thing to say in place of “sweaty”. So this has been our standing joke riding here as we are always “sveti” Tara and George. See also the old SNL skit about “schweti balls” for further hilarity.

The 2nd day here we rode out on to the promontory across from the city to see the other UNESCO listed site, St. Nicholas Fortress. This is the 4th fortress in the city and it protected the inlet into Sibenik from the Adriatic side. Riding over there gives you an excellent view of the city and the other 3 fortresses from the other side. We weren’t able to actually visit the site as it is undergoing restoration but could get right out to the point where it sits. We were able to enter the visitor’s centre about this area including the fortress, the estuary, rivers, sea life and some history too.

Tags: 2023, Adriatic North