Novigrad Castle, locally called "Fortica" is a ruined hilltop

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

above village of Novigrad in

Zadar County Zadar County ( ) is a county in Croatia, it encompasses northern Dalmatia and southeastern Lika. Its seat is the city of Zadar. Geography Among the largest towns in the county of Zadar are: Zadar, Benkovac, Bibinje, Biograd, Nin, Croatia, Nin ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

History

It is considered that during the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

, a

Liburnian The Liburnians or Liburni () were an ancient tribe inhabiting the district called Liburnia, a coastal region of the northeastern Adriatic between the rivers ''Arsia'' ( Raša) and ''Titius'' ( Krka) in what is now Croatia. According to Strabo ...

hillfort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

existed on the site of today's castle. The area was subsequently conquered by Romans and became part of their state, until the fall of the Roman Empire in 476. It was subsequently controlled by the

Ostrogoths The Ostrogoths () were a Roman-era Germanic peoples, Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Goths, Gothic kingdoms within the Western Roman Empire, drawing upon the large Gothic populatio ...

, until emperor Justinian's reconquista. In the aftermath of Aachen peace of 812, the place came under control of

Croats The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

who made it a place of strategic significance. The castle itself was built in 1220 by reconstructing an older Roman fortification, therefore the complex was named "Castrum novum", or "Novigrad" (The New Castle). By the late 1282, Juraj Gusić Kurjaković, count of Krbava erected new fortifications and had the castle thoroughly reinforced. Their purpose was to protect his possessions around Novigrad. During the feudal power struggles of late 14th century called "The anti-court movement", in 1386 the Hungarian-Croatian sovereign

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

and her mother

Elizabeth of Bosnia Elizabeth of Bosnia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=/, Elizabeta Kotromanić, Јелисавета Котроманић ; ; ; – January 1387) was queen consort of Kingdom of Hungary, Hungary and Croatia in personal union with Hungary, Croat ...

, were imprisoned in the castle. Elizabeth was eventually strangled by her captors. By 1409, the area became part of the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

. The Venetians built additional fortifications. During the Venetian management, the castle was used as a residence of Venetian governor (

provveditore The Italian title ''prov ditore'' (plural ''provveditori''; also known in ; ), "he who sees to things" ( overseer), was the style of various (but not all) local district governors in the extensive, mainly maritime empire of the Republic of Venice. ...

). During the Cretan war, the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

briefly managed to capture the Novigrad Castle, only to be reclaimed again by the Venetians in 1647. The Venetian rule over this area continued until the end of the Republic in 1797. During the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence) and (rarely) "War in Krajina" ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Рат у Крајини, Rat u Krajini) are used. was an armed conflict fought in Croatia from 1991 to 1995 between Croats, Croat forces loyal to the Governmen ...

, the wider area of Novigrad was fiercely contested during

Operation Maslenica Operation Maslenica was a Croatian Army offensive launched in January 1993 to retake territory in northern Dalmatia and Lika from Krajina Serb forces, with the stated military objective of pushing the Serbs back from approaches to Zadar, Masl ...

in January and February 1993. SVK's 7th North Dalmatian corps bolstered by elite Serbian Volunteer Guars (Arkan's Tigers) fought ferocious battles against Croatian Guards Brigades and special operations units with Serbs breaking the Croatian lines only to be pushed back by Croatian counterattacks.

Gallery

File:Novigrad gore (cropped).jpg, The upper part of the castle. File:Novigrad dolje.jpg, A view towards the lower part of the castle.

External links

Fortica Fortress or Castrum Novum - a castle in Novigrad

Fortica Castle in Novigrad

References

{{Castles in Croatia Castles in Croatia Buildings and structures in Zadar County