Starigrad Fortress is a 15th-century fortress located near

Omiš Omiš () is a town and port in the Dalmatia region of Croatia, and a municipality in the Split-Dalmatia County. The town is approximately south-east of Croatia's second largest city, Split (city), Split, where the Cetina River meets the Adriatic ...

Split-Dalmatia county Split-Dalmatia County ( ) is a central-southern Dalmatian county in Croatia. The administrative center is Split. The population of the county is 455,242 (2011). The land area is 4.540 km2, the total area is 14.106,40 km2. Split-Dalmati ...

, in

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

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 ...

. The fortress or ''Fortica'' was built during the

Croatian–Ottoman wars Croatian–Ottoman Wars (, ) can refer to one of the several conflicts between the Kingdom of Croatia (as part of Kingdom of Hungary-Croatia and Habsburg Monarchy) and the Ottoman Empire: * Long Campaign (1443–1444) of the King Vladislaus II ...

as a primary defence against 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 ...

. The precipitous fortification is sited on a ridge above the town Omiš. In the event of attack, its purpose was to provide refuge for local people and be a stronghold where they could retreat to and resist the Turks. As the stone fort's defensive strength is derived from the elevation at which it was built, it is a rudimentary defensive structure. A two-storey

square tower The Square Tower is one of the oldest parts of the fortifications of Portsmouth, England. It is a Grade I listed building. History A tower was built in 1494 as part of the fortifications and served as a home to the Governor of Portsmouth. ...

stands at its highest point, serving as both a lookout post and

keep A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...

. A simple

bastion A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fire from the ...

stands at the opposite end of the fort to cover the approach path and the ridge line. It has an outer

barbican A barbican (from ) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe Medieval Europeans typically b ...

to defend the fort's narrow entrance gateway and the gorge below the fort. The walls, which are about thick, are made from locally quarried

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. They enclose an

inner bailey The inner bailey or inner ward of a castle is the strongly fortified enclosure at the heart of a medieval castle.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 22. It is protected by the outer ...

that is separated into two distinct levels by the difference in the site's natural rock height. Access between the levels is via a small stone stairway that was once protected by a stone wall and gateway. In event of attack, the fortification's design permits the defenders to fall back to higher ground as each level falls.

References

Buildings and structures in Split-Dalmatia County Forts in Croatia Omiš {{Croatia-castle-stub

See also

References