Šibenik

View over Cathedral of St. James and the bay of Šibenik

Šibenik is a city (pop. ~37,000) in Šibenik-Knin County, in northern Dalmatia, Croatia.

Understand

Šibenik is most famous for Saint James Cathedral, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage list, as are the city walls from the Venetian era. A trademark of the city is the traditional Šibenik hat, coloured orange and black, also the city's colours. 16th-century polymath and bishop Faust Vrančić, known as one of the inventors of parachute and perhaps the first man who used it, was born here and lived here. Famous basketball player Dražen Petrović, and Maksim Mrvica, a piano player, were born here.

Šibenik was mentioned for the first time under its present name in 1066 in a Charter of the Croatian King Petar Krešimir IV. For a period of time, it was a seat of the Croatian King. For that reason, Šibenik is also called "Krešimirov grad" (Krešimir's city). It is the oldest native Croatian town on the eastern shores of the Adriatic sea. You can see the statue of King Petar Krešimir IV between the park and the beginning of the promenade along the sea. Šibenik was for almost 300 years under Venetian rule, and then in Austro-Hungary, Yugoslavia and finally, Croatia. It was a very important town in Venetian-Turkish wars and it was a frontier of the western civilization and Christianity.

Tourist information

• 1 Turističko informativni centar (Tourist Information Centre), Obala palih omladinaca 3, ☏ +385 22 214 448. (updated Oct 2016)
• 2 Turistička zajednica grada Šibenika (Šibenik Tourist Board), Fausta Vrančića 18, ☏ +385 22 212 075, tz-sibenik@si.t-com.hr. (updated Sep 2016)
• Turistička zajednica Šibensko-Kninske Županije (Tourist board of Šibenik–Knin County), Fra Nikole Ružića bb, ☏ +385 22 219 072, info@sibenikregion.com. (updated Oct 2016)

Get in

Šibenik's harbour side

By plane

Airports of Split and Zadar are quite close to the city (approx. 1 hr by bus).

For Split airport it would be more reasonable to get to Trogir straight from the airport (instead of Split proper), then take a bus from there.

By bus

• 3 Autobusni kolodvor Šibenik (Bus station). 07:00-22:00. Šibenik is well connected by bus with Croatia, surrounding countries and Central Europe (Dortmund, Ljubljana). Left luggage service is available. (updated Sep 2016)

By boat

• 4 Trajektno pristanište (Ferry quay). Local ferries are operating from the port to Kaprije, Prvic Luka, Sepurine, Vodice, Zirje and Zlarin. (updated Sep 2016)

For long distance destination, like Rijeka, Dubrovnik or Ancona and Bari, check ports of Split and Zadar.

By train

• 5 Kolodvor Šibenik (Railway station), Fra Jeronima Milete 24. M-F 07:00-10:50 13:10-20:20, Sa 06:20-10:50, Su 06:20-10:50 15:50-20:20. Šibenik is connected to the Croatian railway network by Šibenik-Perković line. From Perković there are some connections to Split and Zagreb. The trains are quite slow there and the schedule renders it virtually useless for a traveller. (updated Sep 2016)

By car

Take A1 highway Zagreb-Split and turn off at Šibenik junction.

Get around

In the city

On foot

Everywhere in the city is within walking distance. From bus station to the old city centre it takes only five minutes to walk. You can get to all sights on foot, and the furthest are within half an hour walk.

By bus

If you want to go to the outskirts of the city (for instance to the Dalmare shopping centre), you can take a public bus. Bus transport in Šibenik is operated by Autotransport Šibenik and 3 smaller private companies.

By car

If you come by car, there's a large parking place on the very central square Poljana, as well as there is one with 700 spots when you enter the town northbound.

See

At the centre of the old town

Cathedral of St. James

Crkva sv. Barbare

Venetian rule left Šibenik with four beautiful fortresses: St. Michael, St. John, Šubićaevac and St. Nicholas. Old part of the town, full of churches, old noblemen palaces and typical Dalmatian stone houses centuries old is very interesting. Town walls are also well preserved. One of the most interesting sights is medieval monastery garden.

• 1 Katedrala sv. Jakova (Cathedral of St. James or Cathedral of St. Jacob), Trg Republike Hrvatske 1. 9:30-18:30. This basilica is considered as one of the major attraction in the city. It is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Construction started in 1431, and it was not finished until 1536 due to Turkish wars. Several successive architects built it completely in stone in the 15th and 16th centuries, both in Gothic and in Renaissance style. The interlocking stone slabs of the Cathedral's roof were damaged when the city was shelled by Serbian forces in 1991. The damage has since been repaired. It has a beautiful baptistery worth seeing it, and the curiosity is it has been built with stone only, without any kind of binder. Another one is 72 human heads carved in stone on the external part which belong to unknown individuals, passers-by, sailors, merchants and peasants who posed as the cathedral was being built. Statues of Adam and Eve are also curious; Adam is covering his breasts, and Eve is covering not her breasts, but her stomach. €2. (updated Oct 2016)
• 2 Gradska vijećnica (Old city hall). Formerly known as Plathei Communis, it was built from 1533-1536. (updated Sep 2016)
• 3 Crkva sv. Barbare (Church of Saint Barbara). A beautiful small church dating from the 15th century with an asymmetric facade with a clock. Now it houses the Muzej crkvene umjetnosti (Museum of Church Art). (updated Oct 2016)
• 4 Biskupska palača (Bishops Palace). (1439-1441) (updated Sep 2016)
• 5 Kneževa palača (Dukes Palace). (updated Sep 2016)
• 6 Četiri bunara (4 draw-wells), Palih omladinaca 2 (up the steps from the Cathedral square for the square and down the steps enter the former reservoir), ☏ +385 98 341 175. It is an underground complex of water reservoirs, built in the 15th century for city's water supply. Now it's a multimedia exhibition center Bunari - Tajne Šibenika ("Bunari - Secrets of Sibenik"). The reservoirs are now dry and decorated as a museum/gallery and a cafe. It has 7 sections: (Šibenik's treasure, food and drink, shipwrecks around Šibenik, persons from the past). Concerts and stand-up comedy shows often take place at the cafe. Very interesting spot. May-Oct: €2; Nov-Apr: €1.50. (updated Sep 2023)
• 7 Crkva i smostan sv. Frane (Church and monastery of St. Francis), Trg Nikole Tomaszea 1 (at the eastern edge of the old town). Dating from the 16th century. (updated Oct 2016)
• 8 Perivoj Roberta Visianija (Park of Roberto de Visiani). A nicely decorated little park with fountains dedicated to Roberto de Visiani – botanist, poet and philosopher who was born in Šibenik. (updated Oct 2016)
• 9 Srednjovjekovni vrt sv.Lovre (Medieval garden of the monastery St. Laurence), Sv. Lovre (take the Don Krste Stošića street, then 6th turn right), ☏ +385 22 212 515, cromovens@si.t-com.hr. 08:00-23:00. Extremely rare medieval monastery garden, restaurated in 2007 by Dragutin Kiš, who won a millenium Flora award in Japan in 2000. Won the first prize at school gardens contest in Croatia. It contains various plants, especially those used in pharmacy and as spices. It has a quiet cafe, where you can quietly enjoy the view to the Šibenik's old part and the sea, the atmosphere and the odor. Only for guided groups €2, check with Cromovens Tourist Agency . (updated Sep 2023)
• 10 Tvrđava sv. Mihovila (St. Michael's fortress). Ruins of the 13th century now converted into a summer stage. It's an empty shell inside, but views onto surrounding city and the bay are quite promising. €3. (updated Sep 2016)

Do

• Take a swim! Beaches around Šibenik (Solaris, Žaborić, Grebaštica, Brodarica, Jadrija, Srima...) are extremely clean and fun (although sea in Šibenik bay itself isn't very clean). You must try the beach game of picigin, an invention of nearby city of Split's youth. All you need is shallow, sandy or not so stony beach, small ball and company. The aim is to hold a ball as much as you can up in the air, and you're allowed to use all body parts.
• 1 Walk or cycle along the Kanal sv. Ante. (updated Sep 2016)
• Take a trip to Vodice (Hacienda) or Primošten (Aurora) night clubs. It takes around 15 minutes to Vodice and half an hour to Primošten by car.
• 2 Fortress of St. Michael. The Fortress of St. Michael is located at a height of 70m above the sea behind the old city agglomeration. Great view of city of Sibenik, Sibenik Bay and channel.  

Events

• The annual Šibenik International Children's Festival (Međunarodni Dječji Festival), founded in 1958, takes place every summer in the theater or the stage between the Cathedral and City hall, as well as on the streets and squares. It's a great fun, tickets are bargain, and there are a lot of events for adults as well.
• In late summer traditional Dalmatian Chanson Evenings are held. It's worth the visit, but tickets are expensive and there are few of them.

Buy

Old city hall

Typical hat

• Take a walk along the Kalelarga (officially King Tomislav's street) and visit its shops, squares and cafes.
• Buy a CD with traditional Dalmatian klapa singing on it. Klapa is a choir which uses mostly just voice and a few instruments, and they are typical for Šibenik.
• Nearby islands Krapanj and Zlarin are famous for their sponge industry (Krapanj) and coral diving and coral cottage industry (Zlarin), which goes back to 17th century. Coral jewelery and sponge souvenirs are affordable and original.
• Traditional Šibenik's orange and black cap is town's most famous and most recognizable brand, but it can get expensive (more than €20), so just buy a mini replica.
• Olive oil and dry figs are also very qualitative and you can bring them home.
• There are also antiquities fairs around the town, so look for them. If you visit Šibenik in late September, you'll get inside Medieval festival, where you can buy almost everything linked to medieval.
• You can also visit the Dalmare shopping mall. It is located in the southern outskirts of Šibenik, along the road to Split. It includes many clothes shops of major European chains, a large Konzum supermarket and a 24-hour McDonald's restaurant.

Eat

At a local bar

Kike Pizzeria in the ancient part of the city is worth a visit.

Sleep

Surprisingly, private accommodation in Sibenik is not as popular as it is in the other cities of Croatia. Few are willing to open their houses to the travellers and no or only a few sobe (room) signs can be seen at the doors.

• A hostel Indigo is in the old part of the city.

Connect

As of Sept 2021, Šibenik and the coastal highway have 4G from A1 and Tele2, and 5G from T-Mobile.

Go next

• Krka National Park is perhaps somewhat lowlier than the famous Plitvice Lakes National Park, but still is well worth a visit. The park is full of breathtaking scenery of waterfalls, flora, fauna as well as historical and archaeological remains.
• Kornati National Park is famous for its numerous islands and its undersea.
• Telašćica Nature Park just next to Kornati
• Zadar
• Split