The pride of Sibenik is St. Jacob’s Cathedral, a three-hull basilica situated in the city centre, is enlisted in the
UNESCO’s world heritage due to its beauty, construction and stylistic features.
Yacht charter Sibenik – the key to your perfect sailing holiday. Find more about this destination: history, sights, climate, how to arrive info etc. Charter a sailingboat, motoryacht, catamaran or gulet and sail away... Sibenik awaits you
Location and climate
Sibenik is situated in the central part of the Croatian coast, in a
picturesque bay of the river Krka. The area is characterized by a very
indented coast.
The climate is Mediterranean - temperature is quite high during the
summer and amounts to 24,2 °C in July, but is bearable due to the so
called „Maestral” wind, blowing in the direction sea – mainland, whereas
the winter temperature in January amounts to 6,5 °C. The summers are
quite dry, and the average annual insulation is very high (2.710 hours).
History and sights
In the 9th century, a fortress was built on the territory nowadays known
as Sibenik, around which an urban settlement was established.
The city was ruled by Byzantium, Hungarian-Croatian kings, Venice,
France, Austria, etc. In the 13th century it became a bishopric centre,
whereas in the 15th and 16th century Sibenik was known as one of the
most significant Croatian humanistic and Renaissance centres.
City walls, towers and fortresses (that are extremely well preserved examples
of the fortification architecture) were a very significant defense system
of the city. These are the most prominent ones:
• St. Michael’s fortress from the 15th century
• St. Nicholas’ fortress (16th ct.) at the entrance to the St. Anthony’s
channel, built to protect the harbour against the Turkish attacks
• St. John’s fortress (17th ct.) also protected the city against the Turkish
attacks
• Subicevac fortress (17th ct.)
St. Jacob’s Cathedral, a three-hull basilica situated in the city centre,
is enlisted in the UNESCO’s world heritage due to its beauty, construction
and stylistic features. The construction work began in 1431 and ended
in 1536.
Here are other important Gothic-Romanesque monuments: St. Krsevan’s church, St. John’s church, St.
Francis’ monastery and church, St. Lawrence’s church and monastery, and
St. Dominic’s church.
Today
Nowadays, Sibenik is an administrative and political as well as economic
and cultural centre of the Sibenik-Knin county. There are two
national parks in this area - Krka and Kornati.
Numerous sports grounds are at your disposal; conditions
for sailing and rowing are more than good; there are several diving clubs
with diving schools, and underwater photo safari is also available. A
riding school as well as the falconry school can be found in the vicinity.
Among cultural events, the most well known are the following:
the International Children’s Festival, Dalmatian chansons festival, and St. Jacob’s
Day (who is the patron saint of Sibenik) is celebrated on 25th July.
How to arrive?
By plane
If arriving by plane, you can use the Split airport (situated in Kastela,
45 km away from Sibenik) as well as the Zemunik airport (50 km
away from Sibenik).
By car or bus
Sibenik is via Zagreb-Split highway connected with Zagreb, and it is the
fastest way if arriving from the direction of north. Via Adriatic highway
it is also connected with all the towns along the coast - there are branch
roads for Drnis and Knin that connect Sibenik with the inland of Croatia
as well.
Regular bus lines connect Sibenik with all significant centres in Croatia
and many European cities.
By ship
There are regular ferry lines that connect Sibenik with every larger city
on the coast, and via them (Zadar, Split) with Italy (Ancona and Bari).