Cathedral of St. James in Sibenik

Enough has been said probably about the Cathedral of St. James in the previous reviews, so I will just talk about Sibenik in general.

I stayed at a flat just south of Sibenik for 2 months in January and February of 2023. My landlord said to me, "Sibenik is the most beautiful city in Croatia." By now I would agree with her or rather say "Sibenik is the most beautiful county in Croatia." Well, I certainly have not visited all corners of Croatia, but the area was just so beautiful with many worthy places to visit. 

First about inside the city of Sibenik.

During my 4 month-long trip in spring and summer 2010 when I quickly visited / revisited 21 countries in Europe, I stopped in Sibenik on my way from Split through Trogir to Zadar all in the same day. From the bus station in Sibenik I just walked on the water front to the Cathedral of St. James and walked back to the bus station and left Sibenik. Now I would not recommend this short stay. Between the bus / train station and the Cathedral I would walk through the old town of Sibenik at least one way. It is yet another pretty Venetian old town. It'll be better if you climb to the top of the St. Michael's Fortress and / or the Barone Fortress. From there you get a sweeping vistas of the islands that includes St. Nicolas Fortress, another WHS. (One day …

Sibenik was the last stop before the eventual end of my balkans coastal route in zadar.

The city IS as most have said, surprisingly charming. It lies at the slope of the coastal mountain range and surveys a spectacular strait. As such, good panoramic photos are a given.

The OU however IS based on only one building, the Cathedral, which is nothing short of fascinating. It was built 100% out of stone in an early renaissance style. Imo this IS enough to Grant the building WHS status. Furthermore It's actually a very pleasnat and harmonious building. The outside IS decorated with dozens of sculpted faces and the interior, though sober, IS very fitting. Overall, among an ocean of cathedrals and churches in the list, sibenik manages to be outstanding, charming and unique. A particular point i've seen no one mention IS that because of how It was constructed, the Cathedral's interior perfectly reflects Its exterior, which in part makes for the very unusual appearance of the church.

Apart from the Cathedral sibenik can offer quite a bit more. The old town is pretty and fortunately not overrun by tourists (a very welcomed change indeed after Split, Trogir and Dubrovnik). The mountainside has a few fortifications, built in order to protect the city from ottoman forces. They make for an interesting added value (when i went they were trying to accomodate the defenses of the city for tourism, which i've no doubly Will make them far more enjoyable). …

I spent three days in Šibenik in June 2018, in between my jaunts to Zadar in Split. I took the opportunity to wander through the winding streets of the town, to swim in the crystal clear waters of the Adriatic Sea and to admire the waterfalls of Krka National Park. I really enjoyed this city with the Mediterranean charm of Split or Dubrovnik, but with less tourists and more authenticity. In addition to the attractions mentioned above, the town is home to a second WHS, the Tvrđava sv. Nikole, which is part of the Venetian works of defence.

Although the town is well worth a visit for its charm and historic centre, no single monument stands out in a big way. None at all? No! There is the cathedral! It's not very big, doesn't have an imposing spire, nor a monumental bell. However, its architecture is a real masterpiece. It is built entirely of stone, including the domes and roof vaults. This gives it a gloomy atmosphere when you walk in. The atmosphere is rather heavy and few rays of sunlight penetrate through the windows. It takes a while for the eye to become accustomed to the fine ornamentation carved into the stone blocks that make up the cathedral. But once you do, it is a feast for the eyes.

It is then essential to walk around the outside of the cathedral to appreciate the other sculptures that dot all the corners of the building. The frieze of …

Somewhat uniquely for a grand church in a town with uneven topography, Cathedral of Saint James does not occupy a commanding highest point. Stairways run up from the cathedral square to residential quarters that sit at higher elevations, some directly overlooking St James. The landing by the church of Svih Svetih offers one of the best-known perspectives. Exterior of the cathedral is full of interesting features, the most striking of which is the band of human faces (numbering 71 in total). The interior did not strike me as having extraordinary features that I have not seen elsewhere; it is also relatively small. Nonetheless, beautiful decorative elements can be found throughout the space; the ceiling contrasts that with a grungy vibe.

Šibenik's relatively lower profile among Dalmatian Coast towns is well explained by the fact that beyond the major point of interest that is the cathedral, there is only the hillside old quarter that does not take long to get a fill of. Šibenik was not deserted on a July morning, but the volume of visitors was significantly lower than in Split or Dubrovnik or even Zadar or Trogir during the same week. There are several minor churches, museums, and monasteries that you can see, but I doubt many people budget time for those. I did stop by the pleasant small garden of the Monastery of Saint Lawrence for about 15 minutes, and walked around a bit, but did not see much that would lead me to a recommendation for …

Of all the cities that I visited along the Croatian coast, I think Šibenik is the one that won me over the most. It manages to mix the big city bustle of Split and Zadar with the quaint back alley picturesqueness of Poreč and Trogir, but retains a feeling of authenticity that can be lacking in the centres of those other cities.

The World Heritage Site is just the Cathedral, which sits rather pleasantly at the northern end of the City centre between the idyllic waterfront and the surprisingly steep stepped walkways in land. In fact these streets of steps weren't initially obvious to us when we walked into town following our map, and we quite quickly realised that our daughter (and buggy) was going to need to be carried quite a lot if we were going to reach our destination. It did however give us a great first sight of the cathedral as we arrived a few streets over, looking down on its roof.

The cathedral is very pleasant and seems to reflect local building techniques and styles, though my visit to the interior was rather brief and hasn't left a particularly lasting impression. However, late night and early morning strolls around the labyrinth of streets and squares nearby accompanied by the sound of ringing bells is one of my fondest memories of my whole trip.

The real charm of Šibenik though was the remainder of the city centre. Trying to plot our way around without encountering steps became …

I visited this WHS in April 2014. Since it is quite close to several other WHS in Croatia and usually visited by tour groups on day trips, I decided to spend the night there. It turned out to be a wise choice as the narrow uphill streets or stairs and the old city centre were empty at sunset or at night or even early morning. This meant that I had the cathedral all to myself and I tried to discover different vantage points from where to take good pictures and appreciate this stone cathedral. The best views in my opinion are the following: 1) from the Ana Fortress or cemetery, 2) from beneath the few stairs immediately in front of the main facade, or else 3) all the way up the stairs to the left of the town hall. The main interesting peculiarity of this cathedral, apart from it being built entirely from stone, is that the apses and facades are adorned by common citizens' faces instead of saints or gargoyles. The highlight of my visit was the intricately carved baptistry at the back of the cathedral. It is in immaculate condition and the natural lighting on the baptismal font with angels was really something I'll never forget.

Sibenik is very pretty town in a scenic location on the Adriatic Sea. It features a picturesque Old Town, with the main attraction being the Sv. Jakov (St. James) Cathedral. The cathedral is built in a Venetian Renaissance style and is quite impressive, even though it is surrounded by buildings and can't really be admired from afar. The interior is also interesting and well-preserved, especially the baptistry. All in all, it is a nice attraction in a nice city, nothing very special, but certainly worth an excursion. The drive or bus ride from Split or Zadar along Croatia's stunningly beautiful coastline is a big part of the enjoyment.

There are a lot of cathedrals on the WH list, plenty of them are larger in size or have a more magnificent interior decoration or are of greater historical significance. But the Cathedral in Sibenik has its own special charm: the location close to the shore, the bright white of the facade, and the carved stone portraits mentioned by Els. They depict citizen of Sibenik and not - as usual - saints or demonic creatures.

But the special feature of the cathedral is the construction technique. It is entirely built of stone, no other material was used. The barrel vault and the cupola were constructed of self-supporting stone slabs. No mortar or other binding material was used.

We visited Sibenik and the nearby Krka National Park as a daytrip from Trogir. We reached Sibenik in the afternoon and amazingly there were only a few tourists. That was a pleasant surprise compared with the crowds in Dubrovnik, Split and Trogir. We also strolled through the almost deserted old town and walked upstairs to the Ana fortress. From there you have a wonderful view to the cathedral and the bay (photo).

It's a required field trip for all grade four studends in primary school. I went there when I was a fourth grader and later each time my mom thaught grade four (if she didn't take them to Plitvice which is an alternate trip) Either way I've seen this magnificent monument so many times and each time was as if I'm looking at it for the first time.

On a late Saturday afternoon, I went by bus from Split to Sibenik, about 80 kms to the north. The public bus took us on a winding road along the coastline, passing several marinas. For me this was the first view of the non-touristy Croatia. It has a general Mediterranean feel about it, it could be anywhere between Spain and Greece.

At the outskirts of Sibenik, we hit upon a traffic jam caused by horning and flag-waving car drivers. At first I thought that people were celebrating because Croatia had won an important football match. But it turned out to be a loud and patriotic wedding - not the last I would see that Saturday.

The cathedral of Sibenik is located about 10 minutes on foot from the bus station and can be seen from afar. You have to get up close to get the real "Wow!"-feeling though. All those fine little sculptures around the gates, facade, and apse! No less than 74 small sculptured heads that represent eminent Sibenik citizens are the highlight of the exterior.

The interior of the cathedral is much darker and soberer. I didn't get the chance to explore the church well on the inside, because that would have meant that I had to push another bridal couple to the side. The cathedral of course is a prime wedding location: another couple and their guests were already waiting at the plaza next door for the next 'shift'. So I had to retreat …