Things to know about Sibenik

One of the curiosities of Sibenik history – it is a city on Dalmatian coast with highest number of churches. There are 24 churches nowadays! Although there used few more, some of them where destroyed at the end of 19th and during turbulent 20th century.

Twelve churches are still used in their original function, while others are abandoned or used for other purposes.

The oldest one in Sibenik is Church of St. Chrysogonus, built in 12th century. It was reconstructed after severe damage in WWII. Today its beautiful space is used as a Gallery of Contemporary Art.

Sibenik’s Cathedral

The most famous church in Sibenik is the Cathedral, dedicated to St. Jacob. Since year 2000 it is included on UNESCO Cultural World Heritage List. This beautiful building is one of a kind for many reasons:

  • it is entirely built of stone,
  • the roof stones are in the same time vaults in the interior,
  • the facade is equivalent to the layout of the interior,
  • the frieze of 71 heads on the apsidal part is a uniqe example in European architecture; it is presumed that these heads represent portraits of common people that lived in 15th century Sibenik.

The Cathedral was first built in Gothic, and completed in Renaissance style. Its famous builders were Juraj Dalmatinac (Georgius Mathei Dalmaticus) and Nikola Firentinac (Niccolò di Giovanni Fiorentino). The Cathedral is pretty small for this kind of building (38x14m), with the highest point of 34 m.

The drawing of the Cathedral seen from its lateral side

More about Sibenik in our other blog posts:

Things to do in Sibenik and Sibenik on a budget.