Starigrad Fortress

Starigrad Fortress, locally called Fortica or Stari grad, stands on the western summit of the Omiš Dinara above the town of Omiš in Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia, overlooking the mouth of the Cetina. It was built in the first half of the fifteenth century as a refuge and lookout against Ottoman advance and to watch the Poljica hinterland; Venetian sources first name it Starigrad in 1443. Together with the fortress of Visuć it appears in 1423 as one of the “castella circa Dalmissam”. After 1444 it passed under Venetian rule, though Herceg Stjepan Vukčić Kosača still claimed it (castrum Stary, 1448; civitate Antiqua, 1454). Venice strengthened the works in 1566–72, 1644 and 1677.

The late-Gothic core is a two-storey square keep at the highest point, with a tufa vault and a terrace, linked by a long corridor to an irregular lower courtyard. In 1571 two triangular bastions of large rusticated limestone blocks were added on the north and east to cover the approach and the ridge. Walls about one metre thick enclose a bailey on two natural rock levels, with a stair once gated between them; defenders could fall back upslope as each level was lost. An outer barbican guards the narrow gateway. Remains of garrison buildings, cisterns and a small chapel survive in the court.

The site is a protected cultural good of the Republic of Croatia (Z-5012: military and defensive buildings). It is reached by a steep hike from Omiš, is open to visitors (small cash fee in season) and offers wide views of the Adriatic, the Cetina and the mountains.