Sibenik, Croatia

Krka National Park


Sibenik from our ship in port at sunrise

Sibenik is the oldest Croatian city on the Dalmatian Coast.  In recent history, Croatia was a part Yugoslavia until it declared its independence in 1991.  It took 4 years of war to successfully establish it as an independent country.  Croatia is now part of the European Union (Schengen area), and member of NATO and United Nations.  

Where exactly is Croatia you might ask?  I am sure for many (me included),  Croatia was not labeled as such on any maps studied in geography classes when we were kids as it was still a part of Yugoslavia.  So here is a little geography lesson.  Croatia is on the Adriatic Sea across from the eastern coast of Italy.  To its northern border, Hungary is to the northeast and Slovenia is to the northwest.  Serbia is on Croatia's eastern border and Bosnia and Herzegovina is on its southeastern border.  Montenegro is also shares a very small portion of the southern border.

From Google Maps

The economy of Croatia is largely driven by agriculture and industry.  However over recent years, Croatians have been trying to grow the tourism industry.  Croatia's currency is the Euro, so it is an easy stopover from other countries in Europe.  Sibenik was clean and felt very safe.  We walked all around the city with no concerns for safety and did not notice pickpockets that were prevalent in many of the other European cities we visited.  We were the only cruise ship in port on the day we were there.  There were other tours there from land based travel groups, but it did not feel crowded at all. 




St. Michael's Fortress

There are several fortresses that overlook the city of Sibenik, including St. Michael's Fortress as seen above and St. Nicholas's Fortress, which you will see a bit later in this post.  St. Michaels's Fortress is named after the oldest church of Sibenik St. Michael's Church which was located within the fortress, however, over the centuries, the fortress was badly damaged.  It was of lesser strategic importance so it lay in ruins, until a revitalization project in 2014 build an open air amphitheater within the wall of the fortress. The beautiful view overlooking the city are also a draw to visitors.   




St. Michael's Fortress


City overlook from St. Michael's Fortress

Overlook of the barrier islands  protecting the port of Sibenik


Krka National Park

The main attraction at the Krka National Park is WATERFALLS.  The park has a nice trail that you can walk around to see the waterfalls from all angles, both from above and below.  The walkway does have a lot of streps going down and up as you wind your way around the falls.  This is not a walk for individuals with mobility limitations due to the stairs and many of the walkways are wet and slippery, as well.  That being said you can reach the upper portions of the falls without a significant number of steps, so it is definitely worth visiting even if you cannot go down and all around the falls.  They also an old preserved mill on site which was pretty cool to see.
  
Krka National Park










Scenic Sailing

We had no idea how beautiful the sailing into the port of Sibenik was going to be until we were almost all the way through, but we made sure we were on the top deck as we were sailing out of the port and had the most spectacular at sunset!


As you go through the St. Anthony Channel, you can see the remnants of St. Nicholas Fortress. 

St. Nicholas Fortress


St. Nicholas Fortress

St. Nicholas Fortress looking back at the port of Sibenik

Scenic sailing at sunset








And with those breathtakingly gorgeous pictures we bid farewell to our Mediterranean Cruise.  


Coming soon, our next scenic journey...

Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge, Forest City, Missouri


@Vikingcruises

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