Early development of the St. John’s Fortress in Šibenik

Abstract

In early autumn of 1646, after only two months of hastily organized public works and just days before the arrival of the Ottoman army, the people of Šibenik had finished the construction of fortress on the hill which overlooks the Old town. The new defensive position, built without the official approval or financial help from Venetian government, successfully withheld two sieges in 1646/47. St. John’s Fortress thus became the main defence point of Šibenik, and during more than three centuries it was used as such by successive ‘users’ which came after the Venetians – Austrian, Italian and Yugoslav army. After the revitalization of two other fortresses of Šibenik in the last few years with the help of EU funds, the €6.55 million Revitalization of St. John’s Fortress area project was initiated, and the first archaeological excavations of the Fortress took place in 2015 and 2016/17. These new circumstances were an opportunity for an enhanced approach and interdisciplinary conversation about the Early Modern fortification heritage of Šibenik and the region. Based both on familiar as well as new, recently found historical sources and material, a theory suggests that the fortress’ early development (1646-1660) was significantly more complex than deemed earlier.