Resumen de Culture, tourism and fortifications-Educational centre on St. John’sFortress in Šibenik, Croatia
Gorana Barišić Bačelić, Ivana Lučev
Šibenik is a city in Central Dalmatia where the river Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. It is the only cityin Croatia with two UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Cathedral of St. James and St. Nicholas Fortress.The old city of Šibenik, with its central square, gothic and renaissance sacral and public buildings andmany other sights is one of the best preserved authentic medieval environments. Revitalisation of St.John’s Fortress area is the largest EU-funded project that the City of Šibenik has ever implemented, thuscontinuing the restoration of its old fortification system, after the successful completion of similar projectson St. Michael’s Fortress in 2014 and Barone Fortress in 2016. These fortresses are managed by Publiccultural institution Fortress of Culture Šibenik, which has become a best-practice example and receivedmultiple awards and recognitions. The institution has developed numerous partnerships with relatednational and European organizations, aspiring to exchange knowledge and ideas about the sustainablemanagement of cultural heritage. One new feature of this 17th century fortress is an educational centreconcealed within its external fortifications. The 2000 m2 large centre contains three classrooms, a diningand living room with a small kitchen, office rooms, 14 sleeping rooms with 50 beds, along with sanitaryand service facilities. This infrastructure is used for implementation of various programmes (professionaltraining classes, field classes, seminars, summer schools…) developed in cooperation with a wide rangeof partners from the cultural and creative industry. Some of the goals are: to develop and diversify neweducational, cultural and touristic products; to encourage the dispersion of activities throughout the year;to raise the levels of skills and competencies of local cultural and educational institutions by empoweringthem to create and implement projects; to enrich the overall visibility of the destination.
