Šibenik Cathedral

The Cathedral of St James in Šibenik is a structural oddity that became a masterpiece. Built between 1431 and 1536, it is constructed entirely from interlocking stone slabs, with no brick, no mortar in the vaults and no timber anywhere in the roof or dome, a technique that has no real parallel in Europe. Two architects shaped it, the Venetian-trained Giorgio da Sebenico and the Tuscan Niccolò di Giovanni Fiorentino, and the join between Gothic below and Renaissance above is visible as you look up. Its most famous feature runs around the outside of the apses: a frieze of seventy-one carved stone heads, portraits of Šibenik townspeople of the 1400s, some serene, some scowling, one apparently mid-complaint. It is one of the few places where you can look a fifteenth-century crowd in the face.

What you actually see

• The seventy-one heads - the exterior frieze of carved townspeople around the apses.
• The stone-slab dome - assembled without timber or mortar, best appreciated from inside.
• The baptistery - a small vaulted chamber of dense carved stonework beneath the church.
• St Michael's Fortress - above the old town, with a summer stage and a view over the channel.

When to go

May, June, September and October give warm weather without the August crush on the coast. The fortresses above the town host summer concerts. Midday light flattens the carved heads; morning or late afternoon shows them properly.

Honest expectations

Šibenik is often skipped between Split and Zadar, which is its advantage and the reason it stays manageable. The old town is steep and stepped, hard going in heat and unsuitable for wheels. The cathedral interior is plainer than the exterior promises; the carving outside is the reason to come.

Nearby

Krka National Park is inland; the Kornati archipelago sails from the coast here.