St Nicholas Fortress, Šibenik

St Nicholas sits on a small island at the mouth of the St Anthony channel, where the open sea reaches Šibenik. Venice built it in the middle of the sixteenth century to a triangular plan, in brick and stone, low to the water and shaped so that its guns covered the only entrance to the bay. It is one of the components of the UNESCO listing of Venetian defensive works, and unusual among Adriatic forts for standing on open water rather than a hilltop. Visits are short and structured: a boat out from town, a walk over the drawbridge, vaulted chambers on two levels, a grass terrace on top and the channel on every side.

What you actually see

• The triangular plan - a low brick and stone fort shaped to its rock, best understood from the boat coming in.
• The vaulted chambers - gun casemates with openings almost level with the water.
• The channel view - the narrow St Anthony passage with boats threading through it below you.
• The channel shore trail - a marked path along the wooded far bank with views back to the fort.

When to go

The fort opens for the warm half of the year and is closed or limited in winter. Boats run to a timetable from Šibenik's waterfront and tickets are worth booking ahead in July and August. Late afternoon is cooler and the light on the brick is better. Rough sea cancels crossings at short notice and there is no alternative.

Honest expectations

There is almost no shade and the terrace becomes a stone oven at midday. The visit lasts about an hour, and the boat schedule sets your day rather than the other way round. Restoration has left sections fenced off. If the wind gets up, sailings stop, and the only other way in is a long walk along the far shore and a swim you should not attempt.

Nearby

Šibenik's cathedral and the St Anthony channel walking trail are minutes away by road or boat.