New localities inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List

The UNESCO World Heritage List was recently expanded to include two additional Croatia localities. Croatia’s contribution to Europe’s cultural and historical values and identity is priceless…


Two new localities in Croatia were recently inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Fortress of St. Nicholas in Šibenik, and the City Walls of Zadar were included on the UNESCO List as part of the protected defensive structures in the territory of the former Venetian Republic.

With that, Šibenik has become Croatia’s first city to have two architectural structures inscribed on the World Heritage List, with the Cathedral of St. James on that list since 2000 due to its exceptional cultural value. The Fortress of St. Nicholas stands at the entrance to Šibenik in the Channel of St. Anthony. It was constructed in the 16th century as a defensive structure to protect from Turkish invasions from the sea, and is one of four fortresses in Šibenik. It was designed by Venetian military architect, Michele Sanmicheli, and is among the strongest defensive structures on the Croatian coast.

The inclusion of cultural monuments on the UNESCO World Heritage List is the best recommendation, not only for tourists, who are visiting Šibenik and Zadar in record numbers, but also for business visitors. This has expanded the already impressive list of UNESCO localities in Croatia, including Diocletian’s Palace in Split, the Dubrovnik Old Town, Plitvice Lakes National Park, Euphrasian Basilica in Poreč, Trogir Old Town, Cathedral of St. James in Šibenik, the Stari Grad field on the island of Hvar, the stećak medieval tombstones (multinational listing, shared with BiH, Serbia and Montenegro), and the virgin beech forests of the Carpathian and other regions of Europe (also multinational), which include the beech forests in Northern Velebit National Park and Paklenica National Park.

An Article in cooperation with the Croatian National Tourist Board