Page 114 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Croatia

112  CRO A TIA AREA B Y AREA

9 Drniš sculptor (see p163) built the here on Mount Spas. It was used
Church of the Most Holy by reigning Croat monarchs,
Map D4. * 3,400. £ Šibenik, 25 km
(15 miles), (022) 333 699. @ Šibenik, Redeemer here for himself and who often stayed in the nearby
(022) 216 066. n Domovinskog rata his family. It is simply designed town of Biskupija and held
5, (022) 888 619. ∑ tz-drnis.hr in the form of a stone cube with coronations here.
a shallow dome. Early in the 11th century
The town of Drniš first appears Knin became a bishopric
in documents towards the end and the residence of several
of the 15th century, as the site aristocratic Croatian families.
of a fort built to stop a Turkish Occupied by the Turks in the
invasion, at the point where the early 16th century, in 1688
River Čikola cuts into the valley Knin fell to the Venetians.
and flows down towards Šibenik. The Morlachs, in the pay
In 1526 the fort was captured of Venice, distinguished
and enlarged by the Turks, who themselves in the battle to
made it one of their outposts. retake the fort by scaling the
A village with a mosque and walls. Afterwards they rebuilt
baths developed around the the fort and settled in the town.
fort, but during the wars In 1991, the Serbian army
between Venice and the used the fort when most of
Ottoman empire, from 1640 to the inhabitants of Croat origin
1650, the fort and the village were forced out. It became a
were almost entirely destroyed focus for the Serb rebellion
by the Venetians. In the recon­ Church of the Most Holy Redeemer in and the Republic of the Serb
struction that followed the Otavice, near Drniš Krajina, of which Knin was the
mosque was remodelled capital, was created. In August
and became the Church of 1995 the territory was returned
St Anthony. The minaret became 0 Knin to the Croats.
the bell tower of the church of Map D4. * 12,000. £ (022) 663 722.
St Roch. Serbs populated the n Dr. Franje Tuđmana 24, (022) 664 Environs
town and it became part of the 822. ∑ tz-knin.hr About 5 km (3 miles) away is
Krajina territory. Biskupija, once known as the
Along the road from Drniš to A town on the main road from “Field of five churches”, for its
Šibenik, the ruins of defence Zagreb to Split, Knin has long religious buildings (9th–11th
structures with high walls and played an important role in centuries) attended by the
a tower can be seen. Dalmatia’s history. It occupies a Croat kings. King Zvonimir
strategic position on the plateau, was killed here by Croat
Environs and there have been defences of nobles who did not accept his
Some 9 km (5 miles) east some kind here since prehistoric allegiance to the pope. By the
of Drniš is the village of times. In the 10th century, when main building is a church
Otavice, the birthplace of Ivan the town was known as Ad designed by Ivan Meštrović
Meštrović’s parents. The great Tenen, the Fort of Knin was built and frescoed by Jozo Kljaković.

Imposing Fort of Knin, on Mount Spas
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp228–30 and pp240–45

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