Historical Klis Fortress to be completely lit up at night
- by croatiaweek
- in News
13 February 2019 – Klis Fortress, just northeast of the Dalmatian city of Split, is set to be lit up at night after a 2.4 million kuna contract for the construction of lighting at the site was signed recently.
The project is financed from EU funds and is part of a cross-border cooperation project between Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.
“We will illuminate the complete fortress. The project documentation was made a couple of years ago, and now this is the end of it. Lighting will make the fort more attractive and attract even more visitors. This year we had over 70,000 visitors, which is a record,” Jakov Vetma, head of Klis council, told Dalmatinski portal, adding that work will be complete before the tourist season starts this year.
When the Ottoman wars were raging through Europe the ancient Illyrian stronghold was expanded into Klis Fortress. The 2,000-year-old medieval fortress served as a defense spot in Dalmatia.
It was also the seat of many Croatian kings and dukes, from the 9th century Duke Mislav, under the reign of Duke Trpimir to the first Croatian king, Tomislav. It was later ruled by the famous Šubić family. The fortress is best known because of the 16th-century defense against the Turkish invasion that lasted for more than 20 years.
This was the time the famous military faction of Uskok had first been formed. Eventually, the fortress was occupied by the Ottomans and later the Republic of Venice as well as the Austrians. At one point in history, Klis was under the control of the Templar knights.
Because of the great historical value, today the fortress is a museum. The beautiful fortress follows the natural structure of the hill and is of great value as an example of defensive architecture. Its spectacular position, overlooking the surrounding area, the town of Split and the sea, was used as a part of Meereen in the filming of the HBO series Game of Thrones.
