Castles & Palaces
Dubrovnik city walls and the Adriatic coast at golden hour

8 historic sites

Castles in Croatia

Croatia's medieval fortifications are among the most dramatic in Europe. The walled city of Dubrovnik — the Republic of Ragusa — maintained independence for 450 years through brilliant diplomacy and civic innovation. Along the Adriatic coast, Venetian-built fortresses guard every headland, while inland, the continental castles of Trakošćan and Veliki Tabor rise from the forested hills of Zagorje.

Diocletian's Palace in Split, Croatia — the Peristyle courtyard at the heart of the Roman imperial complex, with medieval buildings between the original Roman columns and the Cathedral of Saint Domnius beyond
UNESCO

croatia · Dalmatia, Split

Diocletian's Palace

The city of Split grew up inside a Roman emperor's retirement palace — people live here, shop here, eat here, among Roman columns and Venetian palaces, inside walls that Diocletian built in 305 CE

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Lovrijenac Fortress on its sea cliff above the Adriatic, with Dubrovnik's Old Town walls visible behind
UNESCO

croatia · Dubrovnik-Neretva County

Lovrijenac Fortress

Game of Thrones' Red Keep, perched on a sea cliff above Dubrovnik's Old Town and the Adriatic

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Dubovac Castle on its hilltop above Karlovac and the four-river confluence — the Frankopan and Zrinski Croatian Military Frontier fortress now housing the Karlovac City Museum

croatia · Karlovac County, Central Croatia

Dubovac Castle

The four-rivers castle of the Croatian Military Frontier — Dubovac guarded the confluence of four rivers at Karlovac against Ottoman expansion from the 15th century, held by the Frankopan and Zrinski families, and now houses the Karlovac City Museum

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The Walls of Dubrovnik — the 1,940-metre UNESCO-inscribed fortification circuit above the Adriatic, with the Old Town's baroque red-roofed cityscape enclosed within and the harbour and island of Lokrum beyond
UNESCO

croatia · Dalmatia, Dubrovnik — complete circuit around the Old Town

Walls of Dubrovnik

The 1,940-metre circuit that kept a merchant republic free for four centuries — and survived intact the earthquake that levelled everything else

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Klis Fortress on its narrow ridge above Split with the Adriatic Sea and Dalmatian islands visible beyond, Croatia

croatia · Split-Dalmatia County

Klis Fortress

The clifftop fortress above Split that resisted the Ottomans for decades — and stood in for Meereen in Game of Thrones

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Trakošćan Castle reflected in its artificial lake in the Zagorje hills, Croatia

croatia · Krapina-Zagorje County

Trakošćan Castle

Croatia's fairy-tale castle — a romantic hilltop fortress above a mirrored lake

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Veliki Tabor Castle's Gothic towers and Renaissance semicircular bastions on a Zagorje hilltop, Croatia

croatia · Krapina-Zagorje County

Veliki Tabor Castle

Croatia's best-preserved medieval castle — a Gothic pentagonal fortress on a Zagorje hilltop

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Sokol Fortress (Sokol Grad) on a karst cliff above the Konavle Valley near Dubrovnik, Croatia — the medieval Ragusan fortress whose name means 'falcon,' overlooking the agricultural valley that was one of the Dubrovnik Republic's most valued territories

croatia · Dubrovnik-Neretva County / Konavle Valley

Sokol Fortress

The Falcon Fortress above the Konavle Valley — a medieval cliff-top Ragusan fortress in the valley south of Dubrovnik, accessible as part of a half-day Konavle Valley tour that includes a traditional lunch

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