Sibenik

Šibenik

Šibenik (shēbĕˈnĭk), Ital. Sebenico, town (2011 pop. 46,332), S Croatia, on the Adriatic Sea. It is a seaport, naval base, and resort center on the Dalmatian coast. The city has shipbuilding, metalworking, and aluminum industries. Founded in the 10th cent., Šibenik was an early residence of the kings of Croatia. It was captured by Venice in 1117, but was held by Hungary from 1351 to 1412, when it again passed to Venice. It passed (1797) to Austria, which held it until 1918. The city was incorporated into Croatia, then a constituent republic of Yugoslavia, in 1922. Šibenik's finest buildings date from the Venetian period, notably the Cathedral of St. Jacob (1431–55) and a town hall with a Renaissance loggia (built in 1542).

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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Šibenik

 

a city and port in Yugoslavia; situated on the Adriatic Sea, in Croatia. Population, 32,000 (1975). Šibenik, a center for the production of ferroalloys, is also important for the aluminum industry, including smelting in Lozovac and metal-rolling in Ražina. The metalworking industry uses energy from a hydroelectric power plant on the Krka River and bauxite from local deposits. The city also manufactures textiles and food products, mainly wine and canned fruit and fish. Ships are repaired in the port.

Šibenik, which is laid out in the form of an amphitheater, has an old section with an irregular medieval network of streets. Noteworthy buildings include remains of stone fortifications and Gothic churches, including the Church of St. Barbara (1447–51), as well as palaces with elegant carved ornamentation. Renaissance structures include the Cathedral of St. Jakov (1431–1555; architects included Juraj Dalmatinac and Nikola Firentinac; sculpted heads on the eastern facade by Juraj Dalmatinac), the town hall (1534–42), and the New Church (16th century, interior frescoes by local craftsmen, 17th century). The Church of St. Lovre (17th century) is in the baroque style. Outside the old city there are 20th-century buildings, including new residential areas and the Solaris Hotel (1969). Šibenik is popular with tourists.

REFERENCE

Iveković, C. M. Šibenik-Sebenico. Vienna, 1927. (Dalmatiens Architektur und Plastik, 2nd ed., vol. 2.)

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.