Lubenice - an ancient fort city on the island of Cres, Croatia

[Sisak]

Lubenice is an ancient fort city on the island of Cres, Croatia that was founded approximately four thousand years ago on top of a 380 m high ridge that overlooks the Adriatic Sea. It is a small local center that comprises forty buildings and seven permanent inhabitants. Buildings in the city are constructed out of the same material as the surrounding cliffs and there are two well-preserved extant city gates on the North and South of the city as well a wall in the East.
It was nominated to be a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2005.

Exactly opposite Valun, along the range of plateaus that rise on the central part of the island, and chained to the hill is where the village Lubenice is situated, bravely resisting storms and wind gusts.

The Romans, therefore, named this place Hibernicia (meaning Winterly), building an unassailable fortress that rises on top of a 378m high cliff, sheltered from the east by a protective wall with two doors.

Once there, the first impression you get is that you are on deck of a firmly anchored ship, carrying you into another time dimension. Traces of the village's glorious past are still clearly visible, such as the gun slits and the port-holes built inthe fortress walls.

It's enough just to climb on the short wall that encircles the city square to feel intoxicated, feeling like a seagull that freely glides over the tempestuous surface of the navy-blue sea.

Concerts of classical music are being held here during the warm summer evenings in an atmosphere of magical concentration, and there is a multi-medial art centre in the works. Standing next to the Church of St. Anthony, on the outskirts of the village, one notices the motel, which was formerly the bell-tower's atrium. There is another church nearby, the Parochial Church of the Holy Virgin Mary, which used to be a canonical seat.

[Sisak]

It has continuously been settled throughout the ancient times and middle Ages. Among the existing built structures, along with medieval sacral buildings, a dominant role is played by structures that have a high ambience quality and are mostly from the period of the baroque. However, in the substructures and details of the houses, as well as in their proportions a medieval layer is visible. Of special value are the remains of the medieval fortifications and two city gates, as well as the preserved historic core and the land composition of the settlement. Historically, Lubenice is a prehistoric, well fortified and strategically very important city. In ancient times it was mentioned as Hibernitia (a winter, cold settlement) to which a branch road of the main Roman road from Osor to Beli led. At that time it was one of the four most important settlements on the island of Cres with a fully formed center that was urban in character. At the foot of the settlement there is an important villa rustica with a broader agricultural area and a port that belonged to the settlement and wider region. Numerous archaeological material finds (sarcophagus, Egyptian inscriptions, ....., amphora and other building materials, as well as coins, jewelry, etc.) undoubtedly date the origins of this settlement to ancient time. In the middle Ages the city was fortified once again and became the center of the parish. The settlement is of an irregular, elongated, oval layout with a number of house agglomerations. Two longitudinal streets transversely connected with small, covered arched passages stand out. The city fortress wall with occasional structures incorporated within it is preserved on the eastern side as are the northern and southern city gates. The communication lines are uneven, sporadically paved with broken stones. A number of structures are organized around courtyards which are entered into through stone portals. Today, Lubenice is a small local center with approximately 40 buildings and 24 permanent inhabitants. The monumental vernacular architecture with stone water reservoirs that are accessed by stone stairs is exceptionally well preserved. An example of a water reservoir located on second floor level is likewise preserved. In addition, there are monumental chimneys of exceptional dimensions and shapes as well as other elements of rural architecture (bread stoves, horns for drying fruit, traditionally shaped eaves and wooden pergolas). The specific character of this settlement, as an urban-rural complex is reflected in certain urban style houses with urban water reservoirs and facade distinctions. The other urban elements also include the city loggia situated along the bell tower of the parish church, a square with a communal cistern and already mentioned city gates, parish church, cemetery and a number of medieval chapels (chapel of St. Dominic, restored chapel of St. Anthony of the Desert, chapel of St James and St Barbara and chapel of St Stephen in the cemetery). The fusion of the settlement into the surrounding humanized landscape is certainly one of its more important aspects. The settlement is situated on a high cliff and constructed of the same material making it an almost natural amalgamation of man-made and natural elements while the natural characteristics of the area are reflected in the very name of the city (Hibernitia – cold, winter settlement).