Castles & ruins 38: Kličevica Fort, HR

 

Kličevica Fort (Kličevica gradina), near Benkovac in northern Dalmatia, was built by the noble Kurjaković family, the Dukes of Krbava, to protect their estates after Ladislaus of Naples sold Dalmatia to the Venetians in 1409, when their lands came to border Venetian Dalmatia directly and were exposed to immediate danger. Venetians tried to stop the work several times and the conflicts over the fortification’s construction caused mutual violence, plundering and several claims at the kings' court but nevertheless the fort was built along with castles of Benkovac, Perusic, Korlat, Vuksic and Ostrovica bordering Croatian and Venetian lands here.

The tension calmed down by Ottomans invasion when sides stand together against Turkish armies. But in 1527 the Kličevica fortress fell into Ottoman hands, along with other fortresses and castles in the Croatian-Hungarian region. Most of these forts were totally destroyed and cannot be seeing today, but Klicevica, although ruined, stands still thanks to its isolate location. You can visit it for free all year around.

The ruins gave us lots of artifacts confirming its military past: canon and catapult balls, arrows, crossbow bolts etc and one bronze three-barreled cannon which claimed to be made by Leonardo da Vinci design – all these you can see in nearby museum of Benkovac town.

The legends surrounding the fort are closely connected with its history of a frontier stronghold, There is the usual dead lady of the castle legend of course: there was a young noblewoman forced into marriage for political reasons, she was separated from her true love and in despair she leapt from the fortress walls into the river canyon below. Now her spirit wanders the ruins, especially at dusk and you can hear her weeping and wailing during storms.

There are – obviously - stories of great treasure hidden during Ottoman raids in the 16th century. According to these legends, it is protected by a guardian serpent which looks like a shadow and can grow in size to defend the riches from greedy diggers.

Local shepherds have long told stories about unexplained lights near the ruins at night, footsteps or voices when no one else is present – they say these are spirits of loyal fort defenders who died protecting the fortress but still guarding it even after death. The fort stones felt cold, even in summer, and if you will stay there at night - your sleep will came with uneasy dreams. The silent army emptied the place: even now, the ruins are described as unusually quiet. Sound does not echo the way it should. Visitors sometimes report a sense of being observed, although no one is visible. The fortress is watched.

From above: Klicevica