Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Visiting Sibenik [Part 7/9]: Inside the Fortress of St. Nicholas

We have arrived at one of my favorite places of the whole trip: the St. Nicholas Fortress. The St. Nicholas Fortress was built on the left side at the entrance of the St. Anthony channel, on the island called Ljuljevac, in front of the Sibenik port.

Historically this was a major defense point for the city, and the fortress is one of the most valuable and best preserved examples of defense architecture in Dalmatia.

I have visited this place two times before, in 2012 and 2013, so if you want to check out those posts you can click on the links. I really wanted to go back here and take some images with my Canon 6D. So we did. And here are the images. Enjoy.


Although defense capabilities of the fortress have never been tested in military operations, the structure still proved successful in protecting the city from sea-bound enemy attacks.


This whole place has many entrances and doorways, and you can never be sure what these rooms once were.


A blue light coming from the side windows in the next room.



It can be quite scary, walking down the various corridors and paths.



The fortress is made of brick because this material was considered to be most resistant to cannon balls, while the foundations are made of stone.





In the Mediterranean, there are two similar forts: one on the island of Malta, and the other is in Venice, and it's name is Saint Nicholas.





There is something very unique about the light that shines through the small windows.





The next two images have been taken in complete darkness. We are entering the solitary confinements.


Light from our mobile phones gave some much needed illumination. These are the deepest parts of the fortress.


I really like all the winding corridors as well as the stone arches.


These don't look too safe, but we had to climb them anyway to further explore the inner parts of the fortress.




These heavy doors lead you out of the inner parts of the fortress...


...as well as this staircase.


Just a couple of steps left and we are again in the open.

 We made it out, onto the upper structure, where nature is taking over.


End of Part Seven
To be continued...

In the next part we will explore the upper structure of the fortress, take some amazing seascapes at sunset from here as well as portraits.


49 comments:

  1. Sibenik is one of my favourite places on Earth :) Thank You for images of unknown places in this beautiful city.

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  2. What a fascinating place! It looks huge. I absolutely love your Canon camera images! We are Canon fans, too, and love the results we get with our various Canon cameras.

    We have been to the fort on Malta. There is a fabulous privately owned museum of the island there, too. The owner kindly gave us and Captain a tour of the fabulous collection in his home. Another fascinating, somewhat similar fort is in St. Augustine, Florida. We enjoyed taking pictures with light shining through the windows into the tunnels there, too.

    All the best from Cincinnati, USA,
    Lois :)

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    1. I love places like those you described. Whenever there is a fortress nearby, I have to go there and take some images. Thanks for your visit Lois.

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  3. Sehr interessante Fotos! LG

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  4. i checked out your other two posts because I love old forts... this one is much like Fort Pulaski in Savannah GA USA.. i visited it many times but had no camera back then.. this is a place I would love to see...

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    1. I'm sure you would like it then. Thanks for visiting.

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  5. Hi Mersad. What a fascinating place to visit. I can't believe how adventurous you guys are! Your photography is stellar. I'm a Canon girl too. I have the EOS 40D, a Canon SX50 HS, and a Canon SX260. I plan to purchase an updated Rebel soon.

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    1. Thanks. We do like to explore an go "off the beaten path" as much as possible. :)

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  6. Terrific captures and a fascinating place, Mersad!! I, too, love old forts!! Looking forward to your next installment! Yes, I'm a Canon fan, too! It was my first camera when I decided to get into photography and blogging and I do enjoy it! Hope your week is going well!!

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  7. Wieder voll begeistert sin des nicht nur alleine die Fotos sondern überhaupt das Fortress^^ Was für eine tolle Kulisse und auch ideal für ein Fotoshooting. Absolut herrliche Plätze die du uns immer wieder zeigst und auch wieder ein Kompliment an deine beiden "Models". Sind auch absolut fotogen^^

    Liebe Abendgrüsse

    N☼va

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    1. Danke Nova. Wir haben unser bestes versucht!

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  8. Top notch photography!!!!
    And more than that, you post some of the most beautiful, and historical areas, I'm really enjoying it.

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    1. I am really glad you are enjoying in Anni. And I hope you will enjoy the final two parts.

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  9. Perfekt die Fotos. Ich bin ein Anfänger, aber Sibenik mag ich auch sehr. Diese Festung kenne ich noch nicht, muß ich mir notieren für dieses Jahr.
    Die beiden Ladys sehen toll auf den Fotos aus, Kompliment!

    Liebe Grüße Paula

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    1. Must Du Dir dann unbedingt anschauen! Wirst nicht entäuscht werden!

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  10. I like the way the light and shadows play in old buildings. Beautiful photos!

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  11. What a great place to find. I love places like this.

    Mollyxxx

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  12. Imamo tako bogatu, istorijom ispunjenu proslost; steta sto ovakve gradjevine nisu bolje odrzavane.

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    1. U ove tri godine što sam bio tamo samo je prilaz urađen. Sama tvrđava polako propada od vode.

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  13. There is some wonderful light in these images. The reflections in the puddles also add a fourth dimension.
    These are excellent.

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    1. Thanks Adrian. The puddles really do add something to the images, although it's not so fun having to maneuver around them all the time when you are inside.

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  14. Your photo journals are better than many travel books I have seen. Great shots.

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    1. Thanks so much for that lovely comment.

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  15. That place looks so cool and your photos too!

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  16. What an awesome place! I love the lighting and the texture --beautiful shots.

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  17. I agree with LOLfromPasa, plus the girls enhance your pictures beautifully.

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  18. very ENTERTAINING shots!
    ROG, ABCW

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  19. Excellent experience I think. Lovely shots

    PhenoMenon, ABCW Team
    http://throodalookingglass.com/2014/08/ellora/

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  20. I'm caught up with this series after being gone last weekend. You have some fantastic photos here. The colors are so brilliant and the scenery so beautiful. That fortress is a perfect shot for a photo shoot.

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    1. Thanks for checking out all the parts!

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  21. Mersad you were able to take wonderful photos with such little light coming in those small square windows! The fortress look very mysterious now, yet your beautiful models light up the rooms!

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    1. Thank you. The light was a challenge, since there wasn't much there. I tried to use the window light as much as I could.

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  22. Great shots! Looks almost spooky in spots, but I'm sure amazing to wander through.

    Leslie
    abcw team

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    1. It is amazing to stroll through. Thanks for your visit.

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  23. What a wonderful structure - I'm so glad I stopped by. These are great captures - I feel like I've been there!
    Please share at http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2014/08/frooms-with-linky.html

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  24. I love the way you use the girls in the photographs. They don't dominate the pictures but definitely enhance them. You are truly a brilliant photographer.

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  25. I definitely wouldn't want to be walking through here all by myself. What great shots you've gotten. I always love photos taken through arches!

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  26. You really capture the feel of the place, although I a sure it is colder than it looks (or am I mistaken)?

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    1. It's not really cold inside. It was a warm day to begin with, and since there are no real windows, all the heat from the outside manages to get inside. But it's enjoyable inside.

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  27. Marvelous! The golden light is magical and what a neat place!

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  28. The winding corridors and arches in the low light is my favorite shot! But this fortress is amazing, and so is your photography! It made me think...oh yes, Mersad needs to go to Mesa Verde too! What you would do with some of our pueblo ruins would be amazing! I would love to see it! I'll be showing Mesa Verde in later posts (I have a lot to show from the 13 day trip!) but my photos will pale in comparison to what you could do!

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  29. Amazing photos!
    I like such old masonrys...

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  30. It looks a fascinating site... and you were able just to wander round it at will (?) Amazing.

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  31. Gorgeous photos!! That looks like such an amazing place. I'd never heard of it, but now I want to visit!

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  32. You are so creative and really bring to life what you see with your photos. I would never be able to capture those images and convey the feelings...Michelle

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  33. Amazing photography! I would go crazy taking photos there too.

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