Kule na ulazu u Kanal sv. Ante – neodvojivi dio šibenskih fortifikacija

Abstract

The Large and Small Towers at the beginning of St Anthony’s Canal in Šibenik, on today’s capes Burnji Turan and Južni Turan, are part of the city’s medieval fortification system along with the castrum of St Michael and the bulwark, but they have remained largely neglected in scholarly literature. The towers remained part of Šibenik’s fortification system during the early modern period, until the construction of the fortress of St Nicholas and the eventual demolition of the two towers at the beginning of the War of Cyprus in 1570. Although they were built at a distance of nearly one kilometer from the bulwark, they were the earliest defensive belt of Šibenik from the sea. Between the towers, at a distance of about 140 meters, there was a chain that most likely consisted of interconnected wooden beams that allowed it to float. It is difficult to say with certainty when the Venetian authorities ordered the towers to be torn down, but apparently at least one of them was demolished during the so-called Third Venetian- Ottoman War (1537-1540), when the Venetian possessions in Dalmatia were seriously threatened by the powerful Ottoman fleet. The towers definitely ceased to be part of the fortification system at the beginning of the War of Cyprus in 1570.