Senj

The town and port on the coast of the Velebit channel, exposed to the strong bura (north wind). During winter it is one of the coldest places on the Adriatic. The old Illyrian and Roman settlement Senia, a bishop's see in the 5th century in the Middle Ages became the fortress of the princes from the Frankopan family, and after that the Free Royal Town. In 1493, the Glagolitic printing house was located there, and in the 16th century it became the center of captaincy and the powerful fortress of the famous uskoci, soldiers from Senj. They were pirates on the Adriatic, and in the war between them and the Republic of Venice (1615 - 1617), they even managed to reach the city of Venice itself. The northern and eastern walls, and three towers from the 15th and 16th centuries, are all that remained out of the monumental rectangular fortress. Nehaj, built by the captain of uskoci Ivan Lenković, in 1558. The town has Velika placa (the Big Square) with the classicist fountain, the castle of the Frankopan family from the 13th century, the Romanesque cathedral of St. Mary from the 11th century that was renewed in the 18th century. The area called Gorica is the oldest part of Senj with a row of houses and palaces. The parish hall has an exhibitation of the Sacral Heritage of Senj.