Knin

Knin's fortress commands the inland approaches to northern Dalmatia, above a town long fought over by kings and noble families. In the 14th century the Nelipić family made Knin a stronghold, until King Louis I of Hungary marched against it and restored royal authority in 1345. Its castle remained a key defense as Ottoman incursions brought warfare closer to the heart of Croatia.

After years of raids and flight from the surrounding countryside, Knin fell to an Ottoman siege in 1522. More than a century and a half later, Venetian forces captured it in 1688 during the Morean War. The new rulers rebuilt and strengthened its defenses, with a major program of modernization between 1710 and 1713. An Ottoman attempt to recover Knin in 1715 failed, leaving the fortress in Venetian hands until the republic's fall in 1797.