27 April 2023

Croatia – Senj

Senj is a town on the upper Adriatic coast in Croatia, in the foothills of the Mala Kapela and Velebit mountains. For a time this was the seat of the Uskoks, who were Christian refugees from Ottoman Bosnia resettled here to protect the Habsburg borderlands. The Republic of Venice accused the Uskoks of piracy and declared war on them, leading to their expulsion following a truce in 1617.

We parked in the parking of Restaurant Martina just outside the town with amazing views of the coast and the town and went walking to the town centre. The first thing we saw was the Suncanik Sculpture, the clock indicates that we are halfway between the Equator and the North Pole, precisely 5 kilometres from each. Next, we arrived at the Harbour where you can find one of the town's doors to enter.

We went to the old town where the first thing we found was the square of the Senj Museum and really near we arrived at the Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary a really old church built in many different stages. Today it is very well renovated making it a Cathedral worth visiting.

After that, we saw a little cute church until we arrived at Vratnik Fortress, a wonderful monument next to the old main road towards Velevit Mountain. It also marks the first spot where travellers from Lika towards the Adriatic can see the sea and has amazing views of Castle Nehaj.

After seeing the town we went back to Restaurant Martina which has astonishing views of the coast and town, and where we had lunch on its terrace. I had sea bass with chips and Ben sea bass with boiled potatoes, the sea bass was delicious and very good price. The staff speak English and are really nice, my only complaint is that I tried Ben potatoes and I thought they were pretty hard, Ben liked them.

Views from the terrace of the Restaurant

After lunch, we went to the mountains to see Samograd Cave, one of the oldest caves in Croatia located in the Natural Park Pencinski which is beautiful. And you can see this in the next post.