Fortica Fortress Omiš: The Clifftop View Over the Cetina River

Fortica, also called Starigrad, is the medieval fortress that sits on the steep hillside above the town of Omiš, overlooking the point where the Cetina river meets the sea. It is a stiff climb above the rooftops, and from the top you look straight down on the river mouth, the town and the open sea to the island of Brač.

In the Middle Ages Omiš was the base of the Kačić family and their corsairs, who used the defensible Cetina gorge and the high fort above to harry Venetian shipping and to disappear upriver when a punitive fleet arrived. The fortress was the keystone of that defence, and the view from it explains why the corsairs held out for as long as they did.

The path up is well marked but steep and exposed to the sun, so go in the morning or late afternoon and carry water. Allow about forty minutes up. The fortress itself is a ruin, with walls and a platform at the top, but the panorama is the reason to make the climb.

For photographers, the view over the Cetina mouth and out to Brač is one of the best on this stretch of coast, best in the soft light of late afternoon. Pair it with a rafting or boat trip up the Cetina canyon below.

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