Nehaj Fortress Senj

Nehaj is the fortress that caps the hill above the old town of Senj, a square, block-like stronghold built in 1558 by the Habsburg Military Frontier to defend the town against the Ottomans and the Venetians. From its walls there is a wide view over Senj, the Velebit mountain that rises directly behind the town, and the islands of the Kvarner Gulf.

The fortress is best known as the base of the Uskoks, the irregular soldiers and corsairs of the frontier who, from Senj, harried Venetian and Ottoman shipping for decades. The Uskoks used the fortress and the defensible position of Senj, exposed to the fierce bura wind but commanding the coast, to make the town effectively untakeable.

Today Nehaj holds a small museum on the Uskoks and the history of Senj, and the terrace gives the panorama that explains why the fortress mattered. The walk up from the old town is short and steep.

For photographers, the fortress against the bare slopes of the Velebit is the shot, and the view from the walls over the coast is one of the best in the Kvarner. Pair Nehaj with the old town of Senj and the seafront, and watch the bura forecast, the wind genuinely shapes the day here.

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