Kaštilac Castle

Kaštilac Castle, locally known as just Kaštilac, lies in the town of Kaštel Gomilica, in the county of Split-Dalmatia in Croatia.

After the fall of Bosnia to the Ottoman Empire in 1463, Dalmatia, being part of the Venetian Republic, faced the danger of Ottoman invasions. Local landowners; the Split Archbishopric, monasteries and nobles from Trogir and Split, therefore wished to protect their estates and the villagers working for them. So, during the following decades they started to build 17 fortifications and fortified 12 villages along the coast of the Kaštela Bay, between Trogir and Split.

Kaštilac Castle was one of these fortifications. It was built by the Benedictine nuns from the nunnery of St. Rainerio in Split between 1529 and 1537, on an underwater sea rock 40 meters from the shore.

The castle had a rectangular ground plan and was equipped with crenelated walls and a wooden walkway. A machicolated gate tower could be reached over a stone bridge and a drawbridge. Within the castle resided 17 families, who fled here after their former village of Kozice had been destroyed during a Turkish raid.

Later, in the 2nd half of the 17th century, a fortified village was built on the mainland.

At the beginning of the 20th century the water in front of the castle was filled in to create a square. The square was opened up again in the mid-20th century and the stone bridge reconstructed.

The castle served as one of the shooting locations in the HBO series Game of Thrones, where it was used as a backdrop for the Free City of Braavos.

Kaštilac Castle is now a small residential neighborhood. It can freely be visited, although the residents are not that fond of the many tourists.

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