Uzdah Tower

Uzdah Tower, locally known as Uzdah Kula, stands near the village of Dubravice, in the county of Šibenik-Knin in Croatia.

The small round tower ruin is actually the remnant of a small castle. The castle was built during the reign of Paul I Šubić of Bribir, between 1275 and 1312. In 1522 it was taken by the Ottoman Turks, together with the nearby town of Skradin. The castle lost its strategic importance after the retreat of the Ottomans at the end of the 17th century. Afterward, it became a stone quarry for the locals to build their houses.

The castle was built at the end of an elongated hill, overlooking a road in the valley below. Originally, a fortified wall would probably have circled the tower. Nowadays, the tower ruin is quickly crumbling away.

Its name; Uzdah Kula, translates back to 'Tower of Sighs'. This comes from the following local legend about the tower. During Ottoman rule, there were a local boy and girl who were in love with each other. A Turkish soldier, however, also longed for the girl. The soldier died when he fell from a tree, while he had been spying on her. His commander blamed the village people and locked up the boy in this tower. So when the locals passed the tower, they heard the imprisoned boy sighing out of despair. The commander's wife, however, was a local woman who had converted to Islam. She then remembered her roots and helped the village people to free the boy from the tower. The boy then set fire to the tower and later was able to marry the girl.

Uzdah Tower is freely accessible. Just a small ruin, not very interesting. To reach it, find your way through the woods from the playground, some 400 meter southeast of the tower.

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