Novigrad Castle

Fortica rises above Novigrad in Zadar County on the site of an earlier Liburnian Illyrian hillfort. A Roman tower was restored there in the early 13th century, linked with the name Castrum Novum, and later that century the Gusić-Kurjaković family rebuilt the fortress to protect its estates. Under Venetian rule from 1409, it was converted into a castle. Queen Mary and her mother Elizabeth were imprisoned here in 1386. The Ottomans held it for nine months in 1646–47; it was last restored in 1708 and abandoned in 1797. The climb rewards visitors with views of Novigrad.