Ćipiko Tower, Kaštel Novi

The Ćipiko Tower is one of the buildings from which the Kaštela took their name, and it stands in Kaštel Novi, in the town of Kaštela in Split-Dalmatia County. Visitors are drawn by its unusual position: the tower was built in the sea, and a bridge connected it to the mainland.

According to official data, in 1512 the Trogir nobleman Pavao Antun Cippico received permission from the Venetian authorities to build a tower and a fortified settlement as protection against Turkish attacks. The building has a ground floor and three storeys. The south façade was the representative one because it was not directly exposed to attack, so on its second floor the brackets and two balcony doors of the balcony made at the time of construction have been preserved. The north façade has a defensive character, and on it are the remains of the brackets of a balcony added at the end of the 16th century. Above the north door is the coat of arms of the Ćipiko family, with a relief lion carved on each side of it.

The Ćipiko Tower is a protected cultural property, and it is entered in the Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia under the code Z-4308 as secular architectural heritage from 1512.

Photo: Peranz, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.
Data: Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia (Ministry of Culture and Media), Open Licence; coordinates: DGU (centre of the settlement).