City Walls and Gates

Why it is worth your time

Krk's walls are among the oldest living ramparts of the Adriatic: a ring carrying in its foundations Roman blocks from the time of ancient Curicta, above them the medieval additions of the Counts of Krk and a Venetian finishing layer. The town never lost its ring, so the old core is experienced today as all who approached it from sea or land experienced it for centuries: as a stone chest with four gates. The main Vela vrata open toward the waterfront; the Small Gate leads onto Vela placa; the Upper Gate guards the northern approach; and the Pisan Gate in the west carries the oldest preserved inscription about the building.

The walk around the whole ring takes half an hour and is the best introduction to the town: from outside every layer reads, from megalithic Roman blocks to Venetian crenellations. Within, the lanes follow the ancient grid, so one can still navigate with a town plan of the first century. The loveliest light is the evening one, when the walls light up under floodlights and the gulls take over the towers.