Kamerlengo Castle: A Venetian Fortress in Trogir, Croatia
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.5
- Popularity
- Medium
- Country
- Croatia
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Genoese, Venetian
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page13 sections
History
Kamerlengo Castle is a Venetian fortification in Trogir, Croatia, built in the fifteenth century to control the sea channel and protect the city’s harbor and waterfront. It formed part of the Venetian Republic’s military administration of Trogir and was intended to house a permanent garrison.
From the Chain Tower to Venetian rule
The earliest part of the fortification was the polygonal Chain Tower, built in 1380 on the site later occupied by the castle. A chain extending from the tower could be used to close the harbor. The tower belonged to an earlier defensive arrangement that controlled access by sea.
Venetian forces under the naval commander Pietro Loredan captured Trogir in 1420. The attack damaged sections of the city walls, surrounding towers, religious and civic buildings, and part of the main palace. After the conquest, Venetian authorities ordered a new fortress to guard against attacks from the sea and possible revolts within the city.
Construction and military purpose
The proposed location was debated. Some officials recommended the eastern edge of the city near the Monastery of Saint John the Baptist, but the adopted plan placed the fortress in the southwestern suburb beside the existing Chain Tower. The Venetian military engineer Lorenzo Pincino of Bergamo advised on the design, while the master builder Marino Radojev was contracted to obtain stone and begin the foundations. Šimun Detrico, the first Trogir prince appointed after the Venetian conquest, concluded the building contract with Radojev.
Work continued after the order of 1420, and the castle was completed in 1437. The fortress was planned as a base for a Venetian military garrison, with accommodation for the castellan, the official responsible for administering and defending a castle, and for the soldiers. The commune was required to provide a crew and a vessel to carry stone from nearby quarries.
The construction of the castle and its moat took property from some former Trogir nobles and citizens. Communal income from salt sales financed much of the work, but progress was slow. Venetian authorities eventually contributed directly to complete the fortress and repair sections of Trogir’s walls that were under threat.
Administration, decline, and later use
The castle’s name comes from the Venetian office of camerlengo, a financial and administrative position concerned with state finances and the payment of soldiers. The camerlengo and the castellan both had residential quarters inside the fortress. The castle also served as a military storehouse, and its courtyard contained an oil-production installation.
Venetian rule in Trogir lasted until the abolition of the Venetian Republic in 1797. As the Ottoman threat diminished, the city’s fortifications lost much of their military importance. Under Habsburg rule, the European dynasty that governed the region after Venice, the castle was abandoned, its function changed, and its fabric gradually deteriorated. The courtyard buildings used by the castellan and garrison, together with the Chapel of Saint Mark, were demolished in the nineteenth century.
A thorough revitalization later made the defensive walls accessible and gave the castle a continuing public role. Kamerlengo Castle is now used as a museum and cultural venue, while its main tower functions as a viewing platform. It belongs to Trogir’s historic urban ensemble, which is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and it is designated as a cultural monument.
Remains
Kamerlengo Castle occupies the southwestern corner of the small island that contains Trogir’s historic core, at the edge of the sea and the former suburb. The island runs from east to west for approximately 515 metres and reaches about 285 metres in width. Its outline has changed through repeated land reclamation, particularly along the southern and western sides. The fortress has a trapezoidal or quadrilateral plan, with a large polygonal tower facing the sea and smaller towers at the corners.
Plan and defensive works
Main tower and walls
The principal tower is nine-sided and rises approximately 20.5 metres. It was built over the Genoese Chain Tower of 1380. The walls retain machicolations, projecting defensive structures with openings through which defenders could attack enemies below, as well as battlements, the raised crenellated parapets along the wall tops. Coats of arms linked with Doge Francesco Foscari, the Venetian admiral Pietro Loredan, and Trogir’s prince Maddaleno Contarini were placed on the walls. The lion of Saint Mark, emblem of the Venetian Republic, also appeared on the fortification.
Moat and outer defenses
A defensive system surrounded the castle with a moat, a rampart supported by a retaining wall, and a further outer defensive wall positioned a few metres beyond the main walls. The moat was especially associated with the northern and eastern sides facing the city. On the northwestern towers, a stone embankment was built to prevent war galleys from approaching and mooring beside the walls.
Entrance and corner defenses
The principal entrance is on the northern side. It has a lunette, a semicircular or segmental feature above a doorway or gate, and a drawbridge, and the main gate survives. The southern, western, and northern façades each contain a bartizan, a projecting turret for observation and defense, with its arch supported on corbels.
Courtyard and connections
Inner courtyard
The inner courtyard contained residential buildings for the castellan and garrison, the Chapel of Saint Mark, and a well. It also housed an oil-production installation. Sand filled the interior of the fortress, which was designed to function independently during emergencies such as a revolt by the local population.
Bridges and waterfront setting
An old stone bridge connected the castle to the mainland, while a movable bridge linked it with Čiovo at the narrowest part of the Trogir Channel. The mainland crossing is now called the Small Bridge, and the crossing toward Čiovo is known as the Čiovo Bridge. Before the construction of the mainland bridge in the early fourteenth century, access to the fortress probably crossed a shoal formed by the Dobrića torrent. The torrent has since been channelled, but it continues to deposit gravel that must be removed to keep the moat-like harbor inlet called the Foša from becoming blocked.
Related structures
A football field adjoining the fortress on its northern side accommodates approximately 1,000 spectators. Saint Mark’s Tower stands on the opposite side of the field and was formerly connected with Kamerlengo Castle.
Nearby sites
