St. Anthony’s Channel Promenade
Location: ŠibenikLength: 4,6 kmElevation gain: 65 mDifficulty: EasyDifficulty rating: K1, T1, VR1
Kanal sv. Ante (St. Anthony’s Channel) is part of a significant landscape that stretches from the Šibenik Bridge to St. Nicholas Fortress. It has been protected since 1974 and, in terms of morphology, it is a ria – that is, a drowned lower part of a river valley. It is the place where the Krka river and the Adriatic Sea meet. The salinity of the water and the cycles of the tides create specific conditions here for many plant and animal species. This makes it an ideal area for the growth of mussels (pedoće). The channel is some 2.5 km long, with an average width of about 300 m.
Along the left side of the channel a trail has been laid out that leads all the way to St. Nicholas Fortress, that is, to the entrance to the channel from the sea side. The start of the trail is here 43.722702676930055, 15.8880789640098
Although you can drive right up to the official trailhead, we nevertheless parked about 450 m before it, because there is a handy widened spot there, and the continuation of the road is full of holes made by the rains anyway.
Those who want to go straight to St. Nicholas Fortress, and perhaps start the trail from the other end, can leave their car here 43.7199733700012, 15.8602365324754
The trail is about 4.6 km long. It is more of a promenade, for the most part paved with stone, with one section being earthen. The first 800 m are a little dull, but as soon as you come out onto the sea, the vistas begin to open up and it becomes more and more interesting.
After 1.3 km of trail you reach the only larger climb, the one up to the Lobor viewpoint (64 m). The viewpoint is nicely laid out, walled with stone, with elegantly incorporated benches. From it there is a beautiful view in every direction – Šibenik, the channel that connects Šibenik to the sea, and the islands scattered across the open water.
Coming down from the viewpoint, at 1.8 kilometres from the start of the trail, you reach the turn-off for the cave and church of St. Anthony. A branch of the path, some 60 m long, descends all the way down to sea level. From there you have to climb briefly up to the very mouth of the cave.
In the 14th century a church was built inside the cave by partitioning off the entrance with a stone wall. It is dedicated to St. Anthony the Abbot, the first known hermit, who is considered the founder of monasticism. In documents from the 15th century the church is mentioned as an eremitorium, a place of residence for hermits (eremites) who withdraw into solitude, living an ascetic life. In the 1930s the church was devastated, as it was taken over by the military, which built here a bunker for an artillery battery that guarded the approaches to Šibenik. Devastated like this, it is probably the ugliest church we have ever seen.
In the immediate vicinity of the church, continuing along the branch of the trail, you reach the military tunnels that the Germans built in World War II and used to hide torpedo boats. The first tunnel is a pedestrian one, evidently logistical, and the main, sea tunnel is right behind it. It is semicircular in shape and provides excellent protection for smaller military vessels, which can react quickly from here in defending the approaches to the city.
Returning to the main promenade, you continue on towards St. Nicholas Fortress. In Minerska cove we pass abandoned hangars and other devastated structures. There are also a couple of nice buildings here that house tourist facilities.
Near the end of the trail, you reach the islet of Školjić, which is connected to the mainland by a beautiful wooden bridge. The bridge is built just above the surface of the sea. With its curved shape it looks very attractive, while at the same time allowing the unhindered flow of the sea, which is important for the local ecosystem.
On Školjić there are the remains of trenches, ammunition depots and bunkers from World War II. The idea is for the island to be an “antechamber” to St. Nicholas Fortress. From the islet to the fortress leads a stone path that has been damaged by the tides and is mostly submerged. During the season it is possible to cross over to St. Nicholas Fortress by boat. The fortress is still in the renovation phase and is not officially open for visits. Since we organised this trip out of season, there was no elegant way to get to the other side, so this was the final point we reached. We will write about the fortress once we have visited it!
Conclusion
The promenade through Kanal sv. Ante is certainly something you should visit when you are in Šibenik. The trail is nicely laid out, the surroundings are interesting, and St. Nicholas Fortress is one of the most beautiful in Croatia. As I am more of a lover of the wilderness and fortresses from somewhat earlier periods, I was not especially fascinated by anything, which does not mean that others will not be or that it is not worth coming here. This is a perfectly lovely location for a half-day trip that all ages will enjoy equally. A great deal of effort has been invested in the trail, but there is still plenty of work to do. When the restoration of the fortress is completed, if the church of St. Anthony could be returned to its original function, and if the abandoned hangars and structures in Minerska cove are ever put in order, this whole location would be raised to a much higher level!
And finally, part of the text from the sign at the start of the trail: The purpose of preserving the natural state of this area is to ensure a less built-up and greener belt, and thus contribute to the value of Šibenik as a city with a green frame, not only as an element of beauty, but also as a measure for a healthy living environment for its inhabitants.
Many municipalities / towns could give this sentence some thought. In many of them (Makarska is the most extreme example) the plague of apartment-building and concreting-over is irreversibly destroying the very thing that tourists come for – nature and the harmony of old architecture with tourism scaled to be pleasant to live with for the local population. Where human greed and stupidity lead is shown most clearly by the devastated Veprić sanctuary near Makarska. But we will cover that in some other article.
More information about the promenade along Kanal sv. Ante can be found on the following page: https://www.kanal-svetog-ante.com/hr
Special
Although our focus is on Croatia, due to great interest in reviewing some international locations from our travels, we decided to launch the Special section. In it, we will not cover locations in the same detailed way we do with Croatian ones, but will instead provide a brief overview of multiple locations grouped into meaningful categories. The only criterion we still strictly follow is that they must be natural attractions.