The Old Town of Vrana and Mašković Han

Stari grad Vrana traces its roots to a Benedictine monastery from the 9th century, dedicated to St. Gregory. The crowns of the Croatian kings were kept in it, along with many other treasures, among which a silver chest with the relics of St. Gregory is also mentioned.

On the occasion of his coronation in 1075 in Solin, King Zvonimir gifted it, together with its estate, to the Pope, whereby Vrana became the first permanent diplomatic seat of the papal legates on the eastern coast of the Adriatic and in the entire Slavic region

A hundred years after that, the Knights Templar, with the Pope’s help, turned Vrana into their base. They built strong ramparts and towers (three rings of walls and a forward fortification), and the entire fortress was encircled by a moat. The fortress was entered across a drawbridge.

Although the Templar order was dissolved in the 13th century, Vrana remained for a long time yet the seat of ecclesiastical, political and military power.

The significance of Vrana is confirmed by records of visits by numerous magnates throughout its history. In 1102 King Coloman of the Árpád dynasty stayed here, during his coronation in Biograd, when he concluded the famous “Pacta Conventa” agreement with the representatives of the 12 Croatian tribes. On 4 November 1383, the Hungarian-Croatian Queen Mary and her sister Hedwig, the future queen of Poland, as well as the Croatian-Hungarian Queen Elizabeth Kotromanić, stayed in Vrana.

The Turks briefly ruled the fortress in the 16th century, when they turned the monastery into a barracks that housed 150 horsemen and 100 foot soldiers. Not long after that, in 1647 the Venetians thoroughly demolished the fortress with cannons over four days, and after that it lost its significance.

Although today only about 20% of the former fortress is visible, it is still an impressive ruin whose contours preserve the memory of the countless battles they witnessed and the many rulers they protected.

Maškovića han

Across from the fortress stands Maškovića han. In the 17th century it was built by Jusuf Mašković, a high dignitary at the Turkish court, himself a native of Vrana or Pakoštane. As its name suggests, the han served as a lodging (an overnight inn) for the caravans that passed through here, and it was also meant to serve as Jusuf’s residence in his old age. However, with his premature death, the han remained unfinished.

After the liberation from the Turks, in 1699, the han passed into the ownership of the Borelli family, which from that place administered the entire Vrana estate in the period from 1752 to 1881.

The Partisans burned it in 1945, and it was saved from greater ruin by the descendants of the Borellis’ foremen, the Pelicarić family, who have lived here to the present day.

Maškovića han is today arranged as a “heritage” hotel and represents the westernmost monument of secular Turkish architecture in Europe.

It is open to the public and an unmissable attraction if you are passing through this area, whether you only wish to look around, have a bite to eat in its restaurant, or spend the night.