Karin Castle

Karin Castle, locally known Stari grad Corinium, lies south of the town of Donji Karin, in the county of Zadar in Croatia.

I am not sure of the name of this castle. The existing ruins are normally called Stari grad Corinium. But that name, which translates back to 'the old town/castle of Corinium', more likely refers to the Roman town that once stood in this area. I also encountered the name Miodrag, which I suspect is the real name of the castle, but I could not find any info to substantiate my assumption.

I could find no historical info pertaining specifically to the castle.

The town of Corinium was founded in the 3rd century AD. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the prosperous town dwindled. Centuries later it became part of the Kingdom of Croatia, and became known as Karin. It was even mentioned, in the first half of the 10th century, by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII "Porphyrogenitus" in his book "De Administrando Imperio" as a Croatian town.

In 1102, the town became part of the unified Croatian-Hungarian Kingdom. In the first half of the 15th century it lost its importance. Still, it managed to hold out against Ottoman attacks until 1514 when it was finally conquered and destroyed by the Ottomans.

The castle is situated on top of a hill, at the entrance of a canyon, running from a small valley down to the Karin Sea. On the hills around the valley there are still several ruined towers. I suspect these towers, together with Karin Castle, formed the defense system of the old town. I visited one of these towers; Šušina Tower.

Karin Castle is freely accessible. I could not find a clear path to it, however, and had to find my own way through the bushes. Later I read that during summer the area is home to poisonous snakes, luckily I didn't encounter any.

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