Duare Castle

Duare Castle, locally known as Utvrda Duare, lies above the village of Zadvarje, in the county of Split-Dalmatia in Croatia.

In the 15th century, Zadvarje, first mentioned in 1408, was situated in the medieval county of Radobilja. After the fall of the Bosnian kingdom in 1463 to the Ottoman Empire, Radobilja placed itself under Venetian protection. For the Venetians, Radobilja then became an important outpost of their possessions along the coast. They then probably started the construction of the castle, which was first mentioned in 1482.

In 1502, the Second Ottoman-Venetian War ended with a peace treaty and ownership of Duare Castle was transferred to the Ottomans as a result. In the 2nd half of the 16th century, the Turks then strengthened the castle. They also built 2 towers on the mountains east of the fort; the Avala and Poletnica towers, and 2 smaller towers west of the castle.

War again broke out between the 2 powers during the 17th century, and the castle violently changed hands several times. During one of the attacks, the cache of gunpowder and weapons exploded and demolished most of the north wall of the castle. In 1684 the Ottomans were driven out of the castle for the last time. They tried to retake it the next year but without success.

As the Ottoman Empire retreated further and further, Duare Castle started to lose its military importance in the first part of the 18th century. It still kept its military garrison until the beginning of the 19t century, however, before being abandoned.

The castle is situated on a ridge and has a triangular plan.

Duare Castle is freely accessible. A nice castle ruin. To get there, you can walk a short distance from the nearest road. I could see no sign of the Ottoman towers that were mentioned.

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