Nehaj Tower

Nehaj Tower, locally known as Kula (tower) or Kaštel (castle) Nehaj or Lodi, lies in the town of Kaštel Štafilić, in the county of Split-Dalmatia in Croatia.

After the fall of Bosnia to the Ottoman Empire in 1463, Dalmatia, being part of the Venetian Republic, faced the danger of Ottoman invasions. Local landowners; the Split Archbishopric, monasteries and nobles from Trogir and Split, therefore wished to protect their estates and the villagers working for them. So, during the following decades they started to build 17 fortifications and fortified 12 villages along the coast of the Kaštela Bay, between Trogir and Split.

Nehaj Tower was one of these fortifications. In 1548 the brothers Ivan and Ludovik Lodi gained permission from the Duke of Trogir; Garzoni, to construct their tower on a sea rock near the shore. Building commenced, but was halted when both brothers died. Inheritance issues caused the ownership to be divided in multiple parts and as a result building ceased completely and the tower remained unfinished. By that time it had been constructed up to its present height.

In the second part of the 17th century it became the property of the noble Papalić family from Split. In that same time, the area near the tower was settled by Uskok refugees from Klis. They were irregular soldiers and named the tower and the settlement Nehaj. Nehaj was the name of their original stronghold in the town of Senj, some 250 km north, which they had been forced to abandon by the Venetians in 1618.

At present Nehaj Tower seems to have no use, and it can only be admired from outside. A nice tower remnant next to a small harbor.

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