Šibenik's cathedral is the single thing every visitor sees, and rightly so. Built entirely of pale Brač and Korčula stone between 1402 and 1555 by Juraj Dalmatinac and his successor Nikola Firentinac, it is a hybrid of Venetian Gothic and Tuscan Renaissance that somehow works as a single coherent building. The interior is austere and luminous; outside, the famous frieze of 71 carved heads runs around the apse.
UNESCO listed the cathedral in 2000 for its construction as much as its design — the barrel-vaulted roof and ribbed dome were assembled without any wooden frame, an engineering feat that influenced Renaissance architects across the Adriatic. The square in front, Trg Republike Hrvatske, is the social heart of the old town. Entry costs a small fee and the cathedral closes for services on Sunday morning.