Omiš Old Town & Mirabella Fortress

Omiš was the base of the Kačić family and their pirates from the 12th to the 14th centuries, who used the Cetina gorge as a hideout and a base for attacking Venetian and Crusader shipping. Venice subdued the town in the 15th century, but the Mirabella fortress above the old town survives from the pirate era, and the narrower gorge above the town — protected by a chain that could be drawn across the river — is the reason the pirates could not be dislodged for so long. The old town’s stone houses and churches date largely from the Venetian period that followed.