The Frankopan castle
Directly on the harbour with its four towers.
Berthold Werner — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Viktar Palstsiuk — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Berthold Werner — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Jernej Furman from Slovenia — CC BY 2.0
The island''s principal town, and one of few in Croatia whose **walls and towers still stand** around a complete medieval core. It was the Roman settlement of **Curicum**, and in the Middle Ages became the seat of the **Frankopans** — the most powerful Croatian noble family, who ruled from their castle here and whose influence reached the mainland and into Hungary. The castle still stands directly on the harbour with its four towers, the best known being the square **Frankopan tower**. The town holds an architecturally rare arrangement: a **double church complex** — the Romanesque cathedral with the church of St Quirinus beside it, built wall to wall on the foundations of **Roman baths**, so three layers appear in one structure. The lanes are narrow and stone, climbing from the harbour to the walls. Note: Krk is **joined by a bridge** to the mainland — no ferry and no timetable, the only Croatian island of which that is true. Note: the town is **very crowded in July and August**, precisely because it is so easy to reach.
Directly on the harbour with its four towers.
Two churches wall to wall on Roman foundations.
An almost complete medieval circuit around the town.
Krk town, south-western coast of the island
The most powerful Croatian noble family of the Middle Ages, originating on the island of **Krk** — they were first known as the «princes of Krk». From this small island they expanded until they held wide lands across Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary, and built or ruled **dozens of castles** that carry their name today, at Trsat, Ozalj, Slunj and elsewhere. They allied in turn with Venice, Hungary and the Habsburgs. ⚠ Their end was bloody: in **1671** **Fran Krsto Frankopan** was executed at Wiener Neustadt alongside his brother-in-law Petar Zrinski for conspiring against the emperor, the family''s property was confiscated and its male line died out. ⚠ The episode is treated as a founding moment in the Croatian national narrative, and the two men are always named together: «Zrinski and Frankopan».
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