SEBENICO (Serbo-Croatian, Sibenik)  , an episcopal city, and the centre of an administrative district in Dalmatia, Austria; at the end of a branch railway from Knin . Pop . (1900) of city and commune, 24,751 . Sebenico is built on a hill overlooking the river Kerka, which here forms a broad basin, connected by a winding channel with the Adriatic Sea, 3 m . S.W . The city is partly walled, and guarded on the seaward side by the 16th-century castle of St Anna and two dismantled forts . Venetian influence is everywhere manifest; the Lion of St Mark is carved over the main gateway and on many public buildings; and among the narrow and steep lanes of the city there are numerous examples of Venetian Gothic or early Renaissance architecture . Sebenico has been the seat of a Roman Catholic bishop since 1288 . It has also an orthodox bishop . The Roman Catholics, who constitute the majority of citizens, possess a lofty and beautiful cruciform cathedral, built entirely of stone and metal . Probably no other church of equal size in Europe is similarly constructed . Even the waggon vaults over the nave, choir and transepts are of stone unprotected by lead or tiles .

The older

part of the cathedral, dating from 1430 to 1441, and including the fine north doorway, is Italian Gothic . Giorgio Orsini of Zara, who had studied architecture in Venice and been strongly influenced by the Italian Renascence, carried on the work of construction until his death in 1475 . It was finished early in the 16th century; and thus the cathedral belongs to two distinct periods and represents two distinct styles . Sebenico is lighted by electric light; the power being supplied by the celebrated falls of the Kerka, near Scardona, on the north . Sebenico is a steamship station, with an excellent harbour . Wine, oil, corn and honey are produced in the neighbour-hood; many of the inhabitants are fishermen and seamen . The Latin name of Sicum is adopted in public inscriptions; but the city cannot be identified with the Roman colony of Sicum, which was probably situated farther south . Sebenico first became prominent in the 12th century as a favourite residence of the Croatian kings . From 1358 to 1412 it was ruled by I'ungary; it subsequently formed part of the Venetian dominions . In 1647 it was unsuccessfully besieged by the Turks .