Four months have passed frome the opening ceremony of the revitalized fortress Barone. In this period, the new Sibenik attraction has visited 17,000 visitors. The project of the revitalization of the fortress Barone, with infrastructure works on the renovation of the fortress, involved equipping gastro-cultural center, children's playground and the construction of an amphitheater. Through augmented reality technology, unique in the region, visitors can experience characters, sounds and scenes of Sibenik from the 17th century.
Barone fortress was not the first line of defense, but it has become a place where occur some new memories, a place where past and future intertwine in the moment that is on the Barone fortress always - more than reality.
The specific objective of the project Barone - promoting small and medium enterprises in the tourism sector- was achieved through cooperation with 43 small enterpreneurs whose products are selected as part of the public call of the project Barone- rediscovering the rich past, a way to a successful future and are offered in souvenir shop.
During the development of the project , a set of own local products and souvenirs was created under the brand Barone memories, available as a part of the souvenir shop.
Mayor of Šibenik, dr. Zeljko Buric, emphesized the recognition of Sibenik 's tourism story: '' Sibenik continues to build the innovative tourism story; after the successful results of the St. Michael's Fortress , the Barone fortress become a gathering place for inhabitants of Sibenik, but also for the growing number of visiting tourists and guests of our city. With the technology of augmented reality and gastro-cultural center, Barone has already won the prestigious aword on the Days of communication, the most important conference on marketing communications, where the digital content for the project Barone was rated the best in the category "Innovative use of technology 'within the competition Mixx 2016. As our story continues, we are expecting a double celebration this year in which we celebrate the 950th anniversary of the first written mentioning of Sibenik, completion of the project Barone and the start of the reconstruction project of the St. John's fortress, Sibenik is strongly going forward. "
Head of the Department for Management of Fortification System Facilities, Gorana Barisic Bačelić presented the results of the Barone fortress since the opening on January 31st, 2016 untill this day: '' The project Barone already in this initial phase of work shows successful indicators of how the achieved goals of the project as well as through attendance and the interests of users with a different profile. Both restored Sibenik fortresses, St. Michael's and Barone, are part of the unique tourist offer with combined ticket that allows visitors sightseeing within 7 days of purchasing the ticket. A large number of visitors so after visiting the St. Michael's fortress refers to the Barone fortress thus overcoming the obstacles of dislocation outside the usual tourist routes. We are pleased with the figure of 17 000 visits in the preseason. If we compare the figures with the results from last year's period they show an increase in the number of individual and group visitors. Friends Club of the fortress reached a figure of over 4000 members, mostly citizens of Šibenik and its surroundings. Through the Friends Club we want citizens to connect emotionally with the cultural heritage of their town and encourage a more often use of newly designed contents. "
The project '' Barone-rediscovering the rich past, a way to a successful future '' the total value of 1,377,165.38 euros was financed by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund with 72.17% of the fund. Successful completion of the Project of reconstruction the Barone fortress contributed the project partners : Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture; Istvan Dobo Vármúzeum Eger; Šibenik City Museum and the Tourist Board of Sibenik.
