X Burnum (Burnum Municipium)

What3words – cassettes.disrobed.polymer

Visited August 2019

Status – Intriguing, isolated and worth the trek

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Construction Date -

In a remote location at the eastern end of the Kryk National Park in inland Dalmatia lay the settlement of Burnum.

It commanded a strategic location controlling traffic around the Krka river which runs in a deep gorge, and was the

military base for several legions over time. It had an associated civilian community. The town eventually got flattened

in a 7th century bust-up between Emperor Justinian and the Ostragoths.

The most famous surviving landmark is a pair of sun-bleached arches on the south side of route 59 outside the small town of Kistanje. These were part of the praetorium building. The age of satellite imagery revealed in the 1990s a rather regular oval ‘sink hole’ on the other side of the road a couple of hundred metres to the west. Excavation found Croatia’s third known Roman Amphitheatre (After Pula and Solin).

The location is very remote. Kistanje is a small agricultural village and the site is miles beyond it in open countryside. I visited early on a July Tuesday morning in 2019 and was the only person there apart from two girls occupying the entrance hut (200 Kunas admission), and three men carrying out work outside the eastern entrance to the arena.

A different approach to historic ruins is in evidence here. When compared to relatively recent aerial photos, the Croatians are clearly carrying out a significant programme of rebuilding. The central oval is now ringed by a new wall and both main entrances have recently completed stone vaulted tunnels incorporating sections of original masonry. Sadly I walked into the sea with ‘phone in pocket shortly afterwards and lost most of my photos.