The threat of enemy attacks on Vis was very much real through the better part of the history of the island. Whether it was the pirates, the Turks, the French or the Italian the island was an attractive strategic location. This is why it wasn’t rare for the inhabitants of Vis to build forts on their own land, through private funding. One of such privately built forts is the Perasti Fort, also known as the Perasti Tower.

It was built by Vicko of Perast during 1617. While not a lot of information remains at our disposal we know he and his family were first mentioned in 1587, that they lived in the part of Vis known as Luka (in a house situated near the tower), and that he died in 1622.

The tower’s structure follows the usual prescribed rules of fort-building. The walls are thick and the only openings are loopholes (some of which were designed to accommodate for the size of cannons). In addition to that the tower has sentry boxes so that a lookout could be kept at any time.

It is interesting to note that building new houses in the vicinity of the tower was forbidden so that they would not get caught in the line of fire in case of an attack.

The Perasti tower is sadly not open for public, but you can observe its clever architecture from the outside.

See more about Island of Vis

№44 of 52 places in Island of Vis
№1972 of 2178 places in Croatia
№1 of 1 Historic buildings in Island of Vis
№166 of 177 Historic buildings in Croatia

Guides in this place

• A Guide for a Three Days on the island of Vis