ALKA - KNIGHTS GAME

The Alka is held to commemorate the victory of the outnumbered defenders of the old city of Sinj, against the multiples times more numerous and stronger Ottoman army in 1715.

Around 700 defenders held out against a siege of the Sinj fort, and according to historical sources, with their courage, fighting spirit and determination, the resisted the Ottoman army, which according to the same sources, had up to 60,000 soldiers.

The legend says that the defenders were helped in their battle with the appearance of the blessed Virgin Mary, so the defenders gathered gold and framed her picture with it.

In honour of the great victory, the citizens of Sinj, with permission from the Venetian authorities, founded the knight games, Alka, a unique competition of jousting knights in Europe, similar to knight tournaments from the middle ages, which has been kept as a tradition for nearly three centuries. According to sources, similar games have been held in Makarska and in other places in Dalmatia and Istria, but it is the Alka that is of great value for surviving until today, and has become a world attraction, because it has been held with unchanged rules, in Sinj, for 292 years.