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In the Roman period, the town (municipium) of Varvaria was created in the 1st century AD at the hill of Bribir (Bribirska glavica), which is now an archaeological site. Up until the Roman conquest, the Liburnians had inhabited the region, giving their name to the Roman province of Liburnia. Pliny the Elder mentioned Varvarini as one of 14 municipalities under the jurisdiction of Scardona (Skradin). In the Migration Period, after the fall of the Roman Empire, the region switched hands, being occupied by the Ostrogoths, Byzantines and then Croats.
Bribir achieved its peak in the 13th and 14th century, during the period when the members of Šubić family ruled over Croatia as the Bans of Croatia. Šubićs were called nobiles, comites or principes Breberienses (Princes of Breber). They built a large palace on the hill of Bribir, an ideal place to control the surrounding territory, overseeing all roads and approaches from the sea to the hinterland.
The town was settled by Orthodox population in the 16th century. It was part of the war-time Republic of Serbian Krajina (1991–1995).
Today the archaeological site encloses the surface of about 72,000 m2 and contains remains from the Roman era buildings and walls to churches built in the 13th and 14th centuries.
References:Sigmaringen Castle was first mentioned in the year 1077 in the chronicles of Petershausen monastery. The oldest parts of the castle are concealed beneath the alterations made during the 17th and the 19th centuries. The secret of the earliest settlement built on this defendable rock will never be fully revealed: large-scale excavation work would be necessary, which the extensive land development renders impossible. Judging from the many Roman remains unearthed in the area around Sigmaringen, the 12th century keep known as the 'Roman Tower' could be traced back to a Roman predecessor.
The castle remains that have been preserved (gate, great hall and keep) date back to the Staufer period around 1200. The castle remains were integrated into subsequent buildings. The foundations of the castle buildings are to a large extent identical to the surrounding castle wall.
These remains give us a good idea of how the castle might have looked during the 12th century.