If you want to feel the pulse of Šibenik beyond the tourist routes of the historic center, head toward Baldekin.
The largest residential district in Šibenik, known as a temple of outdoor basketball and the home of the late, great Dražen Petrović, offers a completely different energy. Instead of medieval stone structures, asphalt and modern 20th-century residential architecture reign here. You will find locals sipping coffee in neighborhood cafes and new basketball hopefuls practicing under the hoop.

It is fair to say that Baldekin still lives in the spirit of Dražen Petrović today. The "Basketball Mozart" has a square named after him here, featuring a bronze cast of his childhood sneakers. The "Baldekin" sports hall, where he spent up to 7 hours a day training diligently, is still packed whenever Šibenka plays – Dražen's first club, which he joined at the age of 12. It is touching to see how Dražen remains in the hearts of the people of Šibenik, as the area around the hall and the nearby Juraj Šižgorić Elementary School, which he attended, is filled with murals and graffiti dedicated to "our little one." Inside the hall, there is a club Fan Shop where you can buy a replica of the iconic orange Šibenka jersey with the number 4 that Dražen wore with pride, as well as other sports souvenirs. Right next to the hall is the Monument to Dražen Petrović. It consists of a statue and a fenced basketball court. Of all the statues created in Dražen's honor, this one by sculptor Kažimir Hraste is the most intimate, as it depicts him in his boyhood when he was scoring his first baskets right here on Baldekin. Seated on a bench, he invites you to sit beside him, take a break, and feel the rhythm of basketballs bouncing on the court behind you. That very court is a living tribute to the Captain, connecting his legacy with the new generations of basketball players who play here every day pickup games.

Just a few minutes' walk from the hall, on Petar Preradović Street, you will come across another monument – a basketball hoop under which Dražen's first car, a white VW Golf, is permanently parked. Opposite, at house number 3, is the Petrović family apartment where Dražen grew up with his brother Aco, another basketball legend from Baldekin. It was because of this house number that Dražen chose number 3 for his jersey when signing his contract with the New Jersey Nets at the peak of his career. A memorial room has been set up in the apartment, which can be visited by prior arrangement with the Dražen Petrović Memorial Center in Zagreb, as it does not have regular opening hours.
Beyond basketball, Baldekin is also known as a place of deep patriotic pride and reverence, preserving the memory of key moments in the city's defense during the Croatian War of Independence. In the immediate vicinity of the Memorial to the fallen Croatian defenders of the Homeland War, the Memorial Room of the Homeland War in Šibenik has been opened, preserving the memory of Šibenik's heroes in an authentic and deeply emotional way.


