Since local authorities had been exchanging, the town of Sinj and its surrounding area had always been exposed to attacks. There had always been some struggles for supremacy between the Ottoman Empire and the Venetian Republic. Fortress of Sinj was attacked three times after it had come under the Venetian rule, but it had never fallen into the hands of the enemy. The most important battle took place in 1715 when the local inhabitants, determined to defend their homes, managed to repel the more numerous Turkish army. After that year, the Turks did not impose any important threat on the area around the river Cetina nor the town of Sinj. The victory is attributed to Virgin Mary, whose picture was brought by Franciscan priests from Rama and it gave determination and strength to the defenders of Sinj to repudiate the enemy. As a sign of gratitude, that same afternoon the defenders held a knight's pageant Alka which has remained up to this day as a memory in honour of the glorious victory of our ancestors.