Cultural and Historical Ensemble of the Town of Zadar

Zadar's historic core sits on a long peninsula, in Zadar County, and makes a truly instructive walk through almost three millennia. Layers of the Roman, early Christian, Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance eras lie side by side, and visitors will find it worthwhile to explore the squares and churches slowly.

A Liburnian settlement in the 1st century BC became the Roman colony of Iader, and the Roman street grid can still be seen today. The main longitudinal and transverse streets bound the area of the former forum. In the early Christian period an episcopal complex arose with a cathedral, baptistery and bishop's palace. The Church of St Donatus is the most valuable example of pre-Romanesque building in Croatia. The Romanesque style marks St Mary's with its chapter house and bell tower and the churches of St Chrysogonus and St Anastasia, while the churches of St Francis, St Dominic and St Michael are Gothic. The town walls belong to the Renaissance. In the Second World War 60 per cent of the historic core was destroyed.

The ensemble is a protected cultural property, entered in the Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia under the code Z-3409.

Data: Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia (Ministry of Culture and Media), Open Licence; coordinates: DGU (centre of the settlement).