Zadar

Culture and history info

Zadar is an ancient city, built in the center of the Croatian Adriatic, full of historical and cultural monuments. It is three thousand years old, a city of old, tumultuous and dynamic history, often destructed, looted, devastated, every time emerging from the ruins stronger, richer and more beautiful. Zadar appeared for the first time in history in the 4th century B.C. as a settlement of the Illyrian tribe of Liburnians – the name Jader was mentioned, and through history it changed into Idassa (Greek source), Jadera (Roman source), Diadora, Zara (during Venetian rule and later Italian) up to today’s name of Zadar.

After the year 59 B.C. Zadar became a Roman municipium, and in 48 B.C. a colony of Roman citizens. During Roman rule Zadar acquired the characteristics of a city with a regular road network, a main square – forum, and next to it an elevated capitolium with a temple. In the 7th century Zadar became the center (capital) of the Byzantine theme (province) of Dalmatia. At the beginning of the 9th century Zadar was mentioned as seat of bishop Donatus and the Byzantine leader Paulus. At the time a church was erected on the Roman forum, the church of the Holy Trinity, today St. Donat, for which it can be said to be the symbol of the city. Larger settling of Croats in Zadar was marked in the 10th century. The foundations of the Romanesque church of St. Mary, the church of St. Grisogone and the cathedral of St Anastasia have been preserved from that period. In 1202 the city was conquered and burned by the Crusaders and Venetians. The first Gothic churches in Dalmatia, St. Francis and St. Dominic, were built after that time, and the gold-plated silver sarcophagus of St. Simeon must be distinguished among the treasures of the period. The 15th and 16th centuries are characterized by significant activities of Croatian writers who wrote in the national Croatian language (Petar Zoranić, Brne Krnarutić, Šime Budinić, Jerolim Vidulić ...).