ZADAR, a city and port in central Dalmatia; population 76,343. The old town, located on a sheltered peninsula with a suitable natural harbour, had good opportunities for establishing of traffic connections with the hinterland. Zadar had the most favourable combination of heavy sea routes from Ravenna, Venice or Trieste with the Eastern Adriatic system of channel traffic. More difficult navigation conditions for sailing ships at the open sea in regards to channel navigation have rendered Zadar a port of rest, where ships can be repaired and get their supply. Together with the development of steamships and motor ships, the port of Zadar became too narrow and too shallow for large vessels. Also, along with the concentration of traffic in the ports of northern Adriatic and with the development of Split and Sibenik, Zadar began to lose the advantage of its relatively easy connection with the hinterland. The development of traffic connections (the Adriatic Highway, 1959: the railroad Knin - Zadar, 1966, the port of Gazenica, 1968, and the airport, 1969), under new circumstances, has pointed out the advantages of the geographical position of Zadar.

The location of Zadar on the low littoral greatly contributes to its climate. An average air tempera-ture in July is 25 °C and 6.5 °C in January; with 200 sunny days a year. Due to climatic conditions, the Mediterranean vegetation prevails (in town parks grow exotic subtropical plants).

The oldest part of the town had developed in the north-western part of the peninsula (4 km long and 500 m wide on average), closing the Old Port and the Jazine bay. New suburbs, Vostarnica and Brodarica, are located mainly along the north-eastern coast of the Old Port, outside the peninsula. In the north-western part of the town is the tourist zone with hotels and restaurants (Borik). In the south-east, around the port of Gazenica, a new port-industrial zone is developing.

Many cultural institutions are located in Zadar: Faculty of Arts (1956); Historical Archives (main archives for Dalmatia, 1625), Institute of the HAZU (Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences), numerous museums, the Permanent Exhibition of Sacral Art (1976), Musical Evenings in the church of St. Donat (initiated in 1961). Zadar is located on the main road (M2, E65). Ferry pier; ferry lines with Preko, Zaglav, Mali Losinj, Rijeka, Split, Dubrovnik, Ancona. Zadar Airport is located in Zemunik Donji.

City tourist association: Ulica Ilije Smiljanica b.b.

Zadar and the tourist region of Zadar are located in the very centre of the Croatian Adriatic, in the most indented part of the Adriatic archipelago. At a smaller or greater distance from Zadar are the national parks Plitvice, Paklenica, Krka and Kornati, nature parks Velebit and Telascica, as well as more than 300 islands and islets. Natural beauties, numerous coves and beaches, cultural and historical monuments, restaurants and hotels offering selected national specialities make Zadar and its surroundings one of the most attractive tourist regions in Croatia.
Tourism in Zadar has a long tradition. More recent annals note that in June 1879 a group of tourists from Vienna visited Zadar; in 1892 the Society for the Embellishment of Zadar was established (it remained active until 1918), while "Liburnija" Hiking Club and the Tourist Association were established in 1899. Early in the 20th century, in March of 1902, Hotel Bristol (today's Hotel Zagreb) opened to the public.

Tourist attraction of Zadar is also based on the combination of yachting tourism, various types of accommodation and catering services, atmosphere, charming beaches and promenades, excursions to closer and farther surroundings, as well as interesting cultural, artistic and entertainment events and programs and on especially valuable cultural and historical monuments.

The historical part of Zadar is fascinating to all those who respect historical monuments and cultural heritage. The church of St. Donat, the symbol of the city, is a must in each itinerary, as well as the museums of Zadar: the Archaeological Museum (established in 1830), one of the most important in Croatia, with about 80,000 exhibits from the Stone Age to the late Middle Ages, the National Museum with the Art Gallery and the Department of Natural Sciences, the Maritime Museum with exhibits of the development of navi-gation in northern Dalmatia, as well as the Permanent Exhibition of Sacral Art with about a thousand valuable exhibits from the past centuries, known under the popular name The Gold and Silver of Zadar (Zlato i Srebro Zadra).

In numerous restaurants and taverns of Zadar tourists should taste home-made specialities. Among drinks, the first place belongs to the famous liqueur Maraskino. As early as the 19th century, this unique drink was a favourite drink at European courts (London, Vienna, Moscow) and has been produced in Zadar since 1821.

Zadar has top conditions for sports and recreational activities. It has numerous tennis courts, as well as a football field, basketball and handball courts. It offers great opportunities for water activities, such as sailing, windsurfing, rowing, scuba--diving, angling.

Numerous and rich cultural and artistic programs are also organized. They include the traditional Music Evenings in St. Donat, New Theatre Performances, Zadar Theatre Summer, as well as various visual arts exhibitions. The city celebrates the holiday of St. Krsevan, which is, at the same time, the day of Zadar (24th of November).

Excursions are regularly organized.

Zadar offers top yachting opportunities and services. Borik Marina is located inside the Borik Hotel Complex, in the Borik bay; it has 200 berths in the sea and 100 places on the land; it also owns a charter fleet.

Tankerkomerc Zadar Marina is situated in the city harbour; it has 300 berths in the sea and 200 places on the land.

History

Mentioned as Jader (Jadera) in Roman sources, while Constantine Porphyrogenitus (10th c.) called it Diadora. After 59 BC Zadar became a Roman municipium, and in 48 BC a colony of Roman citizens. It maintained its autonomy throughout the Middle Ages. Upon the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the destruction of Salona in the early 7th century, Zadar became the capital of the Byzantine province of Dalmatia, as well as the governor's headquarters. In the early 9th century it came under the Franks, while it was given back to Byzantium in 812, under the Peace Treaty of Aachen. In the 10th, and especially in the 11th century, the true rulers of the town were the Croats. From 1105, when it recognized the rule of the first Hungarian-Croatian king Koloman, Zadar began to be involved in frequent wars with Venice. In 1117, Pope Alexander III visited Zadar. A document from that time noted that the inhabitants of Zadar greeted the Pope singing songs "in their Slavonic language". In 1202, Za-dar was conquered by the Venetians with the help of the Crusaders; after renewed battles, the town subdued in 1205. After several insurrections, Zadar came under the rule of the Hungarian-Croatian king Luis I (under the Zadar Peace Treaty in 1358). After the death of Luis, Zadar recognized the rule of king Sigismund, and after him, that of Ladislas of Naples, who, in 1409 sold Zadar and "his rights" on Dalmatia to Venice. From this time on, Zadar started to decline, because the Venetians considerably limited the town's political and economic autonomy. When in the early 16th century the Ottoman Turks conquered the Zadar hinterland, the town became an important stronghold ensuring the Venetian trade in the Adriatic, as well as the administrative centre of the Venetian possessions in Dalmatia and a cultural centre. The 15th and the 16th centuries were marked by important activities of Croatian writers writing in the national language (Jerolim Vidolic, Petar Zoranic, Brne Krnarutic, Juraj Barakovic, Sime Budinic). After the fall of Venice (1797) Zadar came under the Austrian rule under which it remained until 1918, except for the period of the French rule (1805-1813), all this time remaining the capital of Dalmatia. During the French rule, the first newspaper in the Croatian language, Kraljski Dalmatin, was being published in Zadar (1806-1810). In the second half of the 19th century Zadar was a centre of the movement for the cultural and national revival in Dalmatia. Under the Rapallo Treaty (1920) Zadar was ceded to Italy; in 1944 it was joined with the mother country Croatia.

Heritage

Zadar gained its urban structure as early as Roman times; in the time of Caesar the town was fortified, while in the time of Emperor Augustus, the town walls with towers and numerous gates were built on the side facing the land. On the western side of the town were the forum, the basilica and the temple with a cloister (the remains of it have been preserved), while outside the town were the amphitheatre and cemeteries. The aqueduct which was supplying the town with water from Vransko Lake has been partly preserved. Inside the ancient town, a mediaeval town had developed, when a series of churches and monasteries had been built. - During the Middle Ages, Zadar had fully gained its urban aspect, which has been maintained until today. In the bombardments during the Second World War, entire blocks were destroyed, some of the structures having been preserved. In the 16th century, Venice fortified the town with a new system of defence walls on the side facing the land; the walls were reinforced with six pentagonal bastions, while a large tower was built in front of the town (in the present-day Perivoj Vladimira Nazora). At the same time, three large public water tanks were also built. In the first half of the 16th century, architectural building in the Renaissance style was continued (the restoration of the church of St. Mary). In the 17th and 18th centuries, between the town walls and the tower, defence trenches were built (Fosa), which were completely buried during the Italian occupation. Although in the second half of the 19th century and in the early 20th century town fortifications were destroyed, wall lines along the port and land, as well as in the foundations and around the whole town, have been preserved until today.

The port is located in Stara Luka (Old Port) on Liburnska Obala, along which the town walls extend. The town is entered through Lancana Vrata (Chain Gate) and the path leads to Trg Tri Bunara (Square of Three Wells). A water tank was once located here with three wells from which the water was drawn (the openings of the wells have been preserved). In the middle of the park, the rotunda of the church of Our Lady of Health (from 1582) has been preserved, which in the 18th century had a nave added, which was later destroyed during bombardment. From here, Bozidara Petranovica Street leads by the considerably reconstructed former monastery of the nuns of St. Clare (on the right) to St. Francis Square with the church of St. Francis and the Franciscan monastery.

The one-nave Gothic church (from 1283) has undergone several reconstructions, especially in the 18th century. Behind the main altar are the richly ornamented choir stalls (work by Giacomo da Borgo Sansepolcro, 1394). Next to the choir is the sacristy; in 1358 a peace treaty was reached here by which Venice renounced Dalmatia. A painted Gothic polyptych is also kept here (work by Dujam Vuskovic of Split, 15th c.), originally from the Ugljan Franciscan monastery. Next to the sacristy is the treasury (a large painted Romanesque crucifix from the 12th c., a painting by Leandro Bassano, old liturgical vessels, documents, incunabula, etc.). The Renaissance cloister was built in 1556. Fabijaniceva and Zanotijeva Streets lead to the church of St. Elias, built in the Middle Ages; the church was reconstructed in the Baroque style in 1793, when a bell tower was erected. The church owns a considerable number of icons from the 16th-18th century. It offers a view on the Roman Forum (90 by 45 m) with cloisters. The ancient Decumanus has been partly preserved, and under it the town's main cesspools once run. In the Forum is the 14-m high preserved ancient pillar (bearing a plate adorned with "pleter" - interlacery ornaments), to which from the Middle Ages to the year of 1840 persons were tied and exposed to public scorn or ridicule. Above the buried Forum the most monumental structure of the Croatian early Middle Ages was built, the 27-m high church of the Holy Trinity, later called the church of St. Donat after Bishop Donat, on whose orders, a legend has it, the church was built in the 9th century. The church has a circular ground-plan, three apses and a loft - matroneum on the upper floor. In the church walls numerous ancient fragments had been built (inscriptions, pilasters, sacrificial altars, etc.). Next to the church of St. Donat is the Bishop's Palace, a very old structure, reconstructed in the Romanesque and Gothic per-iods as well as in the Renaissance; the present-day façade dates from 1830. On the eastern side of the former forum, the church and the monastery of the Benedictine nuns of St. Mary were built, probably in the 10th century. On the location of an earlier church, the three-nave basilica was built (1091). In 1507 Nikola (spanic) of Korcula built the front and the south side wall; the rich Baroque stucco work in the interior dates back to 1744. Next to the church is the Romanesque bell tower, built on the order of the Hungarian-Croatian king Koloman in the early 12th century (according to the inscription on the bell tower). The upstairs chapel of the bell tower contains the remains of the 12th-century frescoes, while the name of King Koloman was carved into four capitals. The Romanesque, later reconstructed, chapter houses the tomb with the inscription of Vekenega, the daughter of noblewoman Cika, on whose orders the church and the monastery were restored in 1066. The monastery was destroyed in the Second World War; the church (on the altar mensa is the inscription with the names of Cika and King Petar Kresimir IV; the 15th-century Pieta), the bell -tower and the chapter have been restored. Near the crossing of the Decumanus and the Card (today's Siroka Street) is the Cathedral of St. Anastasia (Sv. Stosija), a three-nave Romanesque basilica from the 12th-13th century, actually a reconstructed early Christian basilica. On the front is a series of blind arches, in the middle of the front is the rosette, restored in the 20th century. Below the presbytery is the three-nave church of St. Barbara. In the side apses are the preserved remains of wall paintings from the 13th century. In the presbytery are the preserved Romanesque marble seats from the 12th-13th century, as well as the Gothic choir stalls (1418-1450). The parts of the altar partition from the 9th century were incorporated in the main altar; above the altar is the Gothic ciborium-baldachin (canopy) from 1332. The ground and the first floor of the bell tower were built in the 15th century; upper floors were built in 1892 by T. G. Jackson, after the bell tower of the cathedral in Rab. Next to the Cathedral is the Glagolitic seminary, founded by the archbishop of Zadar Vicko Zmajevic (the monastery was finished in 1748). On the Square of Nun Cika is the Archaeological Museum. The former Decumanus ends on the north-western coast in the Gate of St. Krsevan, which gained its final aspect in 1571 (inscription). Not far from the gate is the Romanesque church of St. Krsevan consecrated in 1175; it belonged to the male Benedictine monastery. The main apse has a decorative gallery on the outside, with articulated arches and small pilasters. In the side apses are the preserved fragments of the 13th-14th century frescoes. In front of the southern side of the church is an interesting small two-nave church of St. Peter the Old (by reconstruction of an early Christian structure), with the remains of wall paintings. Adjoining is the church of St. Marcella/Marcellina (formerly the church of St. Andrew), partly restored in the 18th century. Hrvoja Vukcica Hrvatinica Street runs by the market-place. A part of the monumental façade (from 1600) of the unfinished reconstructed church of St. Mary the Great faces the market-place. The façade from the transition period between the Gothic and the Renaissance has also been partly preserved, a work of Petar Brcic (1472-1478), as well as the chapel of St. Roch (Rocco) (1508). Continuing along Grisogonova Street, the path leads to the former eastern edge of the Venetian walls. Here is the small Romanesque-style Grisogono Vovo palace, adapted in the late Gothic style. Nearby is Petar Zoranic Square with the remains of a Roman triumphal arch from the time of Emperor Trajan; in the 18th century one of the columns of the ancient temple on the Forum was erected on the square. Next to the square is the slightly elevated Trg Pet Bunara (Square of Five Wells). At the time of the Ottoman raids, a large water tank was built here from which water could be drawn from five openings. On the northern side of the Square of Five Wells is the pentagonal Bablja Kula (Old Woman's Tower) with the remains of the mediaeval town walls. On the northern side of Petar Zoranic Square and on the western side of Poljana Simuna Budinica is the monumental palace, which once housed the governor's office. The palace was built and rebuilt in the 17th-19th century. In front of the palace is the church of St. Simon, which was built onto the early Christian church of St. Stephen; the architecture has Gothic, Renaissance and, prevalently, Baroque elements. In 1632, the relics and the sarcophagus of St. Simon (from the 13th c.) were brought here from the church of St. Mary the Great. The church treasures the silver ark of St. Simon (weighing about 250 kg), commissioned by Jelisava, the wife of the Hungarian-Croatian king Lodovic I. The ark was made in 1380 by Francis from Milan. It is adorned with reliefs representing the legend of St. Simon and the entry of King Lodovic into Zadar. In Andrije Medulica Street, in the building which housed the governor's office, are the Art Gallery, the Museum of Natural Sciences and the City Library. Opposite to it is the former armoury (Palace of the Great Captain) from which the path leads to the south-east, to Kopnena Vrata (Land Gate) from the Renaissance period. The Gate was erected in 1543, according to the designs of Michele Sammicheli, in the shape of a triumphal arch with three entrances. On the other side of Kopnena Vrata was the Citadel (Citadela), the fortress from the 16th century, which defended the town from the land side (traces in Perivoj Kraljice Jelene). Along the Fosa leads a paved path by the monumental town walls, and ends on Obala Kralja Petra Kresimira IV, which is a park-promenade, about 1 km long, along the western side of the peninsula. Two large buildings of the former Institute of St. Dimitri today house the Historical Archives (founded in 1624), the Faculty of Arts and the Institute of the Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences (HAZU). Ruder Boskovic Street leads to Spiro Brusina Street in which the Dominican monastery is located, as well as the -Gothic church of St. Dominic, built in 1280, reconstructed and converted into military barracks in 1807. Opposite of this complex is the Nassi Palace (the portal and the window frames were made in Gothic style). On the corner of Klaiceva Street is the monastery of Glagolitic Franciscans with the church of St. Michael. The church was built in 1389, partly according to the designs of Andrija Desin from Zadar. On the portal is the relief of St. Michael between St. Anastasia and St. Krsevan (14th c.). The church features a painted Romanesque crucifix from the 12th century. Klaiceva Street ends in the Narodni Trg (People's Square), the centre of public life in Zadar from the Renaissance until today. On the northern side of the Square is the Town Guard Loggia from 1562; the bell tower was erected at the beginning of the 20th century. The building houses the Ethnographic Museum. Next to it is the small, well preserved pre-Romanesque church of St. Lawrence with an atrium. On the southern side of the People's Square is the Municipal Loggia, first mentioned in the 13th century; it was rebuilt in 1565, similar in aspect to some other works of M. Sammicheli, and it was restored after being heavily damaged in the Second World War. Through Nova Vrata (New Gate) (built in the town walls in the second half of the 19th century) the path leads to Obala Kralja Tomislava, which at this part of Stara Luka is connected by a bridge to the suburbs of Vostarnica and Brodarica (industrial and newer residential zones). This is the starting point of the roads to Nin, Diklo and to the Puntamika peninsula.

Organized tourism started in the 1950s.

Situated in the bay, Sukosan has a multitude of nice sand beaches. The town itself offers nice walks through the traditional narrow alleys. Due to its numerous restaurants and taverns, Sukosan is known as a place of wine and song.

Sukosan cherishes the old customs. They are linked to the feast of St. Kasijan, the patron saint of Sukosan (13th August). The Nights of Sukosan is another event offering entertainment. During the carnival season, "luzari", masques typical only of Sukosan, represent a special attraction.

Zlatna Luka Marina, in the vicinity of Sukosan, is one of the largest on the Adriatic. It has 1,200 berths in the sea for yachts of a length up to 5 m and a draught of 4 m, while the capacity on the ground includes 600 places, 200 of which under roof. There is a hotel in the Marina. Marina is open throughout the year.