Zadar is both, an atmospheric time machine and an open-air museum. Here on display, you will find some of the most beautiful monuments of architecture and cultural heritage of the eastern Adriatic coast. Its city walls are the ancient guardians of this still vibrant historic museum in the open, end they were rightly added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
Attractions
Greeting to the Sun
The new symbol of Zadar is located in the Zadar port on the western point of Zadar Peninsula. The Greeting to the Sun is overlooking the Zadar Channel, the islands and the world-famous sunset. With this installation, Zadar has got a new tourist attraction.
Forum
The Forum in Zadar was built by the first Roman Emperor Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian, as witnessed by the stone inscriptions dating back to the 3rd century, when the construction finished. It was once enclosed by a portico with galleries on the first floor, and under the portico there used to be shops and stalls.
Church of St Donat
The Church of St Donat in Zadar has long been desacralized, meaning no liturgies are held here, and from the end of the 19th century until 1954 it housed the Zadar Archaeological Museum. As St Donat has exceptional acoustic characteristics, it has been the venue for Renaissance music festivals for decades.
Zadar Sphinx
The stories about the Zadar Sphinx, and the treasure buried under it, were the inspiration for numerous fantasies by generations of Zadar citizens.
Petar Zoranić Square
The Petar Zoranić Square in Zadar carries the name of the famous Renaissance poet and novelist. You can reach the Square coming from different directions; streets, alleys and squares. Today, the Petar Zoranić Square is a place of gathering, amusement, and the location for the biggest city happenings and events.
Five Wells Square
The Renaissance Five Wells Square in Zadar is encircled by the western Medieval wall and the Captain’s Tower that rises 26 metres, and by the supporting wall on the east with the entrance to the Queen Jelena Madije Park. You have not been to Zadar if you have not taken a picture here.