Roman meets modern

The historical capital of Dalmatia, Zadar is an engrossing hybrid of ancient and modern, with Roman pillars and medieval churches rubbing shoulders with modernist housing and contemporary art.

City centre

A largely pedestrianised city centre occupies a peninsula jutting westwards into the Adriatic. The peninsula is enclosed on two sides by walls and bastions built by the Venetians in the sixteenth century. Walkable sections of the City Walls on the northern side of the centre offer views of Zadar’s lively port; while bastions at the eastern end of town have been transformed into verdant and strollable park.

Roman Zadar

The city centre retains the lateral streets of the Roman epoch, with principal routes crossing over at the Forum, where a scattering of Roman remains stretch beside an attractively arranged Archeology Museum. As well as shedding light on Roman-era Zadar, the museum also introduces the culture of the Liburnians, the local pre-Roman inhabitants noted for their fetchingly asparagus-shaped tombstones.

Church of St Donat