Zadar
Zadar (
Italian Zara,
Latin Iader or
Iadera) is a
city in
Croatia on the
Adriatic Sea, with a population of 82 000 (
2005). Absolute majority of its citizens are Croats with 92.77% (2001 census).
It is the centre of modern Croatia's
Zadar county and the wider northern
Dalmatian region. Zadar is geographically located at , opposite the islands of
Ugljan and
Pašman, from which it is separated by the narrow Zadar Strait.
The promontory on which the old city stands used to be separated from the mainland by a deep moat which has since become a landfill. The harbour, to the north-east of the town, is safe and spacious.
 |
Position of Zadar in Croatia |
In the
9th century BC Iader was settled by the
Liburnians, a tribe of
Illyrians. After
59 BC Iadera (also spelled Jadera) became a
Roman municipium, and in
48 BC a colony of Roman citizens. In the early days of the Roman empire Zadar was a flourishing Roman colony; its name Jadera was subsequently changed to Diadora. It maintained its municipal 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 998, it first sought Venetian protection; for the next four centuries it was formally under Venetian or Hungarian rule, changing hands repeatedly. In the
10th, and especially in the
11th century, although it survived the migration of
Slavs, the rulers of the town were the
Croats. From 1105, when it recognized the rule of the first
Hungarian-
Croatian king
Coloman, Zadar began to be involved in frequent wars with
Venice.
Zadar was under the
Republic of Venice between 1111 and 1154 and between 1160 and 1183. An annalist from the year
1177 noted that the joyous people of Zadar accompanying
Pope Alexander III on his way to the basilica sang songs of praise 'in their native Slavic language'. It was taken by the
Venetians and mainly French knights of the
Fourth Crusade in
1202. The
Crusaders had promised the Venetians a certain amount of money to pay for ships for transport to
Egypt, but when they could not pay, the Venetians diverted the Crusade to Zadar. King
Emeric of Hungary had declared that he would join the Crusade, and there was a controversy among the knights and clergy over whether or not a supposedly divine army could attack a fellow Christian. Nevertheless, Zadar was destroyed and taken, and
Pope Innocent III excommunicated everyone involved.
After several insurrections (1242-1243, 1320s, 1345-1346), Zadar came under the rule of the Hungarian-Croatian king
Louis I (under the Zadar Peace Treaty in 1358). After the death of Louis, 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 for 100,000 ducats.
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. From 1726-1733 one part of Zadar is settled by Catholic Albanian refugees.That Albanian settlement is called Arbanasi.
After the fall of Venice (1797) with the
Treaty of Campo Formio, Zadar came under
Austrian rule under which it remained until
1918, except for the period of
French rule (1805-1813), all this time remaining the capital of Dalmatia, under Austria being the meeting-place of the provincial diet. During the Napoleonic period, under French rule, the first
newspaper using the Croatian language, 'Il Regio Dalmata-Kraglski Dalmatin', was 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. Its population in 1900, of town and commune, was 32,506; including an Austrian garrison of 1330.
However, under the
Treaty of Rapallo, 1920, Zadar was ceded to
Italy.
Nazi Germany occupied the city in
World War II, as it was once one of the best-fortified cities in the world, and Zadar was bombed
72 times by the
air forces of
Britain and the
United States. Afterwards it was joined with Croatia (at the time in
Yugoslavia). Consequently, much of Zadar's Italian population left for Italy as refugees, among whom was
Ottavio Missoni, owner of the renowned fashion company
Missoni.
Since
World War II the city has developed as a strong economic and tourist centre. In 1991. the
Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) along with Serb paramilitaries converged on the city and it found itself as the subject of shelling. Connections with the capital
Zagreb were severed for over a year, the only link being via the island of
Pag. Zadar was once again damaged in the war, including its historical bastions and churches. The
siege of the city lasted until January
1993 when Zadar again came under the control of Croatian forces. Attacks on the city continued until the end of the war in Croatia in 1995.
Zadar has been a Roman Catholic diocese in Dalmatia since A.D. 381 and since 1146 an archdiocese. Its succession of bishops numbers over eighty without noteworthy interruption. Bishop Sabinianus is mentioned in the "Register" of
Gregory the Great. In one of his letters
pope John VIII names
St. Donatus as patron of Jadera. Archaeologists find in Zadar many traces of ecclesiastical sculpture with German characteristics dating from the migration of the Germanic tribes. Zadar was the capital of Byzantine Dalmatia, but the fact that an example of Carolingian architecture is found there shows that Zadar must once have belonged to the Franks and explains the visit of Bishop Donatus to Charlemagne in Dietenhofen.
Since Zadar belonged to Venice, the bishops of Grado had exercised patriarchal jurisdiction over it. In 1276 Patriarch Ægidius summoned Archbishop John with his suffragans to the
Council of Grado where they were, however, represented by deputies. Archbishop Nikolaus III of Zadar was present at the synod convened by Cardinal Guido of St. Cecilia at Padua in 1350. Twenty constitutions were published, chiefly against the civil life of the clergy and the power of the laity as used against the clergy and church property. Worthy of high respect was Ægidius of Viterbo who governed the archdiocese for two years. In the first session of the
Fifth Lateran Council he said: "Homines per sacra immutari fas est non sacra perhomines" (Man must be changed by what is holy, not what is holy by man). He had also the courage to address the following words to the warlike
Julius II, who sought to increase the possessions of the Church. "That the states of the Church number a few thousand more or less, matters not, but it does matter greatly that its members be pious and virtuous. The Church knows no weapons other than faith, virtue, and prayer." Archbishop Godeassi attended the Synod of Vienna in 1849. Peter Alexander Maupas was present at the
First Vatican Council.
The Archdiocese of Zadar had in the early 20th century 86,000 Catholics, 150 secular priests, 5 religious houses for men with 20 inmates, 4 religious houses for women with 23 inmates.
* Zadar is also the see of an Orthodox bishop.
Architecture
Zadar gained its
urban structure in Roman times; during the time of
Julius Caesar and Emperor
Augustus, the town was fortified and the
city walls with towers and gates were built. On the western side of the town were the
forum, the
basilica and the
temple, while outside the town were the
amphitheatre and
cemeteries. The
aqueduct which was supplying the town with water 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
16th century, Venice fortified the town with a new system of defensive walls on the side facing land. In the first half of the 16th century, architectural building in the
Renaissance style was continued. Defence trenches were built also (Foša), which were completely buried during the Italian occupation. In 1873 under rule
Austrian rule the ramparts of Zadar were converted from fortifications into elevated promenades commanding extensive views to seaward and to landward, wall lines thus being preserved ; of its four old gates one, the Porta Marina, incorporates the relics of a Roman arch, and another, the Porta di Terraferma, was designed in the 16th century by the Veronese artist Sanmichele. In the bombardments during the Second World War, entire blocks were destroyed, but some of the structures were preserved.
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St. Donatus' Church, a pre-Romanesque church from the 9th century |
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St. Mary's Church, located in the old city across St. Donatus' Church |
Most important landmarks:
* Roman Forum - the largest on the eastern side of the Adriatic, founded by the first Roman Emperor Augustus, to which two stone inscriptions about its completion dating from the 3rd century testify.
* Most of the Roman remains were used in the construction of the fortifications, but two squares are embellished with lofty marble columns; a Roman tower stands on the east side of the town; and some remains of a Roman aqueduct may be seen outside the ramparts.
The chief interest of Zadar lies in its churches.
* St. Donatus' Church - the monumental round building in the pre Romanesque style, traditionally but erroneously said to have been erected on the site of a temple of Juno, from the 9th century is the most important structure of its period preserved in Dalmatia; the massive dome of the
rotunda is surrounded by a vaulted gallery in two stories which also extends around the three
apses to the east. The church treasury contains some of the finest Dalmatian metal-work; notably the silver ark or reliquary of St Simeon (1380), and the pastoral staff of Bishop Valaresso (1460).
* St. Anastasia's Cathedral (Croatian:
Sv. Stošija), basilica in
Romanesque style built in the 12th to 13th century (high Romanesque style), the largest cathedral in Dalmatia.
*The churches of St. Chrysogonus and St. Simeon are also in the Romanesque style.
* St. Krševan's Church - monumental Romanesque church of very fine proportions and refined Romanesque ornaments.
* St. Elijah's Church (Croatian:
Sv. Ilija)
* St. Francis' Church, gothic styled church, site of the signing of the Zadar Peace Treaty 1358
* Five Wells Square
* St. Mary's Church which retains a fine Romanesque
campanile of 1105 belongs to a Benedictine Convent founded in 1066 by a noblewoman of Zadar by the name of Cika with The Permanent Ecclesiastical Art Exhibition "The Gold and Silver of Zadar"
* Citadel - built in
1409, southwest of the Land gate, it has remained the same to this day.
* The Land Gate - built according to a layout of the Venetian architect
Michele Sanmicheli in
1543* The
sea organ* The Great Arsenal [
2]
* Among the other chief buildings are (were?) the Loggia del Comune, rebuilt in 1565, and containing a public library; the old palace of the priors, now the governor's residence; and the episcopal palaces
Culture
The first university of Zara is mentioned in
1396 and it was a part of the
Benedictine monastery. It has been closed in
1807.
Zara was, besides
Dubrovnik, one of the centres of development of
Croatian literature.
The
15th and the 16th centuries were marked by important activities of Croatian writers writing in the national language:
Jerolim Vidolić,
Petar Zoranić (who wrote first Croatian
novel "Mountains"),
Brne Krnarutić,
Juraj Barakovic,
Šime Budinić.
During the French rule (
1806-
1810, the first Dalmatian
newspaperIl Regio Dalmata-Kraglski Dalmatin was published in Zara. It was printed in Italian and Hyllirian (Croatian); this last used for the first time in a newspaper.
|
Il Regio Dalmata-Kraglski Dalmatin. Printed Printed in Italian and "Hylliran language" |
.
In the second half of the 19th century, Zara was a centre of the movement for the cultural and national revivals in Dalmatia (Italian and Croatian).
Today Zadar's cultural institutions include:
* The Croatian Theatre House
* The National Museum
* The Archaeological Museum (established in
1830)
* The
University of Zadar (founded in
2003)
* The Maritime Museum
* Permanent Exhibition of Sacral Art
* Croatian Singing Musical Society Zoranić (established
1885)
*
Musical Evenings in St. Donatus [
3] (established
1961)
*
International Choir Competition (established
1997)
* Arsenal Zadar [
4]
Major industries include tourism, traffic, seaborne trade, agriculture, fishing and fish farming activities, metal manufacturing and mechanical engineering industry, chemicals and non-metal industry and banking. The headquarters of the following companies are located in Zadar:
*
Maraska (food industry)
*
Luxardo (the original Maraschino)
* Adria, Mardešić (fish production)
*
Tankerska plovidba Zadar (shipping company)
*
SAS (machine tools)
*
Aluflexpack*Arsenal Holdings [
5] (Tourism)
The farmland just northeast of Zadar,
Ravni Kotari, is a well known source of marasca
cherries. Distilleries in Zadar have produced
Maraschino since the
16th century.
In
1998, Zadar hosted the
Central European Olympiad in Informatics (CEOI).
The local basketball club is
KK Zadar, and the football club
NK Zadar.
Zadar maintains cultural, economic and educational ties with
Dundee,
Scotland.
*
Georg Ritter von Trapp - Austrian Navy officer and head of the Trapp family singers
*
Sasa Bjelanovic - Croatian international football player
*
Spiridion Brusina - scientist
*
Jason Culina- Australian football international (father from Zadar)
*
Krešimir Ćosić - member of the
Basketball Hall of Fame*
Joey Didulica- Croatian football international (father from Zadar)
*
Baron Giovanni De Ghetaldi military and diplomat (son of Baron Biagio de Ghetaldi)
*
Donatus - saint
*
Simeone Duca - mecena and priest
*
Pope John IV - born in Zadar
*
Goranko Fižulić - former Croatian economy minister
*
Giuseppe Giergia - basketball player and coach
*
Ante Gotovina - controversial
Croatian Army general
*
Mladen Grdović - singer
*
Zlatan Ibrahimovic- Swedish football international (mother from Zadar)
*
Queen Jelena - Croatian queen from 11th century
*
Božidar Kalmeta -
current Croatian Minister of Traffic and Tourism
*
Ive Livljanić - diplomat
*
Budimir Lončar - diplomat
*
Duško Lokin - singer
*
Korina Longin - top model
*
Teddy Lucic- Swedish football international ( father from Zadar )
*
Gianni Maršan - diplomat and composer
*
Ivica Maštruko - diplomat
*
Ottavio Missoni - Dalmatian-Italian, owner of the
Missoni fashion brand
*
Luka Modric- Croatian football international
*
Antun Nalis - actor
*
Dado Pršo - football star
*
Riva - pop band,
1989 Eurovision Song Contest winners
*
Joso Škara - former Croatian Labour and Healthcare Minister
*
Josip Skoblar - football player, 1974
Golden boot*
Joso Špralja - artist
*
Mark Viduka- Australian football international (father from Zadar)
*
David Zdrilic- Australian football international (father from Zadar)
*
Agim Çeku- Kosovo primeminister (lived in Zadar for long time period)
*
Ana Lovrin- Croatian minister of law, former mayor of Zadar
* the "Miroslav Krleža" Lexicographic Institute text about Zadar.
*
*
Zadar Tourist Board*
About Zadar County*
City of Zadar (Croatian)*
Zadar Airport*
City map with street index Zadar, tourist info - CroMaps navigator*
The University of Zadar*
Zadar City MapImage:Zadar_panorama.jpg|Panoramic view of ZadarImage:Zadar_Donat_Forum.jpg|St. Donat's Church and Roman ForumImage:Zadar-forum.jpg|St. Donat's ChurchImage:Zadar_Forum.jpg|Roman Forum in ZadarImage:Zadar_Sveta_Stosija.jpg|St. Anastasia Cathedral in ZadarImage:Zadar_SvMarija.jpg|St. Mary's ChurchImage:Zadar_SvSimun.jpg|St. Simeon's ChurchImage:Zadar_SvSimun_oltar.jpg|St. Simeon/Sv. ŠimeImage:Zadar_PortaMarina.jpg|Morska vrata/Porta marinaImage:Zadar_PortaTerraferma.jpg|Porta TerrafermaImage:Zadar_Sveuciliste.jpg|University of Zadar (1396)
