Greeting to the Sun

Greeting to the Sun (Pozdrav Suncu) is a circle of glass set into the stone paving at the tip of Zadar's Old Town peninsula, where the Riva meets open water. It is the work of the Zadar architect Nikola Bašić, who also designed the Sea Organ a few steps away, and the two pieces together turned a stretch of neglected waterfront into one of the best-loved public spaces on the Adriatic.

The installation is a disc about 22 metres across, made of roughly 300 layers of glass laid flat in the ground. Underneath are photovoltaic cells that collect sunlight all day. After dark the stored energy drives a programmed display of coloured lights that pulse and change in patterns, standing for the Sun and the planets of the solar system. The same energy supply also helps light the nearby promenade. By day the disc looks like a quiet, slightly reflective circle, and many people walk across it without noticing what it is.

The show is best from sunset onwards, and that timing is no accident. Alfred Hitchcock, who visited Zadar in the 1960s, is remembered for saying the city has the most beautiful sunset in the world, and locals and visitors gather on the stone steps beside the disc to test the claim. The Sea Organ, which plays gentle, random chords as waves push air through pipes under the steps, supplies the soundtrack, so the whole corner feels like one slow, shared event.

Nothing here needs a ticket or a plan. It is free and open at all hours, a few minutes' walk from the Old Town's main streets, and the paved promenade is flat and easy for children and wheelchairs. Come at dusk, bring a drink from one of the cafes along the Riva and watch the light go from gold to deep orange over the islands of Ugljan and Pašman, then see the disc glow beneath your feet.

It suits families, couples, photographers and anyone interested in public art that works with light and energy rather than against them. Combine it with a walk around the Old Town and a stop at the Sea Organ, and you have a classic Zadar evening without spending anything.