Zadar's old town
Zadar's old town fills a narrow peninsula on the northern Dalmatian coast. It has been continuously inhabited for about 3,000 years. The Romans made it a colony, Iader, in the 1st century BC, and the street grid they laid out still shapes the old town. Later layers include early medieval churches, Venetian walls and gates, and 20th-century rebuilding after heavy bombing in the Second World War.
The highlights covered here are close together. A walk from the forum to the Sea Organ takes about five minutes, so you can see them all in an afternoon and finish at the waterfront at sunset.
The Roman forum
The forum was the civic centre of Roman Iader. Built from the 1st century BC to the 3rd century AD, it is considered the largest Roman forum on the eastern side of the Adriatic. What survives today is an open paved area with column bases, fragments of the porticoes and the steps of a temple platform.
Look for the Pillar of Shame, a Roman column that stands on the forum. In the Middle Ages, wrongdoers were chained to it for public humiliation.
The forum is open public space, so you can walk across it at any time without a ticket. The Archaeological Museum on its northern side displays finds from Roman Iader and the surrounding region, giving context to the stones outside.
The Church of St Donatus
The round Church of St Donatus stands directly on the Roman forum paving, and is Zadar's best-known landmark. It was built between the late 8th and 9th centuries and named after Donatus, the bishop who is credited with building it. It is about 27 m tall, with a circular plan, three apses and an upper gallery.
The builders reused stone from Roman buildings. Parts of columns and inscribed blocks can be seen in the foundations, including a Roman altar. The church no longer holds services. It is usually open to visitors in season for a fee, and its acoustics make it a venue for an annual festival of medieval and Renaissance music.
The cathedral and its bell tower
Next to St Donatus is the Cathedral of St Anastasia, a Romanesque church from the 12th and 13th centuries with a richly decorated west front. Its free-standing bell tower can usually be climbed for a fee. From the top you can see across the peninsula's red roofs, the harbour and the islands of Ugljan and Pašman.
Nearby, the Gold and Silver of Zadar exhibition at the Benedictine convent of St Mary holds church treasures, and the Museum of Ancient Glass displays Roman glassware found in the region.
The Sea Organ
At the western tip of the peninsula, on the waterfront promenade (Riva), is the Sea Organ (Morske orgulje). It was designed by architect Nikola Bašić and opened in 2005. A series of wide marble steps leads down into the sea. Beneath them is a set of tubes and resonating chambers. As waves push air through the tubes, they produce changing, harmonic tones through openings in the top step. No two moments sound the same, and the sound is louder when the sea is rough.
The project shared the European Prize for Urban Public Space in 2006. It is free and always accessible. Sit on the steps and listen: it is one of the few attractions in Croatia that is as good at midnight as at noon.
The Monument to the Sun
A few steps away is the Monument to the Sun (Pozdrav Suncu, or Greeting to the Sun), also by Nikola Bašić, completed in 2008. It is a circle 22 m across, made of 300 glass plates set level with the stone paving. Beneath them are solar panels that generate electricity during the day, feeding it into the grid; the output is roughly equal to half the energy used by the waterfront's lighting and installations. After dark, the monument lights up in changing patterns. Around the main circle, smaller panels represent the planets of the solar system.
Timing your visit and other sights
- Sunset is the busiest and best time at the Sea Organ and the Monument to the Sun. The steps face west over the channel, and the lights come on soon after dark. Arrive early in summer to get a seat on the steps.
- Morning is better for the forum and the churches, before the midday heat.
- Out of season, the waterfront is much quieter, and the organ is often at its loudest in winter winds.
Other sights worth adding include the Land Gate, a 16th-century Venetian gate topped with the lion of St Mark; Five Wells Square, by the old walls; and Kalelarga, the main street. Zadar is also known for maraschino, a cherry liqueur made from the local Marasca cherry. Ferries and catamarans leave from the city harbour for Ugljan, Dugi Otok and the outer islands, and the Kornati archipelago can be visited on a day trip by boat.
