Zadar is the fifth largest city in Croatia and the second largest in Dalmatia; it has population of approximately 73,000 inhabitants.
City of Zadar is situated in the heart of the Adriatic, surrounded by exceptionally indented coast, islands and untouched nature. It is the seat of Zadar County and important transit center and remarkable tourist destination.

The archipelago around Zadar consists of 24 bigger and as 300 little islands and rocks, in surroundings there is five national parks: Plitvice, Paklenica, Kornati, Krka and Velebit; also there is three nature parks: Northern Velebit, Telascica and Vransko Lake; a very good reasons to add Zadar and its surroundings on the top of the Croatian tourist offer.

Zadar is one of the oldest cities in the region, and entire area of present day Zadar has been populated since prehistoric times. The town gained its urban character during the Roman time, It was created around the Roman forum, a city inside the walls and by some estimations it had probably around ten thousand citizens.
Following the fall of the Roman Empire the town was hit by an earthquake, which destroyed entire complexes of monumental Roman architecture. With coming of Christianity to this area, Zadar was a new religious center with a basilica and a baptistery built near old Roman forum as well as other sacral objects.

By the 10th century the Croatian state was formed inland, and Croatian settlers began to arrive occupying all city classes and important titles.

The 16th and 17th centuries were noted in Zadar for Ottoman attacks. Due to that the construction of a new system of castles and walls began. After the 40 years of construction Zadar became the biggest fortified town in Dalmatia, empowered by a system of castles, bastions and canals filled with seawater.

After the fall of Venice in 1797, Zadar come under the Austrian crown and once again became united with the rest of Croatia. By the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, Italian army occupied Zadar in 1918, Zadar and surrounding area became the Italian province.

By end of 1944, the Partisans seized the city, and Zadar was freed and united with the Croatia.

Today Zadar major industries include tourism, traffic, trade, agriculture, fishing and banking. It is a city with a rich Croatian national identity created in the present, full of achieves, museums and libraries, it is the keeper of literary and musical treasure, and it is the city with the oldest University among Croatians from 1396.

Cultural monuments

Due to its long history historical city centre of Zadar is full of valuable monuments, here under we will mention a few:

Church of Saint Donat
It is pre-Romanesque church from 9th century, the symbol of Zadar. It has extraordinary acoustic features and often used for musical performance.

Saint Anastasia Cathedral
The biggest cathedral in Dalmatia, part of early Christian basilica shaped in the 12th century, later was reconstructed and made longer. The bell tower was built in the 15th century.

Church of Saint Chrysogonus
A three-nave basilica, built in the Romanesque style, and named after Saint Chrysogonus a patron saint of Zadar. The interior is adorned by frescos in the Romanesque-Byzantine style.

Church and Monastery of Saint Mary
The church was constructed in 1091 in the early Romanesque style with beautiful bell tower. The church contains objects which date from the 8th century.

Church of Saint Simeon
First it was an old Christian three-nave basilica, after a Gothic style construction and later provincial baroque. On the main altar there is a great value silver chest of Saint Simeon from the year 1380.

Saint Francis Church and Franciscan Monastery
The church built in the Gothic style from 1283 wit some changes made in the 18th century. The sacristy of church is very important site for the Croatian history because it was place were the peace was made between the Croatian-Hungarian king Ludovik Anzuvinac and the Venetian Republic, by that act the Venetians gave up their pretensions to Dalmatia.

Museums & Galleries

Zadar Archaeological Museum
The museum was founded in 1832; it has been the second oldest museum in Croatia. There are more than 100,000 various items displayed in museum and coming from all cultural and historical periods of region.

Museum of Ancient Glass
It is museum which holds the replicas of ancient glass handmade in last traditional workshop in Croatia. The main exhibition includes glass from the early Roman period. 

Attraction

The Roman Forum
It is situated in front of the church of Saint Donat and the Archbishop's Palace. It is a municipal square from the Roman time, built from the 1st century BC to the 3rd century, and is one of the most important among the Adriatic ancient cities.

Riva
Promenade area best known as the Riva, place to walk around and enjoy, it is a first class town promenade with a view of the Zadar Channel, the islands and the open sea.

Sea Organ
Sea Organ is situated on Riva, which consists of several stairs that descend into the sea. It is something absolutely unique, the world’s first pipe organ that’s played by the sea.

The Greeting to the Sun
Other unique creation next to the famous Sea Organs is the Greeting to the Sun made by the same architect, Nikola Basic.
It consists of glass plates placed on the same level with the stone paved waterfront in the circle. Under the glass conduction plates there are photo-voltage solar modules through which symbolic communication with nature is made, with the aim to communicate with light, just like the Sea Organs do with sound.