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Zadar
File:Zadar (grb).gif

Coat of arms of Zadar
Location 44°6′51″N 15°13′40″E / 44.11417°N 15.22778°E / 44.11417; 15.22778
Mayor Dr. Živko Kolega (HDZ)
Surface (km²) ?
Population
(2001)		 72,718
Time zone (UTC) UTC+1 Central European Time


For other uses, see Zadar (disambiguation).

Zadar , also known by its Italian name Zara (Latin: Iadera), is a city in Croatia (Dalmatia), on the Adriatic Sea, with a population of 72,718 (2006). 93% of its citizens are ethnic Croats (2001 census).
It is the centre of modern Croatia's Zadar county and the wider northern Dalmatian region. Zadar is located 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 harbor, to the north-east of the town, is safe and spacious.
Zadar is the seat of a Roman Catholic archbishop.

Zadar is located in CroatiaZadarZadarclass=notpageimage| Position of Zadar in Croatia

History

Antiquity

In the 9th century BC Iadera 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 Iadera was a flourishing Roman colony; its name was subsequently changed to Diadora, and in Middle Age to Zara.

Middle Age

Upon the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the destruction of Salona in the early 7th century, Zara became the capital of the Byzantine theme (administrative unit) of Dalmatia, as well as the governor's headquarters. It maintained a large municipal autonomy throughout the Middle Ages. 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 925, King Tomislav (before, he was the Duke of Croatian Dalmatia) united Dalmatia and Pannonia to expand the Croatian kingdom. In the 10th, and especially in the 11th century, although it survived the migration of Slavs, in this time, for about 50 years, it was ruled by the Kingdom of Croatia.
In 998, the city sought Venetian protection; for the next four centuries it was under Venetian or Hungarian rule, changing hands repeatedly.
From 1105, when it recognized the rule of the first Hungarian king Coloman, Zara began to be involved in frequent wars with Venice.
Zara was a possession of the Republic of Venice between 1111 and 1154 and between 1160 and 1183.
In 1183 it rebelled, asking protection to the Pope and to Hungary, but it was come again under Venetian controlo in 1202, when it was sieged and conquered by the Crusaders , to pay the impressive debt they contracted with Venetians for the transport to Egypt, during the Fourth Crusade.
After a number of insurrections (1242-1243, 1320s, 1345-1346), Zara came under the rule of the Hungarian king Louis I (under the Peace Treaty of Zara in 1358). After the death of Louis, Zara recognized the rule of king Sigismund, and after him, that of Ladislas of Naples, who in 1409 sold Zara "his rights" on Dalmatia to Venice for 100,000 ducats.

Kopnena Vrata (Porta Terraferma).

Republic of Venice (1409-1797)

The Republic of Venice in 1560, with Dalmatia and Zara )

In the early 16th century the Ottoman Turks conquered its hinterland, the town became an important stronghold protecting Venetian trade in the Adriatic, as well as the administrative centre of the Venetian possessions in Dalmatia and a cultural centre. From 1726-1733 a part of its territory was settled by Catholic Albanian refugees. That Albanian settlement is called "Arbanasi".

Panoramic view of the city.

Napoleonic era

After the fall of Venice (1797) with the Treaty of Campo Formio, Zara come under Austrian rule. In 1806 it was annexed to the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, and in 1809 to the French ruled Illyrian Provinces. In 1813 all Dalmatia was reconquered and annexed by the Austrian Empire.

Zara and Dalmatia as a part of napoleonic Kingdom of Italy

During all this time, it remained the capital of Dalmatia.
During the Napoleonic era, the first Dalmatian newspaper (Il Regio Dalmata - Kraglski Dalmatin), was published in Zara (1806-1810). It was published in Italian and in the local slavic dialect (the Croatian language was standardized shortly later). It was the first time that a south slavic language was used for a newspaper, so that the "Kraglski Dalmatin" is today remembered as the first Croatian newspaper.

Austrian Empire (1815-1918): the age of nationalism

After 1815 the Kingdom of Dalmatia (including Ragusa) was annexed to the Austrian Empire. The peaceful coexistence between the two historical component of Dalmatia (Italian and Slavic), resisted for the first decades of the Austrian rules. Thus after the 1848, both the Italian and Slavic nationalism exploded. Having a large Italian maiority, the city was one of the main centers of the Italian cultural and national revival in Dalmatia. Its population in 1910 was 36.595 in the commune (including an Austrian garrison) and 14.056 in the town (mostly Italian, with 3.532 people of "Serbocroatian language").

Italy

In the november 1918 Zara was occupied by the Italian Army, like the most of the coastal Dalmatia, under the Treaty of London. Beeing city with a large Italian majoriti, it was annexed to Italy in 1920, under the Treaty of Rapallo (1920.)
The Italian Commune was quite different from the Austrian one; it included Zara and the localities of Borgo Erizzo (Arbanazi), Cerno (Cino), Boccagnazzo (Bokanjac), Puntamica (Puntamika) and the island Lagosta (Lastovo).
According to the (pre-fascist) census of 1921, this area included 18.623 people (Serbocroatians 2.538).
After the advent of the fascism many Croats left the city because of the policies of Italian government. It has been extimated that, during the time of Italian rule, a total 1600-1800 Yugoslavians left the area annexed by Italy. Their place were mainly taken by ethnic Italians, resettled from within Yugoslavian Dalmatia.

World War II

When the Axis powers attacked Yugoslavia in 1941, Italy, annexed part of Dalmatia, according the treaty of Rome. The city ceased to be an enclave and it became the center of a new Italian "provincia".
Nazi Germany occupied the city in 1943. Zara was bombed by the allied air forces, with heavy civilian casualties. The greater part of the city was destroyed many civilians escaped to Italy to avoid the bombs. In 1944 Tito's partisans entered in the town. In the following years nearly all the population left the city, and their place were mainly taken by Croats, resettled from inland. It became a part of Yugoslavia

.

File:Coat of Arms Zara.jpg
Coat of Arms of Zadar.

Recent history

Since World War II the city has developed as a strong economic and tourist center. During the Croatian War of Independence, the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) (under Serbian president Slobodan Milošević's control) along with Serb paramilitaries converged on the city and subjected it to artillery bombardment. Along with other Croatian towns in the area, Zadar was shelled for years, damaging buildings and homes as well as UNESCO protected buildings. Attacks in nearby cities and villages occurred, the most brutal being the Škabrnja massacre, where 86 people were murdered. Connections with the capital Zagreb were severed for over a year, the only link between the north and south of the country was via the island of Pag. The siege of the city lasted from 1991 until January of 1993 when Zadar and the surrounding area came under the control of Croatian forces in Operation Maslenica. Attacks on the city continued until the end of the war in 1995.

Main sights

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 medieval 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 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.

St. Donatus' Church, a pre-Romanesque church from the 9th century.
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"

Other architectual acivments:

  • 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 uniqe sea organ
  • The Great Arsenal
  • 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 Zadar is mentioned in 1396 and it was a part of the Dominican monastery. It closed in 1807.

Zadar was, along with 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 newspaper Il Regio Dalmata-Kraglski Dalmatin was published in Zadar. It was printed in Italian and Croatian; this last used for the first time in a newspaper.

File:Regio Dalmata.jpg
Il Regio Dalmata-Kraglski Dalmatin. Printed Printed in Italian and Croatian language.

In the second half of the 19th century, Zadar was a centre of the movement for the cultural and national revivals in Dalmatia (Italian and Croatian).

Today Zadar's cultural institutions include:

Economy

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:

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.

Science

In 1998, Zadar hosted the Central European Olympiad in Informatics (CEOI).

Sports

The local basketball club is KK Zadar, and the football club NK Zadar. The bowling club Kuglački klub Zadar is also very successful.

Twinning

Zadar maintains cultural, economic and educational ties with:

Famous people from Zadar

From the foundation to 1850

1800 - 1950

1950 - present days

See also

Sources

History about world

References

  1. http://www.dzs.hr/default.htm
  2. Austrian census of , According to the spoken language
  4. Olinto Mileta Mattiuz. "Popolazioni dell'Istria, Fiume, Zara e Dalmazia (1850-2002). Ipotesi di quantificazione demografica" Associazione Amici e Discendenti degli Esuli Giuliani Istriani Fiumani e Dalmati, 2005

External links


Gallery

  • St. Donat's Church and Roman Forum St. Donat's Church and Roman Forum
  • Roman Forum in Zadar Roman Forum in Zadar
  • St. Anastasia Cathedral/sv. Stošija in Zadar St. Anastasia Cathedral/sv. Stošija in Zadar
  • St. Mary's Church St. Mary's Church
  • St. Simeon's Church St. Simeon's Church
  • St. Simeon/sv. Šimun St. Simeon/sv. Šimun
  • Morska vrata/Porta marina Morska vrata/Porta marina
  • University of Zadar (1396) University of Zadar (1396)

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