The 273km drive from Rijeka to Zadar was jaw-dropping. The road hugged the coast with soaring peaks of white rock with green spotted bush on one side and bare flat treeless caramel and white dirt islands on the other. Quite unique to the Dalmatian coast. Apparently these bare islands were once covered in pines and the Romans cut them all down to keep Venice from sinking !!! We took a detour to the top of a 1350m (4430ft) mountain straight up from the coast about half-way called the Alan Velebit lookout – terrific place to see all the treeless islands lying between Rijeka and Zadar. Paris clutched the sides of the car handle so hard he left his nail prints in it
Zadar (Pop 75,082) is known for the Roman and Venetian ruins of its peninsular Old Town. There are several Venetian gates in the city walls. Surrounding the Roman-era Forum is 11th-century St. Mary’s Convent, with religious art dating to the 8th century. There’s also the grand, 12th-century St. Anastasia’s Cathedral and the round, 9th-century pre-Romanesque Church of St. Donatus.
Zadar was founded in 48BC by the Romans and has been occupied and bombed by just about every European Empire coming under Croatian Yugoslavia as late as 1947.
Zadar is a tourist magnet because of its Old Town (UNESCO protected) and almost triples in population in the summer months because of tourists. This means that most locals here make their living from tourism with the rest engaged in shipping and a variety of engineering and agricultural pursuits.
To me, the Old Town was once again part of that familiar theme of a very old and antiquated place slowly being consumed by more modern, uglier buildings as a result of past sackings and bombings and more recent revamps to accommodate tourists. The Old City also claims the tastiest ice cream in Croatia – a place called DONAT opposite the Cathedral of St Anastasia. I attended a physio before visiting the Old Town and the tip came from him – Paris and I can confirm that this ice cream was absolutely dizzying delicious !!! The locals confirmed for us that the best time to visit Zadar Old Town and offshore islands is indeed early June since tourist numbers are manageable and the water is ready for swimming.
Zadar was also the place where Paris and I indulged in our first Croatian “Grill”, feasting on charcoal spit pork with Croatian Salad (finely chopped tomatoes, cucumber, capsicum, olives, soft white cheese) and pan seared veggies in olive oil. There are “grills” on most street corners and people just rock up after work to pick up their treat and take it home. Delicious.
Enjoy the trip to Zadar and the Old Town of Zadar…
ZADAR OLD TOWN:
RIJEKA TO ZADAR:
ZADAR OLD TOWN:
ALAN VELEBIT LOOKOUT:
ZADAR OLD TOWN:
PARIS IN FRONT OF MODERN ZADAR CBD:
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