UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Croatia

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have included the following sites in its World Heritage List:

*  Historical Complex of Split and the  Palace of  Diocletian

 The palace occupies the eastern half of the old town, and has had many additions since its Roman origins. The building of the palace began in 295AD and took 10 years to complete. 

 It was built for the Roman Emperor Diocletian as a “retirement home”, although he did hold court here and maintain a garrison.

The palace measured 200m by 240m, with 25m high walls, 2m thick. At each corner there was a fortified keep and four towers along the walls.

The palace has almost continually been lived in since it was built in Roman times and today it has been transformed into a maze of houses, shops and churches.  

*  The  Old  City of Dubrovnik

 Almost 2km in length the city walls are some of the best preserved in Europe.  The defences were built between the 8^th and 16^th century and the fact that on the landward side they are 6m thick in places shows that most of the attacks came from the mountains.  The walls were strengthened by towers and bastions.

 A walk around the walls is the perfect place to look down onto the warren of houses and churches of the old town.

The Dominican Monastery, built in the 14^th century, played an important part in the city’s defences being at a strategic corner of the old town and houses an important library and art collection.

Just inside the Pile Gate is the Great Onofrio Fountain – a huge central dome with 16 water taps. Steps and a ledge around the water trough give access to the water which is the end of the river the source of which is 12km away.

The Cathedral with its dome appearing in the skyline, and at the far end of the Stradun, the main street with its shining flagstones lined with shops is the 

City  Bell  Tower. The bell is in the form of two figures poised to strike with hammers; their green colour is the result of the copper content.

The Church of St Blaise sitting on the Stradun with its stained glass windows is the backdrop for many of the important events in the old town – including the Dubrovnik Summer Festival and New Year’s Eve celebrations.

 *  Plitvice  Lakes  National Park

The Euphrasian Basilica (Eufrazijeva bazilika in Croatian is a major basilica in Poreč.  A UNESCO World Heritage site since 1997. The complex, includes, apart the basilica itself, a sacristy, a baptistery and the bell tower of the nearby archbishop's palace. It is one of the best examples of early Byzantine Art in the region.

The basilica, entitled to the Virgin Mary, was built in the 6th Century during the period of Bishop Euphrasius. It was built from 553 over the site of an older basilica, which had a nave and two aisles, and dated back to the 4th Century This earlier basilica was dedicated to Saint Maurus.

The basilica is part of a complex with a 6th-century octagonal baptistery, an adjacent 16th-century bell tower, a colonnaded atrium with tombstone slabs and archaeological medieval finds, an episcopal 6th-century residence and a votive chapel.

The two aisles are separated from the nave by 18 elegant Greek marble colonnades with richly sculpted Byzantine and Romanesque capitals, decorated with depictions of animals. They all carry the monogram of Saint Euphrasius.

The most striking feature of the basilica are its mosaic, dating from the 6th century, and which are considered amongst the finest examples of Byzantine art in the world 

The mosaics over the apse represent Christ with the Apostles, with Bishop Euphrasius in the middle holding the model of the church; also local saints are depicted, including St. Maurus, the first bishop of Poreč and the Istrian diocese.

The inner part of the triumphal arch are instead medallions with portraits of female martyrs. The central mosaics represent instead the Annunciation and the Visitation.

*  Historic City of Trogir

 The old city of Trogir was built on an oval-shaped island between the mainland and Ciovo accessed by a bridge.

 The city is approached through a simple arch topped with a statue of St John of Trogir.

The museum houses a giant wooden cockerel which was once the figurehead of a 16^th century ship captured by the sailors of Trogir.

The main street leads to a square surrounded by old buildings dominated by the Cathedral.

The  Cipiko  Palace  is opposite the Cathedral, a 15^th century mansion which was once home to Trogirs nobility but now houses the tourist agency. On the other side of the square is the Town Loggia with its classical columns and clock tower.  Just off the square is the  Church  of  St John  the Baptist – a 13^th century building which is host to some of the sacred art from the churches of Trogir and the Convent of St Nicholas. The Town Gate leads onto a seafront promenade with the remains of the medieval town walls.

*  The Cathedral of St James in Sibenik

Set in the heart of the town of Sibenik on the Dalmatian coast, is St Jacob’s Cathedral.

 Plans for the building were drawn up in 1402, but with the advent of war work was delayed until 1431 when the lower storey was erected. Ten years later, a new architect was appointed, but the next three decades were fraught with disasters – two plagues, one fire and lack of cash!

By 1473, when the architect died, the building was still below roof height, but was

eventually completed  being a mixture of Venetian Gothic and Florentine Renaissance. The roof of the  Cathedral is an unusual barrel shape and a frieze of 71 stone heads runs round the outside which is said to represent all those who refused to help with the cost of building!