We arrived in Zadar and went stern to at the Marina Zadar. After doing a few loads of laundry, we headed into the “Old Walled Town”. This town was majorly damaged during the war 1991-1995. They were under siege for three months and the population was forced underground to survive. To get from the marina to “old town” you have two options: The first is to walk around the marina and over the pedestrian bridge. (They have traffic cops at all intersections here in Croatia). The second (and our choice) was to go out to the end of the T-head dock and climb aboard the Red Row Boat. There is a gentleman, who for 5 Kunas ($1 USD), will take you across the harbor and voila…you are at Old Town. These boat rowers have been doing this for over 800 years and it was a lot more fun!
Zadar is famous for being the first to produce Maraschino Cherries. The famous liquor was first produced by 16th century monks and called “sun dew”. It is now produced in the Maraska factory near the marina.
The city walls have several entrances, the most famous being The Land Gate built by the Venetians in 1543 which was the main entrance into the city. It is a beautiful arch complete with the famous Lion, the mark of the Venetians.
Inside the walls are ruins of a Roman Forum discovered in the 1930’s but not restored until the 1960’s. There are pieces of columns that kids can climb all over and stones with inscriptions by Emperor Augustus from the 3rd century BC that one can sit and ponder the activity of this site in its prime. There was built on this site a Basilica church.
During the summer the city is a bustling place full of restaurants and nightclubs. UB40 was coming on July 30th to the Forum. John and I looked into it but we need to be in Dubrovnik then. Tickets are only 100 Kuna ($20 USD), When was the last time you went to a concert that only cost $20?
2 comments:
Was there still a lot of left over war damage? From the photos it doesn't seem so.
No, they have restored most of it already. Very resilient people for sure!
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