Defensive System of Zadar

Zadar’s Defensive System shaped the edge of the historic peninsula and is best understood by walking along the ramparts, Land Gate and Foša harbour. Medieval walls were substantially reinforced in the sixteenth century as part of Venice’s defence of the eastern Adriatic. In 2017 UNESCO inscribed the Zadar component within the serial property “Venetian Works of Defence between the 16th and 17th Centuries”, together with fortifications in Italy, Croatia and Montenegro. Rather than a single fortress, the attraction is an urban defensive ensemble. Explore it as a route through the old town, paying attention to how walls, gates and bastions respond to the harbour and land approaches.