Zadar's History

Archaeological finds show that Zadar has been inhabited since the 9th century BC. From the 4th century BC what was then Jadera was a strong Liburnian maritime center with good trading links with Greece, both with the metropolises and with Greek colonies on Sicily.

Of all Illyrian settlements on the eastern Adriatic coast, Zadar was the first to be attacked by the Romans. At first the Liburnians & Romans were allies in the struggle against the southern Delmats, but in the 2nd century BC the Romans conquered the Liburnians. The Romans settled in Zadar and introduced the street layout, which is still apparent. The city was surrounded by walls and had three gates. It also had a forum, a capitol and an amphitheater, thermal baths and sewers. Under the reign of Emperor Trajan a 35-kilometer-long aqueduct was built bringing water from the Vrana Lake. Good roads linked the city with the interior and other Roman towns. There are few material remains of the early Christians in Zadar. The Roman period ended with a mystery. In the 6th century Zadar must have suffered some kind of great catastrophe, since the city that the Avars and the Slavs found in the early years of the 7th century, was on a level one meter higher than the Roman city.

From 1105, when it recognized the rule of the first Hungarian-Croatian King Koloman, Zadar began to be involved in frequent wars with Venice. In 1117, Pope Alexander III visited Zadar. A document from that time noted that the inhabitants of Zadar greeted the Pope singing songs "in their Slavonic language." In 1202, the Venetians with the help of the Crusaders conquered Zadar.

Zadar is the only place on the Adriatic that resisted the Avars and was not destroyed by them. For this reason, after the division of the Empire, it became the seat of the Emperor's representative and took on the role of the leading city on the Adriatic coast. However, because of its distance from the capital (Constantinople) Byzantine rule was formal and the influence of the newly arrived Slavic element became stronger.


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