478 SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp502–505 and pp506–507
port. The centre of public
life is the People’s Square –
a busi ness district and the
site of political debate, it has
been the heart of the town
since medieval times. Further
away is Green Square (Zeleni
trg), where the main square
of the ancient Roman city of
Jadera once stood. Little
remains of the Forum that
once stood here since much
of the ori ginal stone from the
Forum found its way into the
adja cent 9th-century Church
of St Donat named after its
foun- der Bishop Donat. One
of the finest exam ples of
Byzantine arch itecture, it has
a circular groundplan and a
women’s gallery. It has not
been used as a church since
1797, but concerts are often
held here.
The superb Romanesque
Cathedral of St Anastasia
is another attraction of the
Forum. The interior con tains
fine Venetian carv ings in the
15th-century wood en choir
stalls. Beneath the cibo rium
lies the sarcophagus of St
Anastasia, dating from the
9th century. The bell tower
that stands to one side of the
cathe dral, was com pleted in
the 19th century by archi tect
Thomas G Jackson. Housed
in a building near the Forum
is the Archaelogical Museum.
The museum’s collec-
tions date fromImposing exterior of the Church
of St Donat, Zadar0 km0 miles55KEY
Ferry terminal
Beach with facilities
ViewpointTrail
Park boundary
Kornati National
Park w
Nacionalni Park Kornati
340 km (213 miles) NW of
Dubrovnik. g from Biograd, Murter,
Primošten, Rogoznica, Vodice, Zadar.
n Butina 2, (022) 435 740. &
http://www.kornati.hr
The Zadar Archipelago is made
up of more than 300 islands
surrounded by crystal-clear
waters. In 1980, the south ern
part of the archipelago was
designated as Kornati National
Park. It is 36 km (22 miles)
long and 6 km (4 miles) wide
and is made up of 89 islands
of white stone, which about
20,000 years ago were the
peaks of a mountain chain.
These include Kornat (for
which the National Park is
named), Piškera, Lavsa,
Mana, Katina and the
Aerial view of the spectacular
islands of Kornati National Park
southern part of Dugi Otok,
along with dozens of rocky
outcrops. Nearly all are unin-
habited and have little or no
vegetation. Today, they belong
to the people of the small
island of Murter, who bought
these islands around the end
of the 19th century for grazing
sheep. The park was set up to
protect the waters, to allow
marine life to flourish and to
stop people from building on
the islands. With around 350
plant and 300 animal species,
it is a popular destination with
scuba divers and sailors. To
conserve this diversity, fishing
is prohibited in the park’s
waters. The best way to visit
it is by a sailing boat, and
there are also organized day-
trips from Zadar and
Murter, Biograd, Vodice,
Primošten and Rogoznica.Zadar e
360 km (225 miles) NW of
Dubrovnik. * 73,000. k £ from
Zagreb. @ from Rijeka, Split, Zagreb.
4 Jadrolinija. n City Mihe Klaica 5,
(023) 316 166. Regional sv Leopolda
Mandića 1, (023) 315 316, 315 107.
_ Musical evenings at St Donat
(Jul & Aug), Summer Theatre.
http://www.tzzadar.hrSet on a narrow peninsula
on the Adriatic coast, Zadar’s
present layout dates back to
Roman rule when it became
an important municipium,
and a port for the trading of
timber and wine. It later
enjoyed a spell of prosperity
under Venetian rule, when
many of its churches and
palaces were built. Today, its
proximity to the Zadar
Archipelago has turned it
Katina into a major ferry
SvršataLavsaPiškeraManaSmokvicaKurba VelaDugi Otok
KornatSaliVruljeLučicaMala^ Prove
rsa^
TelašćicaK
O
R
N
A
TI(^)
N
A
T
IO
N
A
L
(^) P
A
R
K
J