1106 City of Trogir |
Posted on 19.06.2014, 05.07.2014, 12.08.2017
Located on a small island between the Croatian mainland and the island of Čiovo, on the Adriatic coast, at 27km west of the city of Split, the historic city of Trogir is an excellent example of a medieval town built on and conforming with the layout of a Hellenistic and Roman city that has conserved its urban fabric to an exceptional degree. The ancient town of Tragurion (island of goats) was founded by Greek colonists from the island of Vis in the 3rd century BC. The Hellenistic town was enclosed by megalithic walls and its streets were laid out on a Hippodamian grid plan: the line of the ancient cardo maximus is that of the modern main street.
1126 Aerial view of the city of Trogir |
The town flourished in the Roman period as an oppidum civium romanorum; during the late Roman period it was extended and refortified. It was also endowed with two large aisled basilicas, sited where the latter-day Cathedral and Benedictine Church of St John the Baptist now stand. During the migration of Slavs, the citizens of the destroyed Salona escaped to Trogir. In the second half of the 9th century Trogir became part of the ByzantineTheme of Dalmatia, with its capital at Zadar, and it was occupied by Venice at the end of the 10th century.
3119 City of Trogir - Kamerlengo Castle |
Early medieval Trogir expanded to the south and new fortifications were constructed. At the beginning of the 12th century Trogir accepted Hungarian rule when the Theme of Dalmatia was overrun. There was a short period of Venetian rule in the early 14th century, but it was not until 1420 that the town became part of the Venetian empire. Between the 13th and 15th centuries much new building took place, this period seeing the construction of the Cathedral and the Camerlengo fortress, a radical remodelling of the main square, and two campaigns of reconstruction and strengthening of the fortifications.
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