November the 3rd, 2025 – The magnificent Roman Forum in glorious Zadar is actually the oldest in the entire eastern Adriatic, dating from the 1st century BC to the 3rd century AD.
As Putni kofer/Ivana Vasarevic writes, when he visited Zadar in 1964, Alfred Hitchcock, one of the greatest film directors of all time, declared that this city on the Croatian coast boasted the most beautiful sunsets in the world. He was right. You simply fall in love with Zadar at first sight, and its boundless history at each and every turn leaves you breathless. In addition to the Greeting to the Sun and the amazing Sea Organ, there’s also the Roman Forum in Zadar. The remains of this once magnificent square, which, as its name suggests, dates back to Roman times. It awaits you in front of the famous Church of St. Donatus and a very short distance from the coast, in the very heart of the city.
Zadar’s incredible Roman Forum was built from the 1st century BC to the 3rd century AD and is considered one of the oldest and most important landmarks in not only Zadar, but in Croatia as a whole. Its dimensions are 45 x 90 metres, which also makes it the largest forum in the nation. Not only is it larger than the one further up north in Pula, the one in Zadar is also the largest Roman forum on the entire eastern side of the Adriatic Sea.
It was founded by the first Roman emperor Augustus (his full name was Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus), as evidenced by stone inscriptions from the 3rd century. The Zadar Roman Forum was once enclosed on three sides by a portico with galleries on the first floor, below which were shops and craft shops.
Public life in Zadar took place precisely in the Roman Forum for a long time. There once was a market there, where Roman soldiers, religious people, officials, merchants and others all mingled and gathered… On the western side of the Forum there was also a temple dedicated to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. Today, only the stairs, pavement and two columns have been preserved from it, one of which still rather remarkably stands tall in its original place.
This structure was actually a pillar of shame. Back during the Middle Ages, it was used to punish criminals, as evidenced by the chains tied to it. The remains of sacrificial altars have also been found on the site of the former Capitol, and later the Church of St. Donatus and the Archbishop’s Palace were built on the foundations of the ancient Roman Forum.
The Zadar Roman Forum was modelled after the one just across the Adriatic in Rome, located at the intersection of today’s Kalelarga and Šimuna Kožićića Benja streets. If you want to visit it, you can do so completely free of charge. Such is the level of importance of Zadar’s ancient Roman past.
In the immediate vicinity of the Roman Forum is an incredibly interesting Archaeological Museum, which houses a model of this historical attraction from ancient times, so you can see what it actually looked like originally. However, the best view of the Roman Forum, and the entire sweeping panorama of Zadar, is definitely from the bell tower of the Cathedral of St. Anastasia.
Unfortunately, Zadar was hit by an extremely strong earthquake back during the 6th century which destroyed the buildings around the Roman Forum. As has already been mentioned, the beautiful Church of St. Donatus was built on its foundations in the 9th century, but the remains of the famous Roman Forum still remind us of the rich and more than impressive history of Zadar (or should we say Zara, as the Romans themselves called it) centuries later. In addition to being the ultimate tourist attraction, this place is also the very heart of many cultural events which take place in Zadar to this very day.
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