Trogir

West of Split on the Adriatic Coast lays the historic Croatian harbour town of Trogir, renowned for its fortified walls and stunning Romanesque, Renaissance and Baroque architecture. The town was conferred UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 1997 as it is, in UNESCO’s own words, ‘a remarkable example of urban continuity’.

Trogir history

Trogir was founded by Greek colonists in the 3rd century BC as Tragurion (‘tragos’ is Greek for ‘male goat’) and boasts 2,300 years of continuous urban tradition in its narrow, maze-like streets. Over the last two millennia, it has been ruled and populated by the Greeks, Romans, the Byzantines, Venetians, the Hapsburg Empire, the French, the Yugoslavs and finally today, the modern-day Croatians.

In particular, the Republic of Venice ruled over Trogir after 1420 for nearly 400 years. During this period the island city had one of the richest economies in the Blakans and was adorned with Renaissance art and architecture. It was also during this time that Trogir’s ancient past was rediscovered, when in 1650 a manuscript of Satyricon by the Roman author Petronius was discovered.

Trogir today

For such a small island (wedged between the mainland and the larger island of Ciovo), there is a very high concentration of churches, palaces, fortresses and towers and one advantage of successive and eclectic rule is the architecture that each group left behind. You’ll find some stunning examples of grand Romanesque, Renaissance and Baroque buildings, both public and domestic.

Trogir is a beautifully picturesque harbour town with a beautiful seafront promenade that relies on tourism as one of its primary income sources and as such, there’s a proliferation of hotels and apartments, bars, cafés, restaurants and everything you could need for a few days here.

Trogir is also one of the most famous Game of Thrones filming locations, being the site of the mythical city of Qarth, brimming with wealth and stunning architecture.

Getting to Trogir

There are two main ways of reaching Trogir: Bura Line has a small boat between the Split 4-6 times a day during the summer; a car ferry travels 3 times daily between Trogir and Drvenik Veli (which takes around an hour). Otherwise you can get the intercity bus on the mainland near the bridge to Trogir and includes links to Zagreb or Dubrovnik.