Trogir

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The Croatian coast has thousands of islands to explore and boats are the way to get from one place to another. Water taxis, ferries, and small shuttles are available all along the waterfront. We decided to spend a day over in the nearby town of Trogir.

While modern Trogir has grown and expanded into the surrounding countryside, there is a high concentration of palaces, churches, and towers, as well as a fortress on a small island. All of the various buildings have been influenced by the Greeks, Romans and Italians at various points in time With a history of a few thousand years, it’s easy to have many different rulers here, war and conquest being what it is. No building is “pure” one thing or another since every conqueror left his mark. The churches are generally in a Romanesque style, with lots of semicircular archways and great towers. Other buildings in the area are more Baroque with ornate stately columns and statues. As in Split, all can be found side by side and encroaching upon each other.

At the far end of the island is a castle called Kamerlengo. It was built by the Venicians back in the 15^th century sometime. Now it is used as a location for summer festivities. Out in the back are bleachers looking over the field and on the side is a bungee jump. Indeed things have changed.

The Cathedral of St. Lawrence is probably the most outstanding landmark on the island. It dominates one of the squares and is the largest landmark you can see as you enter from the waterways. Everywhere you look there are statues, small and large, ornate and plain, built, of course, over many lifetimes of the cathedral and architectural styles.