Trogir Architecture

The main square in Trogir is John Paul II Square (Trg Ivana Pavla II). There are many historically significant buildings located around the square.

aka Trogir Cathedral aka Cathedral of St. John of Trogir

The church took five centuries to build. The first floor is Gothic, the second floor is Venetian floral Gothic, and the third is Renaissance style.

• Architect: Masters Stjepan and Matej
• Style: Romanesque, Gothic (vault), Mannerism (bell tower)
• Built: started 1213; mostly completed 1251; finally completed 1589
• Address: Trg Ivana Pavla II, 21220, Trogir, Croatia

The Cathedral’s construction began in 1213 on the foundations of an early Christian cathedral that the Saracens destroyed in 1123. The Cathedral was primarily completed by 1251. The first floor is Gothic and was built by Masters Stejpan and Matej (after the Venetians demolished it in 1420, it was restored by Matija Gojković). The church’s second floor is Gothic and was probably the work of Venetian masters.

Construction ended in 1589 with the completion of the last floor of the bell tower in the Mannerism style of the architect Trifun Bokanič. The fourth pyramidal end of the bell tower is decorated with four mannerist sculptures by the Venetian sculptor Alessandro Vittorio.

Radovan’s portal is the main entrance of the Cathedral. Master Radovan carved it in 1240 and signed it, although it was completed only in the 14th century. It is the most monumental work of the Romanesque-Gothic style in Croatia.

The portal includes the First Sin (Adam and Eve) and Birth of Christ, the Christological cycle, individual saints and apostles, depiction of months, and stylistically summarizes different traditions from southern Italian to French.

In 1460, Andrija Aleša received the task of adding the baptistery to the Cathedral. At the same time the construction of the baptistery began, Aleši was also working on remodeling the cathedral sacristy. The construction of the baptistery lasted until 1467. In 1468, Andrija Aleši and Nicholas Florentine signed a contract to build the chapel of St. John of Trogir.

The Chapel of St. John was renovated in 2002 under the leadership of the American foundation Venetian Heritage Incorporation and its leader Lawrence Lovett. After April 2010, the restoration of the southern portal by Petar Pozdanić was completed (together with the prince’s Baroque door, above which there is an inscription of Bishop Preguan dating the construction of the Cathedral in 1213).

Ayuntamiento Trogir aka the Rector's Palace

• Style: Gothic (staircase)
• Built: early 15th century; restored 20th century
• Address: Trg Ivana Pavla II, 21220, Trogir, Croatia

The City Hall (the Rector’s Palace) was the residence of the ‘Duke’ when the city was under Venetian rule. It was the expression of the political and economic strength of the city in the first half of the 15th century.

Its present appearance comes from the end of the 20th century when it was partly restored. The large courtyard with a monumental Gothic staircase and a decorated well-head is entered through a small entrance porch.

 aka City Clock Tower

• Built: 1447 or 1476 (conflicting information)
• Address: Trg Ivana Pavla II 2, 21220, Trogir, Croatia

The church is no longer used for services but still houses the stone sarcophagi and photos of locals killed in the 1990s war. It's topped by a large, blue-faced Renaissance clock.

aka Trogir Lodge

• Architect: Niccolò di Giovanni Fiorentino (reconstruction)
• Style: Renaissance
• Built: 13th century; 1471 (reconstructed)
• Address: Trg Ivana Pavla II 7, 21220, Trogir, Croatia

The Loggia was the courtroom in Trogir. In 1471 the Loggia was restructured by Niccolò di Giovanni Fiorentino on the eastern wall of which he had three niches containing a Lion of San Marco, San Lorenzo, and San Giovanni da Traù, both patron saints of Trogir. This sculptural triptych was a tribute to the Republic of Venice.

The historic Lion of Mark was destroyed by a bomb attack perpetrated by Sokol in 1932. A knight representing Petar Berislavić, Ban of Croatia from 1513 to 1520, made by sculptor Ivan Meštrović was carved along its southern wall. The Loggia was restored in 1892.

• Architect: Nikola Firentinac, Andrija Alešija, and Ivan Duknović
• Style: Gothic
• Built: 1457
• Address: Radovanov trg 10, 21220, Trogir, Croatia

The Great Cipiko Palace is a complex of Romanesque buildings located in the center of Old Town. It is believed to have been constructed around 1457 and has been rebuilt several times. In 1474, a Renaissance courtyard with galleries was added by Nikola Florentinec.

Later, around 1600, the palace underwent a late Renaissance reconstruction attributed to the Bokanić workshop. The main entrance facade on the east features a Renaissance portal designed by Ivan Duknović, while the portal on the southern facade is the work of Florentinac.

aka Museum of Sacral Art aka the Parish Mansion with a garden in Trogir

• Address: Square Ivan Pavla II. 5

The Parish mansion with a garden was created in the 18th century. The complex is located south of the main town square. It has two wings and is L-shaped in plan. The late Baroque three-story stone building was added in the 19th century, and an unknown Gothic coat of arms is preserved above the entrance of the eastern facade. A Gothic door with a stick has been preserved on the ground floor.

On the external facades, there are five window axes with profiled lintels. In the northern part of the eastern wing is the lobby of the Sacred Art Collection, located on the first floor. In the courtyard, next to the remains of the pre-Romanesque church of St. Marije, stone fragments found during archaeological research are on display. The Renaissance portal of the church of St. Duha is on the ground floor.

Crkva sv. Ivana Krstitelja u Trogiru

• Style: Romanesque
• Built: end of 12th and beginning of 13th century
• Address: 21220, Trogir, Croatia

Church of St. John the Baptist in Trogir is located in the eastern part of the historic core. The Romanesque church was built at the end of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th century on the site of an early Christian building within the Benedictine Monastery. It is a one-nave elongated building with a rectangular apse and a pentagonal apse placed on the north side of the sanctuary. It was built with regular stonework and covered with a two-gable roof made of corrugated iron.

The main portal has a profiled stone frame with octagonal columns and a lunette with an oculus which has a sculpture of the Lamb of God. On the southern facade is the coat of arms of the Cipiko family and the figure of a Benedictine. The reconstruction of the roof was completed in the 1930s.

• Architect: Tripun Bokanić (bell tower)
• Style: Romanesque and Gothic
• Built: founded 1065; 15th century (church)
• Address: Obala bana Berislavića 10, 21220, Trogir, Croatia

The Church and Monastery of St. Nicholas in Trogir were founded in 1064. Later they were expanded to include several Romanesque-Gothic houses, the Romanesque tower of St. Nicholas and the Gothic Vitturi tower.

Today’s church is from the 15th century, and under its pavement is the early medieval church of St. Dujma. The newer church has a single nave, a rectangular floor plan with a rectangular apse. The bell tower above the sacristy is attributed to the workshop of Tripun Bokanić, which operated in Trogir at the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century.

In the middle of the main facade is a Renaissance window, and below is a relief of Nicholas the Florentine. The interior of the church was decorated in the 18th century. Stucco paintings by Giuseppe Montiventi and baroque marble altars by Nicola Grassi.

Today, only three Benedictine sisters live in the monastery.

The Monastery of St. Nicholas

At its founding, the monastery consisted primarily of two buildings: the church (of the then) blessed Domnius and a single house alongside it. But as time passed, the monastery gradually developed in an architectural and a spatial sense. After renovating the city walls in the fourteenth century, the monastic church was also reconstructed.

Over the centuries, the complex took in the Cega Palace, the Vitturi Palace, and later the tower of the same family. These expansions were mostly thanks to donations of wealthy patrician families whose daughters entered the monastery but were also bought by the monastery’s ruling body.

A bell tower was built in the central atrium of the monastery at the end of the 16th century. The buildings around the atrium are Romanesque and Gothic in style.

The Church of St. Nicholas

The Church of St. Nicholas has shared the fate of the monastery it abuts. It has changed its name, expanded, and been open to the residents and congregation of the area. It acquired its final appearance as a single-nave Baroque church with stuccowork in the eighteenth century. At the same time, the choir was built, and by opening up the semicircular windows and the large window over the choir, the church was filled with light. The nave has two marble altars – the northern altar, dedicated to St Benedict, and the southern Altar of the Immaculate Conception.

Crkva i samostan sv. Dominik

• Built: 1425
• Address: Obala bana Berislavića 17, 21220, Trogir, Croatia

The Monastery and Church of Saint Dominic was founded in 1265. It got its present appearance in the first half of the 15th century. This is evidenced by a stone tablet placed on the eastern wall of the monastery cloister, on which it is written that the monastery complex was built in 1425 with the help of the fifth Duke of Trogir, Jakov di Giorgio from Venice. It has been upgraded and adapted several times depending on needs and opportunities.

On February 22, 1944, during the bombing of English planes, the monastery was significantly damaged. The north wing of the monastery was demolished, while the east and west suffered minor damage. The church was not directly hit, but the detonation damaged its roof. The renovation of the monastery-church complex began in the early 1970s.

In recent years, the internal renovation of the church began, which was completed with some details in 2020.

aka St. Peter's Church

• Style: Baroque
• Built: 15th century
• Address: Mornarska ul. 6, 21220, Trogir, Croatia

The Church of St. Petra in Trogir is located in the historical core. It is an elongated quadrangular building with a bell tower and a sacristy at the back of the sanctuary. The church is best known for the sculpture of its patron St. Peter, the apostle, who looks down from the door holding a Bible and scrolls. The sculpture from the 15th century is the work of Nikola Florentinac. The baroque interior dates to the 17th century including two lateral marble altars dedicated to the Virgin and St. Ignatius Loyola, the statues of St. Peter and Paul, a wooden organ cabinet, the coat of arms of the Budva noble family Marković, and a richly decorated wooden ceiling.

In the courtyard south of the church, a well with relief decorations that belonged to the former monastery has been preserved.

aka Church of Mother Mary of Carmel

• Built: 17th century
• Address: Sinjska ul. 2, 21220, Trogir, Croatia

The church was built in the 17th century.

Crkva Svih Svetih u Trogiru

• Built: 1588
• Address: Ul. Blaženog Augustina Kažotića 5, 21220, Trogir, Croatia

The Church of All Saints is located in the Pasika area. It has a rectangular floor plan with a square apse in the west. The main portal is framed by a softly profiled stone frame, cushioned architrave, and cornice. On the sides of the portal are two rectangular windows with beveled sides of the stone frame. Above the cornice is a plaque inscribed in Latin and the year 1588, surmounted by three coats of arms, the central one belonging to Bishop Antonio Guido. A rosette is in the middle of the facade, with a belfry above the gable. Above the northern part of the facade is a smaller belfry on a trestle for one bell. The stone steps along the north facade lead to the choir from the outside.

aka Belfry of St. Mihovila

• Built: 1595
• Address: Vukovarska ul. 15, 21220, Trogir, Croatia

Bell Tower of Saint Michael is the only surviving structure of St. Michael church, destroyed during the bombing in 1944.

Bell Tower of St. Michael is located in the western part of Pasik in Trogir. It was built at the end of the 16th century next to the now-demolished Church of St. Michael, which belonged to the women's Benedictine monastery. It has a square cross-section, built of hewn stones, and on the north side is a portal with a lintel.

On all facades on the ground floor, there is a small square window with a stone transom in the shape of a star. There is a slightly larger window on the first floor. A richly profiled prominent cornice concludes the second floor of the bell tower. The third floor is opened by biforas, which are separated from each other by pilasters. In the place of the headstones, sculpturally shaped heads of various physiognomies were installed. The top is closed with a four-sided pyramid.

• Style: Pre-Romanesque
• Built: 11th century(?)
• Address: Gradska ul. 24, 21220, Trogir, Croatia

The church was bombed in February 1944. As a result, Somen Day is celebrated on February 22nd. The renovation was completed in 2014.

Crkva Gospe Delmunta u Trogiru

• Built: 18th century (reconstruction)

The Church of Our Lady Delmunta is located along the northern border of Trogir's small field. The church is a one-nave building with a rectangular floor plan with a rectangular apse, and it is oriented in the east-west direction. The western facade is marked by a door with simply made stone thresholds. Under the windows on both sides of the door are carved stone benches supported by pot-bellied consoles. Above the entrance door in the axis of the facade, there is a rosette and a belfry on a horsehair.

According to sources, we can assume the church already existed in the 14th century. However, the church got its present shape during the 18th century.

taka The Museum of the City of Trogir

• Architect: Ignacio Macanović
• Style: Romanesque and Gothic
• Built: 18th century
  Address: Gradska vrata 4

The Garagnin-Fanfogna Palace in Trogir opposite the mainland gate is a complex of Romanesque and Gothic houses united by the restoration of the old and new Garagnin houses in the second half of the 18th century according to the project of Ignacio Macanović. At the western end of the complex is a tower above the archway over the street.

The two-story stone building opposite the northern city gate has a monumental late-baroque profiled portal with the family coat of arms on the ground floor. At the northeast corner of the block is a cistern with a terrace. The trapezoidal courtyard has an original baroque pavement. The southern one-story building with an external staircase, once used as a farm, is now a city lapidary.

The Museum of the City of Trogir

The Town Museum was opened to the public in 1966. It is located in the Garagnin Palace. The permanent exhibition of the Museum shows historical movements, artistic styles, and everyday life of the city from the Middle Ages to the present day.

aka Elementary School "Petar Berislavić"

• Built: 1910
• Address: Elementary School of Peter Berislavic - Obala bana Berislavića 16, 21220, Trogir

aka Palača Lucić

• Style: Renaissance
• Built: 16th century (remodeled); 19th cenruty (renovations)
• Address: Budislavićeva ul. 18-20, 21220, Trogir

Palača Lučić is a Renaissance palace on the city waterfront in the old core of Trogir. The roots of the building go back to the Middle Ages, it was remodeled for the first time in the 16th century, and renovations in the 19th century destroyed its original appearance.

The Lucić Palace is decorated with luxurious architectural elements with recognizable manuscripts of Renaissance artists, students of famous names such as Nikola the Florentine, door jambs and frames of the main and northern doors, reliefs, family coats of arms, trifora, and monofora.

aka Berislavić Palace

• Architect: Unknown
• Style: Gothic, featuring preserved leaded window glass
• Built: Unknown
• Address: Šubićeva ulica 1, 21220, Trogir, Croatia

Birthplace of Croatian governor and bishop Petar Berislavić, now adjacent to the Town Museum.

• Address: Ul. Matije Gupca 10, 31215, Trogir

The home of Kula Andreis is located behind the Elementary School of Peter Berislavic

aka The Stafileo

• Built: 15th century
• Address: Šubićeva ul. 7, 21220, Trogir, Croatia

The Stafilic Palace was built in the 15th century and contains six studio apartments of approximately 25 square meters.

Trogir's fortifications are an important part of its architecture, and they have been well preserved over the years, providing visitors with a glimpse into the city's past.

aka Kastel Kamerlengo

• Architect: Lorenzo Picino and Marin Radoj
• Built: 1420 to 1437
• Address: Obala bana Berislavića, 21220, Trogir, Croatia

Kaštel Kamerlengo was built in the southwest of the city, to defend the sea channel and the approach to the port. The walls got their present form after the arrival of the Venetian government. The fort has a trapezoidal floor plan with a monumental polygonal tower facing the sea at the place of the Chain Tower and smaller corner towers.

Around the fortress there was a rampart with a retaining wall, and a wide defensive moat towards the city from the north and east. The main gate of the castle with a lunette and drawbridge is on the north side of the castle. In the inner courtyard there were residential buildings for the castellan and crew and the chapel of St. Brand.

aka Tower of St. Marka (Kula Sv. Marka) aka Tower of St. Brand in Trogir

• Built: 15th century
• Address: Ul. Hrvatskog proljeća 1971. 14, 21220, Trogir, Croatia

The Tower of St. Marka is located in the northwest of the old part of Trogir. The round tower adapted to defend against cannon shots was built by the Republic of Venice during the 15th century, at the time of Turkish attacks. The tower faces the mainland and was originally connected by the city walls to the Kamerlengo fortress.

North Land Gate

• Style: Romanesque
• Built: 1656
• Address: Ul. Gradska vrata 6, 21220, Trogir, Croatia

The North Gate is on the coastal side, at the end of a small bridge. It is somewhat unassuming, in a small section of wall crammed between two shops. The north gate was built around the year 1656 in Romanesque style. Large rectangular stone blocks frame a rounded arch. On top is a Gothic 15th-century statue of St. Ivan Trogirski, the patron saint of Trogir, in Bishop's robes and miter. Also known as John, the Bishop of Trogir, he was consecrated at the end of the 11th century.

aka Marine Gate aka Sea Gate (Južna Gradska Vrata)

• Architect: Believed to be the work of the Bokanić workshop, specifically Trifun Bokanić, a renowned Croatian sculptor and architect of the late 16th century
• Style: A blend of Mannerist architectural style with Romanesque–Gothic roots—typical of the Renaissance period in Dalmatia
• Built: 1593
• Address: Serves as the southern entrance to Trogir’s old town, adjoining the lively Riva promenade, facing the Adriatic

The gate still retains its original wooden doors, complete with authentic iron studs, offering a direct link to its past.

Architecturally, the gate includes deliberate stone carvings and ornamental detailing, characteristic of Trogir's rich medieval and Renaissance aesthetic.

aka Riva

• Address: Obala bana Berislavića 11, 21220, Trogir, Croatia

Trogir's promenade runs along the picturesque marina with boats bobbing in the turquoise waters of the Adriatic Sea.

• Built: 16th century

The small lodge in Trogir is outside the city walls, east of the southern city gate. It was built on a rectangular floor plan in the first half of the 16th century. It is made of stone masonry and covered with a three-pitched roof covered with a cupola. On the west and south walls, eight octagonal columns are placed in a regular rhythm, with a half column on the east. They have profiled square bases and carry stone beams and a wooden roof. The lodge is entered through the central openings on the south and west sides. It was initially used to accommodate travelers who arrived after the gate was closed but was more recently a fish market.

• Built: 1809
• Address: Ul. Hrvatskih mučenika 30, 21220, Trogir, Croatia

Located on the promenade between the Kamerlengo Tower and St. Mark's Tower itself, stands the Glorijet - a circular colonnade of classicist forms. It was built in 1809, during the short-lived French rule, in honor of Marshal Marmont. It is important to emphasize that Glorijet is one of the rare monuments of French rule in Dalmatia.

• Style: Baroque
• Built: 15th to 18th century
• Address: Obrov 13/4122

The baroque folk house with an external staircase is located on the north side of the square called Obrov between the old core of Trogir and the New Town or Varoš in the west. The building is a typical example of late baroque folk architecture, and the eastern wall of the building is based on the demolished Gothic city wall. The one-story stone house has a gable roof and luminaries over the west wall. Elements of Gothic windows with profiling in the capital zone and a decorative motif of teeth were used on the door.

Trogirska Kruna

• Architect: Đanij Martinić and Frano Šitum
• Built: 2020
• Address: Trogirski most, 21220, Trogir, Croatia

The monument is the work of academic sculptors Đanij Martinić and Frano Šitum and is located in Žudika Park, next to the old bridge and the northern city gate.

Kładka Piesza

• Address: Wooden Foot Bridge, Ul. Blaženog Augustina Kažotića, 21218, Croatia

Trogir is known for having a historic center which is considered one of the most preserved medieval towns on the Dalmatian Coast and in all of central Europe. The historic center is often referred to by many as an open museum due to the series of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque buildings found in the town.

The Old Town of Trogir is an island city. The historic town has 2300 years of urban tradition. Its culture was created under the influence of the ancient Greeks and afterward the Romans and Venetians. Trogir has an abundant variety of palaces, churches, and towers, as well as a fortress on a small island. In 1997, it was included in the UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Trogir, Croatia, is known for its well-preserved Venetian architecture and historic buildings. The town's architecture reflects a blend of Romanesque, Renaissance, and Baroque styles, creating a unique and picturesque atmosphere.

One of the most notable structures in Trogir is the Cathedral of St. Lawrence, a fine example of Croatian medieval architecture with influences from the Romanesque and Gothic periods.

The town's layout features narrow cobblestone streets, medieval walls, and charming squares lined with cafes and shops. Trogir's architectural heritage has earned it a place on the UNESCO World Heritage List, making it a must-visit destination for history and architecture enthusiasts.

The historical city core, with about ten churches and numerous buildings, was built in the 13th century.

The Trogir Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of St. Lawrence, was built over several centuries, with construction starting in the 13th century and continuing into the 17th century. It is a magnificent example of Romanesque-Gothic architecture and has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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.

The historic city of Trogir has been featured in various movies and TV shows. The city served as a double for the 19th-century Provence in Vincent and the Doctor, 16th-century Venice in The Vampires of Venice, and was used for scenes set in the City of Qarth in the HBO series Game of Thrones.

Trogir's compact size makes it an ideal day trip from nearby cities like Split, Sibenik, or Zadar. Visitors can take a guided tour of the old town to see the main sights and learn about the myths and legends surrounding the city's history.

Trogir, a small town on the Dalmatian coast of Croatia, can be reached by ferry from various places along the coast, such as Split. The ferry ride from Split to Trogir takes about an hour and is a convenient way to visit the town if you do not have a car.