Historic City of Trogir

Trogir began as Tragurion, a trading settlement founded in the 3rd century BC on a small island off the Illyrian coast by Greek colonists from the island of Vis. It was enclosed by a megalithic wall, and its two ancient main streets, the cardo maximus and the decumanus, are still in use. The grid of its streets goes back to the Hellenistic period.

From the 9th century the town paid tribute to Croatian rulers and to the Byzantine Empire, and in the early 12th century it accepted Hungarian overlordship while keeping its self-government. In 1123 it was taken and almost entirely destroyed by Saracens, but it recovered quickly. In 1242 King Béla IV of Hungary took refuge here from the Mongols, who were unable to storm the island town. Work on the Cathedral of St Lawrence began around 1200, and Master Radovan finished its main west portal in 1240.

Venetian rule began in 1420 and lasted nearly four centuries, leaving Renaissance buildings and works of art. The Genoese fortress known as the Kamerlengo was built into the Venetian defences, and the Cipiko Palace, which fills a whole block, faces the west end of the cathedral. In the 17th century a manuscript of Petronius' Satyricon containing Trimalchio's Dinner was found in the town. When Venice fell in 1797 Trogir passed to the Habsburgs, and it was inscribed in 1997.