About Trogir

Trogir is a small island town on Croatia's Adriatic coast, in Split-Dalmatia County, wedged in a narrow channel between the mainland and the larger island of Čiovo, about 27 kilometres west of Split. According to the 2021 census, the town itself has a population of 10,107, with 12,393 across the wider municipality. Its old town — built on an islet barely 500 metres across — is one of the best-preserved Romanesque-Gothic complexes in Central Europe.

History

Trogir was founded in the 3rd century BC as Tragurion by Greek colonists from the island of Vis, its name thought to come from the Greek words for "goat" (tragos) and "hill" (oros). It later passed to Roman and then Byzantine rule, and Byzantine emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus mentioned the town in his 10th-century work on the administration of the empire. The town was chartered as an autonomous municipality by the Hungarian-Croatian king Coloman in 1107, and was largely destroyed and rebuilt after a Saracen raid in 1123.

From 1420 to 1797, Trogir was ruled by the Republic of Venice, a period that left it with much of the Gothic and Renaissance architecture still standing today. The Cipiko Palace, built for one of the town's most prominent Renaissance families and attributed in part to the architect Andrija Aleši, and the City Loggia with its 1471 clock tower both date from this era.

The Cathedral and UNESCO Status

At the heart of the old town stands the 13th-century Cathedral of St Lawrence, best known for its Romanesque west portal, carved between 1240 and 1250 by the medieval sculptor Radovan and considered one of the most important works of its kind on the Adriatic coast. In 1997, Trogir's historic centre was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List, described as the best-preserved Romanesque-Gothic urban complex in Central Europe.

The 15th-century Kamerlengo Castle, built by the Venetians to guard the harbour approach, still anchors the western end of the old town, alongside the surviving stretches of the town's medieval walls and gates.

Modern Trogir and Its Festivals

Beyond its architecture, the town connects to the mainland and to Čiovo by bridges, and a 551-metre bridge completed in 2018 finally gave Čiovo a direct road link independent of the old town centre. Trogir's cultural calendar is busiest in summer: the long-running Trogir Summer Festival fills the old town with concerts and theatre, while the Kamerlengo Castle courtyard hosts the KulaKula Festival, a multi-day showcase of regional pop and hip-hop acts, and the Moondance Festival, an electronic music event now in its second decade, held under the fortress walls each summer.

Trogir's harbour has drawn boats for centuries, and that maritime tradition continues today, which is why so many visitors explore Trogir by private gulet charter, combining an afternoon on the water with a walk through the town's UNESCO-listed core.