Trogir travel guide

Background

Trogir was founded in the third century BC by Greeks colonists from Issa (on the island of Vis) who named it Tragurion. From AD 78 Tragurium flourished as a Roman port, and after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it became part of Byzantium. Thanks to its island location, it was saved from a similar fate to nearby Salona, which was devastated by rampaging Avar and Slav tribes during the seventh century, but in 1123 it was almost completely demolished by the Saracens. However, successful trade relations throughout the Mediterranean had brought the citizens of Trogir a certain affluence, and they soon rebuilt their city, adding to it a splendid Romanesque cathedral, built from fine local stone, described by Rebecca West in Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, as “the colour of rich crumbling shortbread”. In 1242, when King Bela IV found temporary refuge here as he fled the Tatars, he would have seen the almost completed cathedral, minus the bell tower, which was added later. Over the following centuries Trogir became one of the most important cultural centres in Dalmatia. In June 1420, after a bloody battle, the city was taken by Venice – a conquest that met continual resistance from the people of Trogir who, having been born into an independent city with its own glorious past, resented being governed by outsiders. The Venetians took tough measures, sending in specially imported language teachers to instruct the nobles, and forcing local families to change their names to Venetian equivalents – Čubranović, for example, became Cipriani. However, Trogir remained a hive of artistic activity, with renowned architects and sculptors such as Nikola Firentinac and Andrija Aleši living and working here during the second half of the 15th century. The Venetians, ever fearful of the possibility of a Turkish invasion, reinforced the city walls, adding St Mark’s Tower and Kamerlengo Fortress. The Turks never succeeded in taking Trogir, but the devastation they caused in the surrounding hinterland led the city into economic decline during the 17th century. Upon the fall of Venice in 1797, Trogir passed to Austria, and then spent a brief period under Napoleon’s Illyrian Provinces. This too met with local opposition, and the French condemned several of the town leaders to death after a failed uprising. After a final phase under Austria, Trogir entered the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1918.

In 1932, an unfortunate affair led Trogir and the rest of Yugoslavia into a diplomatic scuffle with Italy. Apparently a relief of the Venetian Lion, hung in the town loggia in Trogir, had been badly disfigured in an act of ‘anti-Italian’ vandalism. Mussolini, who was rising to power in Italy and coveted this particular part of the Dalmatian coast, caught wind of the affair and took umbrage. Anti-Yugoslav demonstrations were held in Italy and Mussolini announced chillingly, “The lions of Trogir are destroyed, but in their destruction they stand stronger than ever as a living symbol and a certain promise.” The Yugoslav Government was obliged to deliver a formal apology. Nine years later, with the outbreak of the Second World War, Trogir was occupied by Italian soldiers. Under Tito, the economy picked up in the 1970s and most of the population worked in shipbuilding and tourism. Today the small shipyard lies all but abandoned, but tourism has taken off once more with several cosy little family-run hotels in the old town making it a pleasant place to stop over for a night or two.