Architecture of Croatia - Ancient Heritage

Ancient Heritage

The most interesting Copper Age finds are from Vučedol culture (named after Vučedol near Vukovar). In Vučedol People lived on hilltops with palisade walls. Houses were half buried, mostly square or circular (they were also combined in mushroom shape), with floor of burned clay and circular fireplace.

The Bronze culture of the Illyrians, an ethnic group with distinct culture and art form started to organize itself on today's Croatia. Numerous monumental sculptures are preserved, as well as walls of citadel Nezakcij near Pula, one of numerous Istrian cities from Iron Age.

Greek sailors and merchants have reached almost every part of the Mediterranean including the shores of today's Croatia; there they have founded city-states in which they lived quite isolated. Trade cities on the Adriatic shores such as Tragurion (today Trogir), Salona (Solin near Split), Epetion (today Poreč), Issa (Vis), were geometrically shaped and had villas, harbors, public buildings, temples and theatres. While the Greek colonies were flourishing on the island, on the continent the Illyrians were organizing their centers. Their art was greatly influenced by Greek art, and they have even copied some. In the Neretva Delta there was an important influence of the Hellenistic Illyrian tribe of Daors.

Romans subdued the Greek colonial cities in 3rd century BC. They imposed an organization based on a military-economical system. Further more, the Romans subdued the Illyrians in the first century BC and organized the entire coastal territory by transforming the citadels into urban cities. After that the history of these parts is a history of Illyrian provinces of Roman Empire.

Numerous rustic villas, and new urban settlements (the most impressive are Verige in Brijuni, Pula and Trogir - formerly Tragurion) demonstrate the high level of Roman urbanization. There have been at least thirty urban cities in Istria, Liburnia and Dalmatia with Roman citizenship (civitas). The best-preserved networks of Roman streets (decumanus/cardo) are those in Epetion (Poreč) and Jader (Zadar). The most perfectly preserved Roman monuments are in Pola (Pula); founded in first century dedicated to Julius Caesar, it is full with classical Roman art such as: stone walls, two city gates, two temples on Forum, and remains of two theaters, as well as the Arch from year 30 AD, and the temple of Augustus built in years 2 to 14 AD, and finally the Fluvian Amphitheater (so called – Arena) from 2nd century. In 3rd century AD the city of Salona becomes the largest (it had 40 000 inhabitants) and most important city of Dalmatia. Near the city emperor Diocletian, born in Salona, built Diocletian's Palace around year 300 AD, which is largest and most important monument of late antiquity architecture in the world. On its pathways, cellars, domes, mausoleums, arcades and courtyards we can trace numerous different art influences from the entire Empire. In the 4th century Salona became the center of Christianity for the entire western Balkans. It had numerous basilicas and necropolises, and even two saints: Domnius (Duje) and Anastasius (Staš).

One of few preserved basilicas in western Europe (besides the ones in Ravenna) from the time of early Byzantium is Euphrasian Basilica in Poreč from 6th century. The early Middle Ages brought the great migration of the Slavs and this period was perhaps a Dark Age in the cultural sense until the successful formation of the Slavic states which coexisted with Italic cities that remained on the coast, each of them modelled like Venice.