2 Best Sights in Nin, Northern Dalmatia

The 18th-century Crkva svetog Anselma, dedicated to a 1st-century martyr believed to have been Nin's first bishop, was built on the site of Nin's former 9th-century cathedral, the first cathedral of the medieval Croatian principality. To the right of the altar is a 15th-century statue of the Madonna of Zečevo, inspired by the appearance of the Virgin Mary to a woman on a nearby island. Though the church is plain—the ceiling is adorned with only a lovely chandelier and a smoke detector—the foundations of the former cathedral are still much in evidence. Beside the church is the belfry, and next door is the treasury, which houses a stunning little collection of reliquaries containing various body parts of St. Anselmo.

Croatia's oldest church, the 8th-century Crkva svetog Križa is also known locally as the "world's smallest cathedral." Indeed, the simple, three-naved whitewashed structure—which has a solid cylindrical top and a few tall Romanesque windows (too high to peek inside)—has an unmistakable monumental quality to it even though it's no larger than a small house. There's little to see inside, though it is sometimes open, erratically, in summer; check with the tourist office or the Archaeological Museum.