Northern Dalmatia
We’ve compiled the best of the best in Northern Dalmatia - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
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We’ve compiled the best of the best in Northern Dalmatia - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
Nin's shallow coast and centuries of sand deposits preserved numerous remains from prehistory to the Middle Ages under the sea. The Arheološki muzej has a rich collection for a town of this size, including replicas of two small, late-11th-century fishing boats discovered only in 1966 and carefully removed from the sea in 1974. One of these boats has been completely reconstructed, the other only to the extent to which it had been preserved underwater. The main themes in each room are elucidated in clear English translations.
The 18th-century Crkva Sv. 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 nice chandelier and a smoke detector—the foundations of the onetime 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. Anselm.
Croatia's oldest church, the 8th-century Crkva Sv. Križa is also known locally as the "world's smallest cathedral." Indeed, the unadorned, 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.
Historically, Nin's riches came from an unlikely source: salt. Making the best of a rare geographical location with lots of sun, lots of wind, and shallow sea basins, Nin Saltworks produces salt in a traditional, ecological way to this date. To commemorate salt's vast influence on the development of the city, Nin opened up a small but charming salt museum that opens our eyes to how this common table adornment was produced back in the day. While there, make sure to pick up a bag of fleur du sel, or "flower of salt," ultrarich in minerals. For a fee, you can take a tour led by a professional guide (offered on the hour).
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