Ancient Treasures
On the island of Hvar, the port of Stari Grad, formerly Pharos, was a powerful Greek colony, where Hellenistic urban and agricultural techniques were established in the surrounding agricultural plain as early as the 4th century BC. A World Heritage site since 2008, the dry-stone wall system still follows the layout of the ancient cadastre. Croatia owes its urbanization to Roman know-how. From the Illyricum, a rich province that included Istria, we can still admire some superb historic buildings. Pula abounds in perfectly preserved monuments, including the Arch of Triumph, the Serge Gate, which inspired Italian masters Michelangelo and Palladio, the Temple of Augustus and the amphitheatre, one of the largest in the world. Croatian towns such as Poreč and Zadar were built on the Roman checkerboard plan, and their decumanus has often remained the main artery that people walk along today. Roads, bridges, large farms, aqueducts and thermal baths form an ancient complex that can be admired in Central Dalmatia at the archaeological site of Salona (Solin), where Diocletian was born around December 22, 244. In Split, the Roman emperor had a palace built for himself (38,000m2), the largest ancient complex in the country, admirably restored and still the nerve center of the city. A veritable walled city, with different areas to visit, private apartments, military buildings, religious edifices, including the former mausoleum of Diocletian, which will serve as the base for St. Domnius Cathedral, shops, a cistern and a peristyle.
Despite persecution, Christian worship spread from the 4th century onwards along the coast and in most major Roman cities. By this time, the Western Roman Empire had been supplanted by the Eastern, whose influence had a profound effect on the country's religious architecture. At the crossroads of the great powers, Croatia was coveted by both the Carolingian and Byzantine empires. The Franks, with their monumental triple-apse churches, were particularly active in Istria and inland, as evidenced by the remains of the Church of the Holy Saviour at the source of the River Ketina. The Byzantines were more present on the coast and islands. Their religious buildings are covered with rotundas, as in Split (Church of the Holy Trinity). Sometimes, these two influences come together, as in Zadar's Church of St. Donatus. Its ambulatory and three apses are Carolingian in style, while its rotunda, giving access to lateral annexes, is Byzantine in inspiration.
In Istria, the Byzantine masterpiece is undoubtedly the vast episcopal complex at Poreč. It comprises a Euphrasian basilica, sacristy, baptistry, campanile and episcopal palace. In the church, the walls of the apse are adorned with magnificent mosaics featuring, among hieratic figures, Bishop Euphrasius, alongside Saint Maur de Parentium. This6th-century sanctuary has also been recognized by Unesco since 1997.
From the High Middle Ages to the Romanesque period
From the 6th century onwards, the first monastic orders also developed in Croatia, endowing the country with numerous monasteries and oratories. The transition to Romanesque art took place through the re-use of ancient materials and techniques, and the application of local know-how to chiselled stone decorations and mosaics with their interlacing and volutes. During the Romanesque period, Palaeochristian basilicas were rebuilt with Italian-inspired elements. The church of St. Chrysogonus in Zadar, with its superb crypt and nave punctuated by columns and pillars with beams, bears the Tuscan stamp, while the campanile of St. Mary's, with its capitals supporting ribbed vaults, is Lombard. Trogir's St. Lawrence Cathedral, one of the masterpieces of Croatian Romanesque art, features a portal by the great sculptor Radovan.
With its strategic geographical position between East and West, the Adriatic coast was highly coveted, especially by the powerful Venice, which left its mark on many of the towns that flourished. The lion of St. Mark often graced the facades of municipal buildings and loggias built around public squares.
From Gothic to Renaissance
The first Gothic style appeared as early as the 13th century and found its finest expression in Zagreb Cathedral, which was rebuilt on a plan reminiscent of Troyes Cathedral. The monastic orders - Cistercian and Franciscan in particular - contributed to the development of this style, particularly represented on the portal of Zadar Cathedral and on the altar of St. Domnius Cathedral in Split. In Poreč, civil Gothic architecture was developing. These include the Goticka Kuca, a house with columned windows, the House of the Two Saints and, above all, the Town Hall on Nation Square, which stands on an elegant loggia.
The Renaissance was marked by the advent of a Dalmatian school that advocated the integrity of the material (no colors, a single type of stone for the exterior and interior) and the unity of architecture and decoration. The latter was to be sculpted on the very elements of the construction without mortar, using an innovative assembly method. The major work on Šibenik Cathedral, which began in the Gothic period, continued on the basis of the principles of the chief builder-sculptor, George the Dalmatian, who was responsible for a highly expressive wall frieze with seventy-two heads in high relief. The building was completed by Nicolaus the Florentine, already responsible for the Gothic-style Lion Gate with its floral motifs and the sculptural ensemble decorating the chapel of Blessed John of Trogir. This Gothic-Renaissance blend can also be seen in Dubrovnik's Sponza Palace in the Old Town, with its arcades, Renaissance pediment and flamboyant Gothic second floor. In ancient Ragusa, the main features of Renaissance architecture are to be found in the elegant villas and seaside residences built by noblemen and merchants. Away from the hustle and bustle of the city, people retreated to commune with the ever-present natural environment. A veritable art of gardening developed. Enclosed by walls, they were home to a variety of tree species and were veritable oases of peaceful greenery. But this period was also marked by constant pressure from the Ottoman Empire, which coveted Croatian lands. Numerous fortresses were built according to well-defined codes: square plan with cylindrical towers, thicker and lower walls to resist artillery fire, and platforms to support the cannons. Ston was equipped with one of the longest fortifications in Europe (forty towers, five fortresses), but one of the most remarkable defensive architectures can be seen in the Zagorje region, at Veliki-Tabor Castle, which features five monumental semicircular towers and three storeys of Tuscan arches, opening onto an oval courtyard.
Baroque Croatia
A total art form, Baroque influenced architecture, sculpture and town planning alike. The fortified city of Osijek, for example, is entirely designed in the image of the great strongholds of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, under whose influence Croatia now finds itself. Dubrovnik also bears the stamp of this opulent style. Affected by an earthquake in 1667, its Gothic and Renaissance palaces were replaced by Baroque creations, as on the Stradun ("main street" in Venetian), whose architectural unity can be admired with its white limestone facades. Baroque was widely disseminated by the Jesuits, then in the midst of the ideological battle of the Counter-Reformation. To build their edifices, the monks called on Italian and Austrian artists, who added their touch to the cathedrals of St. Catherine's in Zagreb and Varaždin, a town in Slavonia considered the capital of Baroque. Stucco, gilded sculptures and twisted columns are used in abundance. In Dubrovnik, the Italian Andrea Pozzo built the Church of St. Ignatius, one of the finest flamboyant complexes on the coast. Pilgrimage churches also flourished, such as the Church of St. Mary of Jerusalem in Trški Vrh (Krapina). Its bell tower, with its many offsets and moving bulb, its monumental nave and domes, make it a masterpiece of Western Baroque. The skilful interplay of convex and concave lines is one of the great characteristics of this style.
From neoclassicism to modernism
The 19th century was a period of urban renewal in Croatia. Numerous fortifications were dismantled and replaced by promenades and gardens, while new municipal and cultural buildings were erected in the heart of the city. In Zagreb, the classical lower town was organized around Milan Lenuci's "horseshoe", a series of U-shaped green spaces dotted with imposing public buildings such as the National Theatre and the Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences. At the same time, a powerful historicist trend led to the emergence of "neo" styles. The neoclassical style was championed by the architect Bartol Felbinger, who was responsible for numerous private mansions and Baron Vrkljan's palace in Janusevec, near Zagreb, whose facade decorated with atlantes and vast columned loggia can be admired. Austrian Herman Bollé developed an eclectic style, including the sumptuous Mirogoj cemetery in Zagreb. The fruit of modern urban planning and a neo-Renaissance style, it impresses with the monumental dimensions of its entrance, its rampart-like perimeter wall and its interior, where arches and columns stretch to infinity.
The early 20th century was marked by the Viennese Secession. This Austrian version of Art Nouveau made more systematic use of geometric forms. Among the great achievements of this style in Croatia are the buildings on Europe Avenue in Osijek, including the Urania cinema, and above all the functional but richly decorated National Archives building in Zagreb, designed by Rudolf Lubynski. Viktor Kovačić, a disciple of the Viennese Otto Wagner, famous for his use of clean lines and geometric volumes, gradually slipped into modernism. Breaking with the historicism of the previous century, he took an interest in new building materials such as reinforced concrete, as demonstrated by the pure forms of the Zagreb Stock Exchange. The Pferferrmann and Krauss villas were built in the 1930s. The former, with its smooth surfaces and rectilinear roof, is characteristic of radical functionalism. The latter, largely influenced by the work of Le Corbusier, stands on narrow pillars and seems to levitate.
Since 1945, ambitious architects
In the aftermath of the Second World War, the architects of the Zagreb School attempted to synthesize the functionalist and organic currents. But it was difficult to break out of the heavy collectivist codes of Soviet socialism. The Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb, designed by architect Igor Franić (b. 1954), was one of the few major public projects completed during this period. In the 1960s, Novi Zagreb was built. The creation of this new city was largely influenced by Le Corbusier's innovative principles. Reinforced concrete was used extensively in modern urban housing.
Today, while retaining a deep attachment to the past, the new architectural scene is seeking to break down formalist shackles, producing works that are often highly minimalist. Croatia's most famous architect, Nikola Bašić, hails from Zadar. His work is linked to national memory, respect for heritage and the celebration of nature. He often uses white Brač stone or local materials. From 1993 to 1998, on the island of Okit, off the coast of Vodice, he built the Chapel of Our Lady of Carmel, whose minimalism refers to early Christian churches. He is also responsible for the Field of Crosses on the island of Kornat (2010), a powerful memorial to the firefighters who perished during the "Kornati tragedy" in 2007. These crosses, 25 m long and 15 m wide, were built by hand, using traditional dry-stone walling techniques. In 2005-2008, the redevelopment of the port of Zadar gave him the opportunity to design two highly original urban installations. On the one hand, the Maritime Organs, powered by tubes immersed in the sea, are housed under the monumental steps of the quay. They produce serial music, which renews itself in response to waves of varying strength. On the other hand, Salut au soleil uses solar energy to animate a circle on the ground, 22 m in diameter. When night falls, the circle reflects a play of multi-coloured light beams. In 2020, his architectural firm will deliver a luxury hotel on the Dalmatian island of Dugi Otok. In perfect harmony with its natural surroundings, Villa nai 3.3 is carved into a hillside beneath a century-old olive grove. It literally seems to emerge from the ground.
Zagreb-based 3HLD is another prolific architect. We owe them the Memorial Bridge in Rijeka, a pedestrian promenade symbolizing the nation's path to independence, but also the V2 House, a superb villa designed to maximize openings onto the ocean, the freshwater aquarium in Karlovac almost buried in the grass or the elegant landscaping of the seafront in Rovinj. Another stunning residence is the Villa Gumno in Krk. Geometric and minimalist, it impresses with its astonishing angled terrace overlooking the entrance to the house. On the island of Vis, the villa Issa Megaron by the PROARH agency stands out for its originality. Embedded in the ancient stone walls, this luxury hotel built in concrete and glass seems to blend into the hillside. Its roofs and terraces have been covered with stones and plants to complete its inclusion in nature. A home reminiscent of some of the habitats of primitive peoples.
From another perspective, the Pelješac bridge, Croatia's longest (2.4 km long, 55 m high), was opened to road users in July 2022. The Croatian-Chinese project, 80% of which was financed by European funds, resulted in this major piece of territorial policy. The bridge reunites the peninsula with the rest of the Adriatic coast, between Komarna beach and the Brijesta rocks, avoiding the need to pass through the border country, which is not in the Schengen area. While the Croatian side is delighted with the technical prowess of this majestic bridge, the inhabitants of Neum in Bosnia-Herzegovina, in particular, fear that it will lead to a drop in local tourist numbers.
