A harbor in the Adriatic coast, the historic town of Trogir in the Split-Dalmatia County, is located between the island of Čiovo and mainland Croatia, 27 km west to the city of Split. The Split Airport is 6 km from Trogir with a bus connection from the airport to the town. The historic town centre, which has a considerable number of palaces, towers and churches, is listed in UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites since 1997. An urban settlement for more than 2,000 years, Trogir is the most well-preserved historical town in the whole of central Europe.
Its history dates back to the 3rd Century when the Greeks from Vis established the town, which became a chief port until the Romans took over. It lost its prominence when Salona, another city in the province gained importance as the Roman headquarters. However, the migration of Slavs destroyed the Roman capital and the people of Salona had to move into Trogir. By paying tributes to the Croatian rulers, Trogir flourished once again.
In 1107, Trogir gained autonomy as a town, granted by Coloman, the Hungarian-Croatian king. 1123 again brought destruction to the town, this time by the Saracens, but Trogir managed to rise again into an economically prosperous town. The 13th and 14th centuries were mainly ruled by the elected members of the Šubić family. From 1420, Trogir witnessed a long Venetian rule until 1797 when the fall of Venice, resulted in Trogir falling into the hands of the Habsburg Empire.
The French occupied the town in between from 1806 to 1814, but it again became a part of the Habsburg Empire until 1918. During World War I, Trogir became a part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and in World War II; it was taken over by Italy and liberated in 1944, where after it became a part of Second Yugoslavia and finally included into Croatia in 1991. Today Trogir is a major shipbuilding industry in Croatia, while a large part of its economy is contributed from tourism.
Since Trogir has had a rich historical past, it is bound to have a range of architectural structures influenced by the Greeks, Romans and the Venetian who settled here. The Greeks get the credit for the street plan while rulers succeeding them added fortifications and public and residential buildings. The Romanesque churches and the Venetian Renaissance and Baroque architecture are some of the great attractions of the town.
Fortress Kamerlengo (also a castle) and a tower along with residential properties and numerous palaces and churches from the Romanesque, Renaissance, Gothic and Baroque eras are enclosed within the 15th century city walls. The 13th century St Lawrence Church is one of the finest examples of Romanesque-Gothic architecture prevalent in Croatia. In Trogir, one can view a whole range of buildings dating from the 13th to the 17th century.
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