At Hacking the Road, we are dedicated to finding ways to help people live a Better Life ... on the Road! We are full-time travelers and experience seekers, and we want to share our stories with you. We believe that travel opens hearts and minds, and makes the world a better place. Join us as we explore each new destination.
Croatia is located on the Adriatic Sea at the crossroads of Central and Southwest Europe.
This Blog is part of a travel series covering the Road Hackers' two month visit to the Dalmatian coastal region in 2022. Going down the Croatian UNESCO World Heritage top 10 list, Trogir was definitely next on our hit list!
Trogir is a small island city 17 miles/27 km north of Split, and, happily, a city on our main bus line. By now, we were feeling a lot more confident about a longer public bus adventure.
We boarded our usual bus from our home town of Suhi Potok and got off at our regular Split stop. After a quick visit to the ATM, and a treat from our favorite pastry shop, we headed over to our next bus for the Split-Trogir leg of the trip.
Any trip to Split always started with a visit to our favorite pastry shop
We could have taken a commercial bus from the main Split bus station near the Riva, but they have a very limited timetable. The public bus has numerous stops before it reaches its final destination in Trogir, but the schedule is more convenient, with buses leaving every 45 minutes.
The Sukoisanka public bus stop is about a 15 minute walk north of the Diocletian Palace complex. There, we catch the super-sized double-length #37 bus (Split-Airport-Trogir routing).
This leg cost $3 each, only an extra $1 from our usual fare to Split. The ride takes about one hour, but it's a great opportunity to see all the neighborhoods north of Split.
Catching the #37 bus to Trogir
The historic town of Trogir has been continuously inhabited for at least 2,300 years. Originally settled by the Greeks around 300 BC, Trogir has seen more than its share of invaders. After the Greeks came the Romans, followed by the Saracens, the Venetians, the French, and the Austro-Hungarians.
Despite these many unstable periods, Trogir continued to thrive, and is widely considered the most intact medieval town in Central Europe.
Of special note, the town of Trogir also has an impressive parallel Game of Thrones fictional history: Trogir was used as the backdrop for many of the Town of Qarth scenes. Qarth was the town described as "The Greatest City that Ever Was or Will Be." An apt description of Trogir as well!
Interestingly, Trogir is also known as the City of Masters, largely because so many master artists and architects were active in creating the buildings and cathedrals of the city.
Trogir is known as The City of Masters
Trogir is located on a very small island connected by a short bridge to the mainland. The bridge from the Croatian mainland crosses a small channel of water as we make our way to the City North Gate on the island. The 15th Century North Gate, also known as the Land Gate, is beautifully decorated.
A sculpture of St. John, Trogir's Patron Saint, can be seen atop the Renaissance archway. Just below the sculpture is St. Mark's Lion. Unfortunately, the space above the arch is often used to hang event announcements, and the Lion was covered by a banner for an upcoming triathlon.
Historic St. Mark's Lion was hidden beneath a modern triathalon festival banner
Trogir is extremely compact, roughly a half mile long and no more than one third of a mile wide.
About 13,000 people occupy this small space--and love every minute! Trogir has it all: Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance architecture; an iconic fortress; several Old Town towers; and at least nine beautiful churches. Every corner has a long history waiting to be told.
As we began our tour of this enchanting little locale, it struck us that this is actually a living medieval city! The cobbled lanes seem to be part of a giant maze, but there's a real organized pattern. When they originally planned Trogir, the Greeks were careful to maintain a disciplined gridded design.
As we made our way to the main town square, Narodni Trg, we saw countless small outdoor restaurants and vendors. Space is at a premium, so every nook and cranny is used!
The living city of historic Trogir, and Bella Gelato
The Bell Tower of St. Lawrence Cathedral is in sight, but ... we had heard that Bella Gelato has the best gelato in town ... so we had to test the assertion! There were so many choices. The flavors we finally decided on were scrumptious: salted caramel and a ricotta with orange peel.
After all the welcome distractions, we finally reached the impressive medieval Narodni Trg Square, and the beating heart of Trogir. It is easy to see why National Geographic rated Trogir as the number one City Island in 2015! Living history surrounds every inch of Narodni Trg Square.
Narodni Trg Square
As we approached the square from the northeast corner, we passed the Garagnin-Fanfogna Palace Complex--two blocks of Gothic, Baroque, and Romanesque architecture. Parts of the complex now serve as the City Museum.
To the west opposite the grand cathedral of St. Lawrence, we saw the exquisite Venetian Gothic window designs on the 15th Century Cipiko family palaces.
The dramatic West Portal of the St. Lawrence Cathedral can be accessed by two entrances: one on the west side and the other on the south side. The 13th Century Romanesque-Gothic design was created by the famed Croatian sculptor, Master Radovan.
The ornate entrance to the St. Lawrence Cathedral
Construction on the existing St. Lawrence Cathedral started in 1193 and continued for almost 400 years. This church is also known as St. John's Cathedral by the locals. The cathedral was actually built on top of an old basilica destroyed by the Saracens in 1123. That sounds old, but the history of the foundations goes back much further!
Two previous churches were built on this exact spot, one in the 5th Century and the other during the 7th Century. Both churches were destroyed by invaders. Excavations have also shown that there may have been earlier Greek and Roman structures as well.
The Venetian-style Bell Tower was constructed much later, between the late 1300s and the end of the 16th Century. Apparently the view of the Old Town is amazing from the top, but access is generally unavailable. Besides, accounts of the climb describe a difficult and narrow ascent, not an option for Rainman's fear of heights!
The Bell Tower in Narodni Trg Square was constructed later than the cathedral, but it still relatively old!
The other major structures that line Narodni Trg Square are Town Hall, St. Sebastian Church, the Town Clock Tower, and the Town Loggia.
The square is crammed with restaurant umbrellas, obscuring the wider angles of the St. Lawrence Cathedral and making it difficult to photograph its full dimensions. We had to settle for images that only begin to capture the beauty of the architecture.
Restaurant umbrellas fill the interior of Narodni Trg Square, making it impossible to capture all angles of its architecture
The history of the Town Hall building is relatively young. The structure was completed in the late 19th Century. The newer building incorporates some of the original Duke's (aka Rektor's) Palace structures that date back to the 15th Century.
The Town Hall complex has an impressive Renaissance stairway in the internal courtyard. Game of Thrones used the courtyard in a scene where Daenerys asks the Spice King for assistance.
St. Sebastian Church, with its beautiful Town Clock, stands directly south across from St. Lawrence Cathedral. The church was built in 1476, incorporating some of the remains of the earlier St. Mary's Church. St. Sebastian was dedicated as a votive church after the dreaded plague devastated Europe.
The 13th Century Town Loggia structure stands adjacent to St. Sebastian. The Loggia was essentially the center for all legal matters in the city. The building facades and ceiling are beautifully ornate.
The decorative ceilings and walls of the Town Loggia
St. Barbara Church lies just south of the square, next to the Loggia. The entrance is so obscure, it is easy to miss, but make sure not to miss it! The pre-Romanesque architecture is very simple, and was built at the beginning of the 9th-10th Century on top of a destroyed earlier church dating back to the 9th Century.
Leaving the immediate vicinity of the main square, we headed to the Town Southern Gate. Here we get a very different view of the city from the promenade, which has a design very similar to the Riva in Split. A wide open pedestrian promenade runs next to the Adriatic for about a third of a mile. A long line of shady palms occupies the middle space between the pedestrian promenade and the building facades.
The pedestrian promenade in Trogir is similar to the Riva in Spkit
Restaurants of all kinds extend out from the buildings all the way to the palm trees. This is the place to be seen in Trogir--hip, with a great vibe! The much bigger island of Ciovo can be see across the water from the promenade, connected to Trogir by a substantial bridge. Ciovo is a popular beach destination for tourists.
As we headed further west on the promenade, we saw the formidable structure of the Church and Monastery of St. Dominic. The complex was built starting in the 13th Century, and finally completed in the late 14th Century. Much of the Monastery was destroyed during WWII.
The end of the promenade features one of the most iconic images in all of Trogir. Here, standing guard over the western approach to the city, we found the impressive medieval Kamerlengo Castle. It has the classic look of a genuine castle, and we were immediately intrigued.
The Kamerlengo Castle towers at the end of the promenade
The castle's tall Veriga Tower was built in the 14th Century and the rest of the fortress was completed in the mid-15th Century. Veriga Tower was once called the Fortress of Chains. The original tower anchored chains that spanned the waterway between the islands of Trogir and Ciovo.
We paid the entry fee of $7 each, and entered the fortress with good intentions to climb to the top of the castle tower.
The stairs leading to the upper walkway looked sturdy. So far, so good ...
The stairs leading to the upper level of the castle
Once aloft, we got a really nice view of the internal castle courtyard.
The top of the tower stretches quite a bit above the upper walkway of the castle. That part of the climb starts once inside the tower. There's a narrow metal ladder that leads to a rather small opening at the top.
Unfortunately, this is where intentions parted ways with reality! That fear of heights took hold and there was no way to take another step up the ladder. Most people would probably be just fine making it to the top. But no spectacular view in store!
Climbing to the tower's tippy top via a narrow ladder was not in the cards for us
As we accepted reality (what were we thinking???) and exited the castle, we took another walk up the promenade, this time focused more on the waterway between Trogir and Ciovo.
All shapes and sizes of boats and yachts line both sides of the islands. Trogir and its neighbor to the north, Sibenik, have become major stops for tourist boats plying the Croatian coast.
As we finished our tour of Trogir, we headed back across the north-side bridge for a final treat, the Trogir Green Market.
Just across from the major bus station, the Green Market has an eclectic mix of fresh fruit and vegetables, olive oils, lavender products, fresh flowers, arts and crafts, cheeses, cured meats, clothing, tourist nick knacks, and Croatian street food stalls.
The colorful Green Market in Trogir offers a rainbow of fresh garden produce
The market is well developed and similar in size to the Pazar Market in Split. The sights, sounds, and smells all combine to make for a very interesting and exciting perusal. One could spend a good three hours exploring all the offerings.
In preparing for our Trogir adventure, we came across several excellent reviews of Big Mama's Grill & Food in Green Market, and Big Mama's Pizza Restaurant located across the street next to the bus station. The food at the latter is more expensive than the Grill, but still quite reasonable, and it has a seating area.
We opted for the quicker option, and headed to the Grill. They have quite an extensive menu, including a variety of toasted panini sandwiches, grilled food, kebabs, tortilla wraps, burgers, and vegetarian options.
We chose good-sized grilled chicken breast paninis with lettuce, tomatoes, grated cabbage, red onion, and olive oil, all at the reasonable price of $4.80 each! We found a a stone bench under a tree facing the river to enjoy our lunch.
Our loaded panini sandwich from Big Mama's Grill & Food in Trogir required two hands to hold
With our appetites satisfied, we headed to the bus station. As the Split bus pulled up, we knew we were leaving a very special place. Trogir would always have a place in our hearts. If you're looking for beautiful romance ... amazing architecture ... intriguing history ... or a living museum, Trogir is the place for you!