Trogir is an excellent example of a medieval town built on and conforming with the layout of a Hellenistic and Roman city. It has conserved its urban fabric to an exceptional degree and with the least of modern interventions, where the trajectory of social and cultural development is visible in every aspect of the panorama.

The city is a remarkable example of urban continuity. The right-angled street plan of this island settlement dates back to the Hellenistic period. Successive rulers beautified it with many fine public and domestic buildings and fortifications. Outstanding Renaissance and Baroque buildings from the Venetian period compliment its beautiful Romanesque churches.

Greek Colonists

Greek colonists founded the ancient town of Tragurion as a trading settlement from the island of Vis in the 3rd century BC on an islet at the western end of the bay of Manios, in a strait between the mainland and one of the Adriatic islands. A small settlement existed here already.

Megalithic walls enclosed the Hellenistic town. Its streets had a Hippodamian grid plan. The line of the present main street still follows the ancient one. The town flourished in the Roman period and gained the status of a town. During the late Roman period, extension and re-fortification work took place. Extensive Roman cemeteries surfaced, and a basilica came in place in one of these.

Contemporary Trogir

The plan of contemporary Trogir reflects the Hellenistic layout in the location, dimensions, and shapes of its residential blocks. The two ancient main streets, the cardo and the decumanus, are still in use, and paving of the forum appeared during excavations at their intersection.

Ancient Tragurion lies at the eastern end of the islet. This spread out in the earlier medieval period. The medieval suburb of Pasike developed to the west on a different alignment and the later fortifications enclosed it. The port was on the south side. Finally, the massive Venetian fortifications incorporated the Genoese fortress known as the Camerlengo.