Zadar is the urban, economic,cultural, educational and tourist center of the broader region of northern Dalmatia and the administrative seat of Zadar county. Most of its monuments of art and architecture are to be found within its historic core on the peninsula. Without doubt the central place is the forum, one of the most significant historical architectonic complexes on the Croatian coast of the Adriatic.

The most famous early Medieval building monument in Zadar today and its almost emblematic sign is the Church of St. Donatus. The archibishop's palace is immediately attached to the church. As it now stands the Zadar cathedral of St. Anastasia was built in the Romanesque style during the 12th and 13th century. According to its dimensions, it is the largest cathedral in Dalmatia.

The Church of St. Mary belongs to the convent of the Benedictine nuns. In the convent an Exibition of Church Art was installed in 1972. This collection of sacred art has no equal in Croatia. The time encompassed by the exibited works of art covers more than a thousand years, from the 8th to the 18th century. The modern building of the Archeological Museum is to be found immediately in front of the convent complex of St. Mary

The monastery and church of St. Francis is located on the northwestern rim of the Zadar peninsula. In the interior of the church are a number of valuable altars on one of which is a painting of St. Francis in Glory, the work of the renowed Venetian painter Jacopa Palma the Younger. It is valuable to mention the Renaissance cloister of the Franciscan monastery.

The Port Gate ( the gate of St. Grysogonus) was put up in 1573 in celebration of the victory of the Christian ships over the Turkish fleet in the sea-battle near Lepant. The church of St. Chrysogonus is emphatic example of Romanesque architecture of very harmonious proportions and profined decoration. The monumental main altar was mounted by four statues made out of white marble which represented the patron saints of Zadar, Anastasia, Zoila, Chrisogonus and Simeon.

People's Square is the central square in Zadar. It was formed already in the Middle Ages as Platea magna. City Large Watchover, situated on its west part, and the building of City loggia opposite to it, constructed at the same time, serve as a kind of exibition space, chiefly for manifestations of figurative art so that today they are a kind of center of artistic life in Zadar.

The church of St. Simeon dominates the eastern part of the historic core of the city. In 1936 a University with all accompanying rights was established in the monastery of St. Dominic. This is the oldest university in Croatia.

The first public promenade in Dalmatia was constructed on the embankments of the Grimani bastion. This park together with the stone-paved Five Wells square, the Medieval tower and the city walls makes up a whole and is one of the most picturesque areas of Zadar. To the south of the Grimani bastion where we now have the promenade are the monumental Land Gates which was once the main entrance into the city. They are designed by the famous Venetian architect Michele Sanmicheli and represent the most valuable monument from the Venetian period in the whole Dalmatia. Its touristic attraction Zadar creates upon the conjunction of the nautical tourism, numerous cattering establishments and lovely beaches and promenades in its close and far surrounding.