Zadar was the first city I visited in Croatia, in the middle of the pandemic, so I was able to enjoy the city without crowds.

The city of Zadar itself is already very beautiful both for its location facing the sea and for its architecture, the area of ​​the Roman Forum, with the Cathedral and the remains of Roman and pre-Roman ruins around it, are places that deserve an inscription. 

I visited zadar a couple years ago and tbh at the time I was a bit underwhelmed. I expected quite a bit of the city and It didn't fullfill. The Fortifications pale in comparison to those of Dubrovnik, the city has way less charm than sibenik and the Roman remains are almost inexistent. Nevertheless It is a nice city, with a pleasant old town, a very interesting church, a surprising Cathedral and an impressive set of fortifications.

In fact, Zadar IS already part of the whl as a component of venetian works of defence owing to those impressive fortifications. However, the new proposal, far from an extension, would requiere a completely new site, whose main Focus would probably be croatian preromanesque.

The church of st donatus, as pointed out by the state, is the main component of the site and clearly its most valuable asset. There's only a couple dozen preromanesque churches in Europe and st donatus is not only quite unique and big, but also acclaimed as the best example of the croatian regional a style, which is not represented in the list. The rest of the proposal includes several interesting buildings in the old town, chief among them the grande romanesque Cathedral.

Now, the list already has plenty of preromanesque churches, mostly carolingian, but also asturian and lombard. Croatia also has plenty more churches which could be included in a "croatian preromanesque" proposal (which IS imo the best way to represent these sites which are …

Zadar is already on the World Heritage list, or at least its fortifications are as part of the Venetian Works of Defense serial site. Additionally, a collection of buildings and points of interest in the center of the old town may be up for inscription in the next couple of years. The group includes the Cathedral of Saint Anastasia, the church of Saint Donatus, the Roman Forum, the monastery of Saint Mary, the archaeological museum of Zadar, and a few other structures. On a recent visit to Zadar, I explored the first three, and looked from the outside on all others.

The Forum is not too large, clearly laid out in patterns that suggest its museum-like design, free to walk through, and draws a significant part of its appeal purely due to its location at the focal point of the town. Saint Anastasia, whose façade opens on a small square away from the Forum, is very reminiscent of a typical Romanesque cathedral found in a midsize Italian town; the cathedral’s interior is no more than just ok; the reliefs and the stonework of its portals are probably the most impressive features here. The cathedral tower is fairly easy to climb and the views from the top are quite worth the effort. The round church of Saint Donatus is almost entirely empty, but the reliefs and the column capitals are quite beautiful, although not necessarily worth the entry fee.

None of these sights raise to the level of exceptional …

The Episcopal complex of Zadar includes the Roman forum, the cathedral of St. Anastasia, the archbishop’s palace, the church of St. Donatus, the Zmajevic seminary, the orthodox church of St. Elias, the Benedictine nunnery with the church of St. Mary and several other buildings / museums. The central point of this site is the main square with the ruins of the roman forum and the church of St. Donatus, with rotunda shape, with the cathedral tower on its side. The site is a fine and esthetic ensemble. St. Donatus and the cathedral are historical masterpieces. However, Croatia will have to make efforts in justifying the OUV and uniqueness of this place compared to other religious ensembles in the country. Extending the site to include the whole Zadar historic center would maybe be a possibility to explore considering the rich Venetian heritage also existing in the town in addition to Roman and Christian buildings.