ZARA (ZADAR), ARCHDIOCESE OF. - City and archdiocese of northern Dalmatia in Croatia (Yugoslavia). It has 2,989 sq km, with a population of 130,480 inhabitants, of whom 125,480 are Catholics distributed in 100 parishes served by 70 diocesan priests and 25 regulars (Ann. Pont. 1953, p. 462). The patrons of the diocese are St. Anastasia, martyr, and St. Simeon, prophet; the patron of the city is St. Chrysogonus.
The Illyrian and Greek Ἰάδωρα, the Byzantine τὰ Διάδωρα and the Latin Inder or Indero (Italian Zara, Croatian Zadar), is mentioned as early as 384 B.C. Built on a rectangular peninsula (later cut off from the mainland, with which it was then joined by a bridge), it has before it the channel of Z., the "garden of the Adriatic." After the fall of Salona (ca. 614) it became the capital of Dalmatia and remained so until 1918. At the end of the 5th century Z. found itself under the rule of the Goths and later, around 540, under Byzantine rule; in the 8th century Z. became the chief town of the Byzantine Theme of Dalmatia and the seat of the imperial strategos. During the Byzantine-Frankish conflicts Z. sought to preserve its own autonomy. The Venetian doge and the bishop of Z., Donatus, went to Constantinople as intermediaries for peace between Charlemagne and the Byzantine emperor Nicephorus. Shortly afterward Donatus, together with the imperial strategos Paul, was sent to Charlemagne at Diedenhofen. Through the bishop Donatus, Z. received from the emperor Nicephorus the relics of St. Anastasia, martyr of Sirmium. With the Peace of Aachen (812) Z. was recognized as belonging to Byzantium. In the 10th century it found itself under the Croatian rulers who were masters of Dalmatia, and in 1000 it submitted to Venice, but already in 1204 it established its own autonomy. Subsequently it changed masters several times until in 1105 (not 1107) the Hungarian-Croatian king Coloman took possession of it. During the Fifth Crusade Z. was taken in 1202 by the Crusaders on behalf of Venice, which for this was struck with an interdict by Pope Innocent III. After long disputes between Venice and the Hungarian-Croatian rulers, with the Peace of Z. (1358) concluded between Louis the Great of Hungary and Venice, the latter renounced the city and all Dalmatia in favor of the former; in 1409, however, Z. returned once again under Venice and remained there until 12 May 1797. During the wars with the Turk (16th-17th century) Z. remained completely cut off from its hinterland, and Venice sought to hold it despite all difficulties given its great strategic and commercial importance. From 1797 to 1918 Z. was under Austria, except for the brief interlude of French rule from 1805 to 1813. From 1815 to 1918 the Dalmatian regional government had its seat there, and from 1848 also the Dalmatian Diet. The Treaty of Rapallo (12 Nov. 1920) assigned Z. to Italy, while that of Paris (10 Nov. 1947) assigned it to Yugoslavia.
From the rather democratic system under Byzantium and the Croatian rulers, Z. in the 12th-13th centuries, under the influence of Venice, passed to an aristocratic one, whereby the count, regularly sent by Venice, enjoyed the greatest powers. In the meantime the bourgeoisie also evolved with its "university" as a counterweight to the "community" of the nobles.
Z. was probably already a diocese in the 4th century. The acts of the First Synod of Salona (530) mention the bishop of Z., Andrew, but only after the middle of the 8th century is there reliable information about the diocese, which appears as a suffragan of the metropolis of Salona and later of Spalato. With a bull of 17 Oct. 1154 Pope Anastasius IV, appointing the bishop Lampridius, raised the diocese of Z. to a metropolis with the suffragan sees of Veglia, Ossero, Arbe and Lesina (the latter, however, from 1181 returned under Spalato). This elevation came about through the interest of Venice, under whose rule Z. and the said island dioceses were politically situated. Venice indeed intended to make this territory independent of Spalato, then under Hungarian-Croatian rule, also in ecclesiastical jurisdiction. This proved welcome to the Zaratines, but already the following year (1155) Z. with its suffragan sees was subjected by Pope Adrian IV to the patriarch of Grado, against which it protested in vain. Only in 1644 did the patriarch of Venice renounce all jurisdiction over Z., while nevertheless retaining the title of "Primate of Dalmatia." In 1177, during his journey from Anagni to Venice, Pope Alexander III stopped at Z., and the Lib. Pont. (II, p. 437) notes that the clergy and the people greeted the pope
"immensis laudibus et canticis altisone resonantibus in eorum sclavica lingua."
On the territory of the present archdiocese of Z. there once also existed the diocese of Zaravecchia (Biograd), where in 1059 the ancient see of Scardona had been transferred. In 1125 Zaravecchia was destroyed by the Venetians and the see transferred to Scardona, while a part of the diocese, especially the islands, passed under Z. Also the territory of the ancient diocese of Nona (v.) or Nin, established in the 9th century and a suffragan of the patriarch of Aquileia, now forms part of the diocese of Z. The bishop of Nona bore the title of "episcopus Chroatorum" or "regalis episcopus." Noted is the bishop Gregory of Nona of the 10th century, to whose name is linked the controversy over the Old Slavonic liturgical language and the dispute with the archbishop of Spalato over jurisdiction. It was definitively suppressed and annexed to the archdiocese of Z. on 30 June 1828, when with the bull Locum beati Petri the new ecclesiastical division of Dalmatia was established, whereby the archbishop of Z. then became metropolitan of all Dalmatia, while the archdioceses of Spalato and Ragusa became simple dioceses. After the annexation of Z. to Italy (1920), from 1922 the part of the diocese remaining under Yugoslavia was entrusted to the bishop of Sebenico as apostolic administrator. The metropolitan see was abolished on 22 Aug. 1932. After the Second World War the territory of the archdiocese was again united. To this day it is immediately subject to the Holy See.
Among the archbishops of Z., Ottaviano Garzadori (1624-39) excels as apostolic visitor of Dalmatia in 1624-25. The archbishop Vincenzo Zmajević (1713-45) founded in 1727 the "Seminarium Zmajoillyricum," opened however only in 1748 by his successor Matteo Karaman; in 1828 the Seminary became regional for all Dalmatia. In a large part of the archdiocese, especially on the islands, the Old Slavonic language has been in use in the liturgy from time immemorial.
Z. is rich in monuments, although its ancient walls have disappeared and the traces of Greco-Roman monuments are rather scanty. The most famous architectural monument of Z. as well as of all Dalmazia for the early Middle Ages is the church of St. Donatus, today transformed into a museum. Built on a circular plan, it was originally dedicated to the Most Holy Trinity. The period of construction is not certain, but tradition traces it back to the time of Bishop Donatus (beginning of the 9th century) and some (C. Iveković) even to the end of the 6th – beginning of the 7th century, with the baptistery near the cathedral of St. Anastasia. The two constructions are classified among the contemporary Byzantine-Ravenna buildings. The Romanesque cathedral of St. Anastasia, of the 13th century, rises on the same spot as the ancient basilica of St. Peter, destroyed by the Crusaders in 1202, and possesses many paintings by various authors (6 paintings by Carpaccio). The relics of St. Anastasia are preserved in a marble urn (beginning of the 9th century, or end of the 8th century). In the Treasury there is, among other things, the reliquary casket of St. Chrysogonus (1326). The basilica of St. Chrysogonus (12th century) as well, once a Benedictine abbey, is in the Romanesque style. The church of St. Mary of the Benedictine monastery (with its bell tower on which is carved the name of King Coloman of the year 1105) is a Renaissance construction. The monastery possesses a collection of ancient documents. In the church of St. Simeon the Prophet the ark of the Saint is preserved, in cypress wood, covered with silver with decorations. The church of St. Francis of the Franciscans dates back to the 13th century (it was transformed later) and possesses paintings by Carpaccio, by Palma the Younger, by S. Ricci and others. Famous is the Byzantine cross dating back at least to the 11th century. There are also preserved there 10 illuminated manuscript codices of the 13th-15th centuries. Among the secular buildings of Z. one notices many palaces in the Venetian style. The museum of St. Donatus (founded in 1877) possesses a collection of Roman glass, found in the tombs of Dalmatia. The Paravia Library, today the Scientific Library, has numerous manuscripts. A great part of the artistic buildings mentioned have been seriously damaged or destroyed as a result of the bombardments during the Second World War.
Z. is the birthplace of many men of letters and artists, among them Georgius Dalmaticus (known as Giorgio da Sebenico), and Pietro Zoranić. - See plate CLX.
Bibliography20 works
Ivan Vitezić