Zara

"Zadar o Zara (en latín: Iadera; en húngaro: Zára) es una ciudad de la región de Dalmacia en la moderna Croacia. Capital del condado de Zadar, en el centro del país y enfrente de las islas Ugljan y Paman, de las que está separada por el estrecho de Zadar. Tiene 85.000 habitantes."

"Zadar (pronounced [zâdar]; see other names) is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serves as the seat of Zadar County and the wider northern Dalmatian region. The city proper covers 25 km2 (9.7 sq mi) with a population of 75,082 in 2011, making it the fifth largest city in the country. The area of present-day Zadar traces earliest evidence of human life from the late Stone Age, while numerous settlements have been dated as early as the Neolithic. Before the Illyrians, the area was inhabited by an ancient Mediterranean people of a pre-Indo-European culture. Zadar traces its origin to its 4th century BC founding as a settlement of the Illyrian tribe of Liburnians known as Iader. In 59 BC it was renamed Iadera when it become Roman municipium, and in 48 BC, Roman colonia. It was during the Roman rule that Zadar got characteristics of a traditional Ancient Roman city with a regular road network, a public square - forum, and an elevated capitolium with a temple. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and the destruction of Salona by the Avars and Slavs in 614, Zadar become the capital of the Byzantine theme of Dalmatia in the 7th century. In the beginning of 9th century, Zadar came under short Frankish rule, and was returned to the Byzantines by the Pax Nicephori in year 812. First Croatian rulers gained control over the city in 10th century. In 1202, Zadar was conquered and burned by the Republic of Venice who was helped by the Crusaders. Croats again regained control over the city in 1358, when it was given to the Croatian-Hungarian king Louis I. In 1409, king Ladislaus I sold Zadar to the Venetians. When the Turks conquered the Zadar hinterland at the beginning of the 16th century, the town became an important stronghold ensuring Venetian trade in the Adriatic, the administrative center of the Venetian territories in Dalmatia and a cultural center. During this time, many famous Croatian writers, such as Petar Zorani, Brne Krnaruti, Juraj Barakovi and ime Budini, wrote in the Croatian language. After the fall of Venice in 1797, Zadar came under the Austrian rule until 1918, except for the period of short-term French rule (18051813), still remaining the capital of Dalmatia. During the French rule, first newspaper in the Croatian language Il Regio Dalmata Kraglski Dalmatin, was published in Zadar (18061810). During the 19th century, Zadar was a center of the Croatian movement for cultural and national revival. With the Treaty of Rapallo, which was signed in 1920, Zadar fell under Italian rule, and after the World War II, during which it was heavily destroyed by the Allies, it was brought back to Croatia whose armed forces defended it in October 1991 from the Serb rebels who aimed to capture it. Today, Zadar is a historical center of Dalmatia, Zadar County's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, educational, and transportation centre. In addition, Zadar is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Zadar."