Zadar has had its ups and downs through the ages, and over time this beautiful city by the sea suffered grave wounds at the hands of the same factions that aspired to control it. However, today's Zadar seems to have shaken off most of its injuries, though the healing process is ongoing. Despite frequent reconstruction, Zadar remains an ancient city brimming with more than 3,000 years of history and culture. Like most cities on the Dalmatian coast, Zadar evolved from a prehistoric settlement to an Illyrian village to a Roman municipality, and to many other incarnations involving administrative changes and foreign assaults that finally ended with the city's liberation and reunion with Croatia in 1993. Zadar is first mentioned in 9th-century writings as the residence of Bishop Donat, the cleric who built the Church of the Holy Trinity in the former Roman Forum, remains of which lie next to the cathedral. Today that 9th-century church is known as St. Donatus to honor Bishop Donat, and it has become the city's symbol. After the construction of St. Donatus, many other churches were built in Zadar, making it a center of Roman Catholicism. When Venice tried to capture every city on the Dalmatian coast starting in the late 10th century (it finally succeeded in the 15th), Zadar fought back harder than any other municipality under attack. From 1096 to 1346, Zadar was conquered and liberated an incredible seven times and taken over six times until it was sold in 1409 to Ve
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