Trogir - Cathedral of St. Lawrence

Trogir was founded by Greek colonists in the 3rd century BC. In Roman times this was an important harbour town. From the 9th century on Trogir was under Croatian rule and later part of the Byzantine empire. A diocese was established in the 11th century, in 1107 the Hungarian-Croatian King Coloman ("The Bookish", "Kálmán Könyves") granted the autonomy.

Saracen troops conquered Trogir in 1123 and demolished most of it. From 1420 upto 1797 Trogir belonged to the Republic of Venice. For a short while it belonged to the Napoleonic kingdom of Italy, but upto 1918 Trogir was part of the Habsburg Empire.

Trogir is more than 2000 years old. It grew under the influence of the ancient Greeks, the Romans, and the Venetians... Trogir's medieval core, surrounded by walls, comprises (about 10) churches, houses and palaces from the Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque periods.

Since 1997 the centre of Trogir is a "UNESCO World Heritage Site".

The Cathedral of St. Lawrence was erected from 1213 on the foundations of cathedral destroyed by the Saracens in 1123. Most of the work was done in the 13th century.

This cathedral is world wide known for Master Radovan´s portal. The portal was carved by the local architect and sculptor Master Radovan (and his workshop). It was completed and signed by Radovan in 1240.

Here are the two sides of the portal. The door posts are decorated with reliefs and two carved columns with scenes of hunting and beasts.

The sides of the columns, that flank the doors, are decorated with scenes of people and animals entangled by tendrils. There are hunting scenes but as well strange, exotic and mythical creatures.

As there is a mermaid (one of the previous uploads), this centaur is no surprise. Centaurs seem to be the arch enemies of mermaids.