Phot-o' the Day: the Land Gate; Zadar, Croatia

This is the Kopnena Vrata, the Land Gate, the land entrance into the Old Town section of Zadar, Croatia.

It was built in 1543. The decoration, specifically the winged lion top and center, evidences the centuries of Venetian influence over Zadar. Well to the south, beautiful Dubrovnik, then known as the Republic of Ragusa, was able to keep out the Venetians and maintain its independence. Meanwhile, throughout the late Middle Ages and into the Renaissance Era, the Venetians controlled the rest of Croatia's Dalmatian coast. In fact, the Italians continued to hold this little enclave on the Eastern Adriatic coast, which they misnamed Zara, until 1947. Zadar then was finally released from the clutches of Italy, freed from its talons, and attached to the Croatia section of the former Yugoslavia.

Visited September 2014.