Cartographic heritage in the Zadar (Croatia)

In Zadar, one of the oldest and most important cultural and scientific centers in the Republic of Croatia there are numerous institutions which, among else also preserve valuable cartographic heritage. Since for centuries this city had been the administrative centre of Dalmatia, that is the whole South Croatia, which generated various needs of regional administration entities, courts, army, shipping companies, Church, schools and others, a part of important cartographic resources is preserved in Zadar. Due to the efforts of civilian and church authorities and more prominent individuals, it originated mostly from European cartographic centers, but some of the maps were also made in Zadar. The biggest number of old maps, atlases and globes are preserved in the Zadar State Archive and in the Research Library Zadar. Part of the cartographic materials is also preserved in the Archbishopric Library, in the Monastery of St. Francis but also in other monastery collections in Zadar and in Zadar region. Cartographic heritage encompasses cartographic representations of several hundreds units dating back to the 16th century. Most of the cartographic representations show Zadar, certain parts of Dalmatia, the whole Croatian coast and the Adriatic, and there are also comprehensive cartographic works representing the entire – at th