Genesis of the City of Zadar at Petar Zoranić Square

U radu autori donose rezultate arheoloških istraživanja provedenih 2006. i 2007. godine na Trgu Petra Zoranića u Zadru. U odnosu na dosadašnje spoznaje, koje baštinimo s početka 20. stoljeća, najnovija su istraživanja pružila cijeli niz novih i potpunijih saznanja i tumačenja. Definiran je kompletan fortifikacijski sustav ulaznog prostora s kopnene (jugoistočne) strane zadarskog poluotoka od antike do kasnog srednjeg vijeka. Ustanovljeno je nekoliko glavnih razvojnih faza među kojima su ostatci ranocarskog bedema i monumentalnih antičkih gradskih vrata s bočnom oktogonalnom kulom, propugnakula iz 4. stoljeća, kasnoantičkog bedema, srednjovjekovnog bedema iz kraja 11. i početka 12. stoljeća, te vrata iz 13. stoljeća. Izvršeno je i revizijsko istraživanje ranosrednovjekovne crkve Sv. Petra kod Vitla.In 2006 and 2007, during the construction of a new infrastructural network, archaeological investigations were conducted at Petar Zoranić Square in Zadar. The investigations were conducted by the Archaeological Museum in Zadar, headed by Ivo Fadić, for the purpose of protecting the archaeological remains which had been confirmed in the area by archaeological excavations carried out back in 1908 (probing by J. Berse). The latest archaeological investigations offered a whole range of new, more complete findings and interpretations with regard to previous notions, based on the results of archaeological excavations from the early 20th century. Namely, the complete fortification system of the entrance area located on the mainland’s (south) side of the peninsula of Zadar was defined. Several major development stages were established, including the remains of Early Christian fortification walls with the stone threshold of the city gates (arch) with an octagonal side tower, a propugnaculum from the 4th century AD, the remains of late Roman fortification walls (5th to 6th centuries AD), and the medieval defensive walls and city gates from the 13th century AD. Among other things, a revising excavation was carried out on the early medieval church of St Peter, located on the west side of the Roman octagonal tower. Medieval inhumation burials and a number of new elements crucial to the dating of the sacred building were recovered inside and around the church