TROGIR

Italian Trau, port in Dalmatia in Croatia, sited on an island in the Adriatic Sea and connected by a bridge to the mainland and to the island of Ciovo. It was colonized as Tragurion by Syracusan Greeks c. 385 BC and became a part of the Eastern, or Byzantine, Empire in the 6th century AD. Croatians, Normans, Venetians, and Bosnians were among rulers of the region for the next 1,400 years, and Trogir became a part of the new Yugoslav state in 1920. Kamerlengo Castle and St. Mark's tower survive from the Venetian period. The Cathedral of St. Lawrence, Gothic in style with Renaissance additions, is regarded as among the most beautiful in Dalmatia. The town is the site of one of Croatia's major shipbuilding yards. Pop. (1981) 8,588.