Stone Bridges and Town Gates

Why it is worth your time

Nin's stone bridges are the loveliest entrance into a Croatian story: the old core lies on an islet amid the lagoon, so the town is entered, as centuries ago, over two low stone bridges, through the Lower town gate from the south or over the bridge at the Upper gate from the northeast. The crossing is short but does a great job: a few steps over the water suffice to leave traffic, noise and the present on the mainland, while on the islet stone takes over, agaves by the walls and the rhythm of a place that once was a capital and today has fewer inhabitants than an average city street.

From the bridges open the best views of the lagoon: the shallow water changes colours with the tide, fish are seen with the naked eye, and boats lie anchored as in naive paintings. The gates are modest, without triumphal gestures, for Nin was never a town of force but a town of continuity. Cross both bridges, for each tells its own: the southern leads straight into the main street toward the Holy Cross, the northern into the quieter part of the core. And pause in the middle: half town, half lagoon, the whole of Nin in one glance.