【Grand Balkan Peninsula Tour in Europe, Part 25: Zadar's Symphony of Time

【Grand Balkan Peninsula Tour in Europe, Part 25: Symphony of Time and Space – On the Three-Thousand-Year-Old Steps of Civilization in Zadar, Croatia】 Prologue: Through the Land Gate, Knocking on Three Thousand Years of Time and Space Zadar's Land Gate is the ceremonial starting point for entering the Old Town. On the arch built by the Venetians in 1543 with milky white Istrian stone, St. Mark's winged lion overlooks, with Zadar's coat of arms embedded beneath its claws; the equestrian statue of the patron saint St. Chrysogonus in the center of the lintel, with battle scars on his armor alluding to the smoke of the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. My fingertips traced the cool Roman foundation of the arch – a remnant from 59 BC when Caesar designated this place as a municipality. Suddenly, I realized: this city gate is a layered history book: with Roman brickwork at the bottom, Venetian reliefs in the middle, and Austro-Hungarian plaster repairs at the top. The moment I stepped through the gate, the sea breeze carried the intermittent low hum of an organ, as if the overture of time and space was crescendoing in my ears. First Movement: Sea Organ Steps, A Fugue of Nature and Civilization On the shores of the Adriatic Sea, crowds gathered like tides on the coastal steps. The 70-meter-long milky white marble steps seemed ordinary, but when waves surged into the 35 polyethylene sound pipes at the bottom of the steps, the sea instantly transformed into an organist – chords of F-sharp major and B-flat minor undulated with the waves, sometimes melancholic like Byzantine chants, sometimes joyful like Dalmatian folk songs. The Birth of an Acoustic Wonder: The Sea Organ is a coastal acoustic installation designed by Croatian architect Nikola Bašić. Inspired by his childhood memories of listening to the waves, he buried 7 sets of organ pipes in the sea. Each set contains 5 pipes with varying diameters from 1.5 to 10 centimeters. The pressure differences from wave surges create 7 chords across a pentatonic scale. It was awarded the "European Prize for Urban Public Space" and completed in 2005. Its main body is a 70-meter-long white marble staircase, with 35 sets, totaling 175 organ pipes, cleverly installed inside. When the tide rises and falls, the resulting air pressure changes cause these organ pipes to emit beautiful music, as if the sea is playing a natural symphony. Every note is full of vitality, intertwined with the sound of crashing waves and the whistling of the sea breeze, forming a unique and harmonious melody. Sitting on the stone steps, I quietly listened to this sound from the depths of the sea, and a strange emotion welled up in my heart. This was not just an auditory pleasure, but also a wonderful experience of intimate contact with nature. Here, humans and nature are no longer independent entities, but are integrated, jointly creating this magnificent musical feast. Second Movement: Dialogue Between the Circle of Light and Roman Columns East of the Sea Organ, the 22-meter-diameter "Greeting to the Sun" installation awakens at dusk. The sunlight absorbed by 300 photovoltaic glass panels is converted into electricity, and 10,000 LED lights gradually illuminate, with blue and purple light streams swirling like a stellar halo. It is a circular solar glass panel that fully collects the sun's energy during the day, and at night, radiates a strange and captivating brilliance. Countless lights flicker and change, as if paying homage to the sun, and also telling the story of this city. People were drawn to this beautiful sight, taking out their cameras to capture memories. Everyone's faces were filled with surprise and admiration. At this moment, words seemed superfluous; everyone was immersed in this dreamlike world of light and shadow. Turning, I stepped into the Roman Forum, where broken Corinthian columns cast long shadows in the light. This largest forum on the eastern Adriatic coast, overseen by Emperor Augustus in the 1st century BC, now has scattered altar fragments: the ankle of a Jupiter statue, a relief of Medusa's head, and a stone mortar for sacrificial animal blood. My fingertips touched the altar's grooves, and I vaguely heard the clamor of 5th-century crowds watching Christians smash pagan idols here – the violence and creation of civilizational shifts are solidified here as etchings on marble. Third Movement: A Poetic Saga of Power Beneath Church Domes St. Donatus Church: From Wine Cellar to Music Sanctuary. This 9th-century Byzantine-style domed church is renowned for its peculiar acoustic effects. Standing in the center and shouting upwards, sound waves bounce seven times between the double stone walls, with echoes like an angelic chorus. In the 15th century, the Venetians converted it into a granary, and in the 19th century, the Austro-Hungarian Empire used it as an armory. Today, it serves as the main venue for the International Festival of Medieval Music. Tracing the fragments of Roman reliefs embedded in the walls, I suddenly understood: this building itself was an instrument of power, playing variations on conquerors and faith. St. Anastasia Cathedral: A Hybrid Epic in Stone. The facade of Dalmatia's largest Catholic church is a gallery of architectural history: with Romanesque blind arches at the bottom, Gothic rose windows in the middle, and Baroque volutes at the top. From the top of the bell tower, overlooking the entire city, the orange-red roof tiles stretch like scales, and in the distance, the 16th-century city walls jaggedly cut into the turquoise sea – a "Great Wall of the Sea" built by the Venetians to defend against the Ottoman fleet. Interlude: Stepping into the Old Town's Time Tunnel Stepping into Zadar's Old Town is like entering a time tunnel, instantly transported back to the distant past. Here, the remnants of an ancient Roman city are perfectly preserved. The ancient cobblestone streets, though weathered by a thousand years of wind and rain and trodden by countless feet, remain solid. Walking on them, one can clearly feel the weight and vicissitudes of history. Imagining a thousand years ago, Roman Empire soldiers marching in neat formations, carriages traversing the streets, and markets bustling with activity, a vibrant tableau of ancient Roman life slowly unfolds before my eyes. The fortifications of the Venetian Republic, meanwhile, bear witness to Zadar's significant strategic importance throughout history. Those sturdy city walls and fortresses seem to silently guard the city, showing people the past conflicts and the trials of time. Standing on the city walls, overlooking the Adriatic Sea, with the sea breeze caressing my face, I seemed to hear the roar of ancient warships and the shouts of soldiers. The architecture of the Habsburg Monarchy, in turn, added elegance and luxury to Zadar. These buildings boast unique styles, blending various elements such as Baroque and Rococo, with exquisite carvings and decorations fully displaying royal grandeur. Strolling among these buildings, it's as if I could see scenes of nobles holding grand balls and banquets here in the past, and feel the prosperity and romance of that era. Epilogue: Sleepless Tides, A Testament to Enduring Civilization The sea breeze grew stronger, and the sound of waves roared like thunder. Three millennia of tides have washed over Illyrian docks, Roman warship anchorages, and Crusader sails, and now, they transform into a G major melody within the organ pipes beneath the steps. This ancient city has long understood the wisdom of survival: like the Sea Organ, by embracing the impact of waves, it can transform violence into poetry.