Following several months of careful restoration, the spectacular and much-loved Zadar monument ‘Greeting To The Sun’ is ready to welcome the warming rays of spring. The shoreline art installation was seriously damaged by a vandal in 2019. The mutilation caused by an inexplicable attack on the much-loved Zadar monument has taken time and care to put right.
The much-loved Zadar monument at sunset © zadar.hr
Greeting To The Sun is a seafront Zadar monument by architect Nikola Bašić. 22 metres in diameter and sitting at the entrance to the port on the western point of the Zadar peninsula, it is the perfect place to catch the Zadar sunset. As the light fades, the Zadar monument comes alive – lighting elements located within create a light show. It has become a popular focal point for tourists to visit and is equally loved by the city’s residents and its university student community.
It is not the only Zadar monument to sit at this spot on the port peninsula. Representing the sun, it is surrounded by smaller discs which represent the other planets in our solar system. It is also just next to the Sea Organ Zagreb monument, which reacts to the ebbing tide. While the Sea Organ communicates using sound, Greeting To The Sun does so using light.
Greeting To The Sun © Böhringer Friedrich
Monuments, statues and public art live precarious existences in every country, including Croatia. Their survival often depends on the prevailing political ideals of the time and those who hold power in any country. Other pieces of public art, like this Zadar monument and Zagreb’s own impressive sun-inspired works, are sadly at risk of mindless acts of vandalism. Such selfish and immature behaviour is perhaps the most sorrowing and difficult to understand.
To try and safeguard the future of this Zadar monument and its precious neighbours, the newly-restored Greeting To The Sun will be monitored by CCTV. With the introduction of the cameras, tourists soon will not be the only ones watching the sunset at this unforgettable vantage point.
