Five Wells Square
On Gingerguide's self-guided Zadar audio tour, Five Wells Square is a stop worth about ~20 min. Stand in front of it, press play for a short narrated story, and put any follow-up question to the built-in AI guide.
- Type historic
- Suggested visit ~20 min
- Zadar Zadar guide
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About Five Wells Square
A row of five stone wellheads over a great Venetian cistern, dug to keep Zadar in water through Ottoman sieges. Beside it rise the medieval Captain's Tower and a little hilltop park often called Croatia's oldest.
Five Wells Square, Trg pet bunara, takes its name from a line of five stone wellheads set over a huge underground cistern. The Venetians built it in the 1570s, on the site of a filled-in moat, so that the fortress of Zadar could hold out through an Ottoman siege, and the wells supplied the city with drinking water until 1838.
At one end rises the Captain's Tower, a pentagonal bastion with a thirteenth-century core, said to be the only survivor of ten towers that once studded the walls, now used for exhibitions. Above the square lies the little Queen Jelena Madijevka Park, laid out on a bastion in the early nineteenth century and often called the oldest public park in Croatia, with views from the old ramparts.
Did you know? Five Wells Square is named for five stone wellheads set over a large cistern the Venetians built in the 1570s, on a filled-in moat, so Zadar could survive an Ottoman siege; the wells supplied the city's water until 1838.
How much time do you need at Five Wells Square?
Around ~20 min works well for Five Wells Square — time to look properly and listen to its story on the spot. Linger if you like; nothing on a self-guided walk is on a clock.
Should you stop at Five Wells Square?
Yes — Five Wells Square made the cut as one of 13 places the Gingerguide team researched and narrated across Zadar. The story tells you why it is worth the stop, and the AI guide fills in anything you still wonder.
Nearby stops in Zadar
Day 1 of the Zadar in 2 days itinerary →
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Hear the story of Five Wells Square
Preview the Zadar tour free in the Gingerguide app.