Zaton

Zaton, a village on the coast of the Zaton bay in the Zadar Channel, 3 km south of Nin.

Chief occupations are farming, viticulture, fruit growing, vegetable farming, livestock breeding, seafaring and tourism. In the winter, the village is exposed to the strong bora; in thesummer, the landward breeze makes summer heat more comfortable. Zaton is located on the local road, a branch of the regional road Zadar - Nin.  

In the prehistoric times, this was a region of Illyrian Liburnians (stylized female figures). The remains of Roman structures have been found in the village, as well as the remains of the Roman port belonging to Aenona (Nin) and the remains of the early Christian church of St. Andrew with three apses. The early Croatian town was located northwest of the present-day Zaton and it was destroyed in 1646 by the Venetians, when theyalso burnt down Nin; the remains of the three-nave mediaeval church of St. Andrew (Sv. Jadrija).

West of the village are the preserved remains of a two-storey tower (Kastelina), which was commissioned by Hanibal Cirysagus in 1593. - Between Zaton and Nin, in the middle of the Prahu-lje Field, on a large Illyrian grave-mound, stands the early Croatian church of St. Nicholas from the 11th century; its shape is round with three semicircular and one rectangular niches, the dome bearing evident traces of the Romanesque style (doors and transversal arches in the interior). During the time of the Ottoman wars an observation post was built into the dome.