Five Wells Square (Trg Pet Bunara)

One of Zadar's most enchanting corners, the Five Wells Square is exactly what its name suggests — a small elevated plaza directly behind the Land Gate containing five identical stone well-heads perfectly aligned in a row, all dating from 1574. When the Venetians rebuilt Zadar's landward defences during the Ottoman wars they filled in an old defensive moat and built a huge underground cistern beneath the resulting platform to supply the city with drinking water during siege; the five wells provided access to that cistern and served Zadar's population for over 300 years. The plaza is bordered on one side by a fragment of the medieval city walls (with an atmospheric arched passageway leading to the Foša harbour) and on the other by the neat green expanse of the Queen Jelena Madijevka Park — laid out in 1829 as the first public park in Croatia. The city's oldest surviving Venetian bastion, the Grimani Bastion, rises above the park with lovely walking paths to the top for panoramic views. This is the perfect spot for a shady summer picnic in Zadar's oldest urban green space, and the small café at the park's edge serves the city's best homemade lemonade with mint from the park garden.