Gold and Silver of Zadar

A permanent exhibition of ecclesiastical art housed in the restored complex of the Benedictine convent of Saint Mary, opened in 1976. Spread across three floors of the convent, the exhibition displays reliquaries, chalices, triptychs, goldsmith and silversmith works, and stone fragments created between the 8th and 18th centuries. Among the most notable items are the reliquary of Saint Nediljica from the 11th century and early medieval processional crosses. The collection is still kept by the Benedictine nuns of the neighboring convent, who safeguarded it even during the bombing raids of World War II — which is why it survived intact.