The Restoration of the Zadar Sphinx is Underway

This stunning monumental beauty, built by the Zadar conservator and painter Giovanni Smirich, Ivan Smirić, has been ignored for decades in an equally neglected environment of Maestral Bay park and is screaming out for restoration. This will finally occur through the RECOLOR Project, carried out by the City of Zadar and their partners. 

- The renovation refers explicitly to the restoration work of the sphinx sculpture, which will be carried out during March based on a previously designed Conservation and Restoration Study. In addition to restoring the sphinx missing and damaged parts, the drainage of water and sea accumulated in the shell in front of the sphinx is being improved. This element, unearthed during archaeological research, initially, a hundred years ago, had better drainage and connection to the sea. Over time, the terrain was filled between the sphinx and the sea, and a road was built, destroying the original drainage system. Therefore, it is necessary to solve drainage through pipelines and prevent long-term stagnation of the same water in the shell, so the project of solving this problem is also ongoing - explained Dina Bušić, head of the Administrative Department for Culture and Sports of Zadar.

The Event in the Park

We find out that consultations with the competent Conservation Department will be held in February, followed by material acquisition. Then concrete fieldwork will start and be completed during March. Therefore, as part of the RECOLOR project, the sphinx itself will be restored and sanitized. In parallel with the restoration work on the sphinx sculpture, the City of Zadar will finance the repair of the fence wall with the road (Obala kneza Trpimira).

- The creation of project-technical documentation for the park landscaping is in progress, which, along with some experts, will be done by Ms Mirna Petricioli, the best connoisseur of Zadar's historic parks. After the restoration work and before the project completion, in an event, the residents will socialize and be informed of what has been done in the park. Creative workshops will also be held - said Bušić.

The restoration of the sphinx was approached very thoughtfully and thoroughly since several important activities had been done. These included research and scientific work, laboratory testing of material composition, microscopic and endoscopic scanning, laboratory testing of qualitative and quantitative concentrations of harmful soluble salts, laboratory testing of colour pigments, infrared thermo-graphic scanning of the outer coat and material of the sphinx sculpture and some other things. 

As part of this phase, research of archival and historical documentation was done, as well as 3D scanning and shaping the original historical model according to the available historical documentation, on which, as an expert associate, Antonija Mlikota PhD, an art historian from the University of Zadar worked. Based on the results and conclusions, a study was made that serves as a basis for the work carried out in the next phase of the project.

- In parallel with this research, an archaeological survey was conducted (the University of Zadar, Department of Archeology) to determine the condition of those parts of the sculpture visible in old photographs but not found on the ground – Ms Bušić said. 

Promotion 

A bilingual website (Croatian and English) has been created to promote the site, where we have finally gathered all reliable historical information about this monument, about Villa Attila, and the park next to it and the constructor of the complex, Zadar conservator and artist Giovanni Smirich. The website also contains numerous original photographs and information about access to the site, a green land registry of the park's flora fund, and a 3D model of a sphinx. The project also assumed its own visual identity, which will be used to produce promotional materials such as T-shirts, maps and bags.

An excellent introduction to the presentation of the project was the recent exhibition of photographs by Aleksandar Bonačić, "Sphinx's memories", in the church of St. Donat. Since the meaning and primary goal of the RECOLOR project is precisely the valorization of the Zadar sphinx site in terms of tourism, certain activities have been done in this direction. 

 - The City of Zadar organized a two-day seminar for tourist guides and other employees in tourism to promote the site in the best possible way. The association Let's Interpret Croatia, part of the Interpret Europe association, was entrusted with conducting the seminar. This institution deals precisely with encouraging excellence and efficiency in interpreting Croatian natural and cultural heritage. Along with exercising a modern approach to interpreting monuments, The seminar gave Zadar guides and heads of tourist agencies a thematic walk created by a project employee, a licensed tourist guide and an art historian. The walk included the phenomena of Brodarica (barkajoli (boat-ride men), školjera ( breakwater), bitve (bollards), villas and especially the garden of the villa Attila with a sphinx. A brochure with information about the sphinx and a route map was also published, which presents the sights of Brodarica and which will offer the same thematic walk to Zadar guests starting this summer. It will be available in tourist offices - our host revealed.

A map of the walking route from the Peninsula is available here.

A video promoting the essential elements of the part of the city called Brodarica with several vital interlocutors, who in different ways see and represent parts of the history and present can be seen underneath.