The Providur’s Palace

The Providur’s Palace is the most recently renovated part of an integrated architectural complex in the historic center of Zadar. Together with the previously renovated Rector’s Palace, it now forms a new city institution, Two Palaces. This newborn nexus of art and culture, a contemporary intervention within the renovated historical landmarks, stretches over an area of ten thousand square meters. The complex has been envisioned as a cultural living room for the city of Zadar, as well as a significant center of art and culture in the national context.
The renovation of today’s Two Palaces was a gradual process: the renovation of the Rector’s Palace was executed between 2014 and 2017, whereas the renovation of the Providur’s Palace as an independent unit, started in 2019 and was brought to an end at the beginning of this year. The renovation was part of a bigger overall project entitled “Zadar Heritage – Integrated Cultural Program of the City of Zadar 2020”. The renovated palaces now form a well-connected complex while the final functional unification into a single entity will be completed within the scheduled third phase of the project.

The renovated Providur’s Palace opened its doors to the public in April 2022 and the official recognition of architectural excellency immediately followed: the architects Iva Letilović and Igor Pedišić received the two most important national prizes for architecture, the Annual Viktor Kovačić Award, awarded by the Croatian Architect’s Association for the most successful achievement in all areas of architectural design, and the Vladimir Nazor Award, awarded by the Croatian Ministry of Culture and Media for the greatest artistic achievement in the category of architecture and urbanism in the current year.