allow cistern in the middle. The round tower to the north-west dates
from 1378, when the Dalmatian towns were allied with Genoa against
Venice, and Trau was the _rendezvous_. The walls are battlemented, the
octagonal angle towers have had machicolations (tolerably well preserved
on one of them), and above each of the two entrances is a projecting
defensive work of the same kind.

[Illustration: THE PORTA S. GIOVANNI, TRAU

_To face page 266_]

A few discoveries have been made of pre-mediaeval things. In 1899, some
half-mile towards Spalato, two terra-cotta urns were found, one of which
had been mended with straps of lead. It contained seven bits of a
statuette of Bacchus, which have been put together, and three bits of a
larger figure. They are now in the museum at Spalato. In 1903, remains
of an early church were excavated on the mainland, close to the
wooden bridge which crosses the isolating arm of the sea, bringing to
light a mosaic pavement, part of the apse, and one column. It was
probably part of a cemetery basilica of the fifth or sixth century, just
outside the ancient wall of Tragurium. Two Christian inscriptions of the
fifth century have been found near, upon one of which are the words
"sancta ecclesia"; and close by was discovered the torso of a prisoner
of war, apparently Roman work. Close to the cistern is the reversed
cover of an antique sarcophagus, and part of the front of another with a
sixth-century cross. A curious custom still existing suggests a
traditional memory of the site of the ancient cemetery. On Holy Thursday
the Confraternity, after visiting the churches in the town, and that of
the cemetery (about half a mile away), returns to the cistern, and,
gathering round it, prays for the dead.

At one time there were twenty-one churches in the city. Those of S.
Nicolo and S. Barbara are early. S. Nicolo (formerly S. Doimo) was
founded in 1064 by Giovanni Orsini for ladies of noble descent, but
little remains to show its age. There is said to be a Greek fragment of
the third century B.C. in the court of the convent. Two early caps in
the entrance portico appear to belong to the period of foundation.

[Illustration: PLAN AND SECTIONS, S. BARBARA, TRAU]

S. Barbara was originally dedicated to S. Martin, but the name was
changed when the altar from the church of S. Barbara was brought here
during the Turkish siege of 1537; it is mentioned in 1194. It is the
most ancient church in Trau, and the li