The Sea Organ, Zadar

At the end of Zadar's old town peninsula, the seafront descends into the water as a broad flight of white marble steps. Beneath them, architect Nikola Bašić installed thirty-five polymer pipes tuned to a set of chords, and the movement of the sea pushes air through them and out through slits in the stone. The result is a slow, unpredictable, minor-key drone that changes with the swell: quiet in calm weather, insistent when a ferry passes and the wake arrives. It opened in 2005, and beside it Bašić added Greeting to the Sun, a circle of glass plates set flush into the pavement that collect solar energy through the day and put on a shifting light display after dark. The steps have become the place Zadar gathers at sunset, which Alfred Hitchcock reportedly called the most beautiful in the world.

The main sights

• The Sea Organ - sit on the steps and listen; the sound changes completely with the swell.
• Greeting to the Sun - the illuminated glass circle beside it, which comes alive after dark.
• Sunset from the steps - the reason the waterfront fills every evening in season.
• The Roman forum and St Donatus - a circular ninth-century church on the old Roman square nearby.

When to go

Sunset, in any season. The organ sounds best when there is some swell, so a breezy day gives more than a flat calm. Winter evenings are cold but nearly empty, and the sound carries better without crowds.

Practical notes

In calm weather the organ can be almost inaudible, which disappoints people expecting a performance. At sunset in summer the steps are shoulder to shoulder and the ferries passing behind add engine noise. The steps are marble and slippery when wet, and there is no railing between them and the sea.

Nearby

Zadar's Roman forum and old town are immediately behind; the Kornati and Telašćica sail from the harbour.