A recognisable symbol of Nin is the Church of St Nicholas, very important to the rulers of the Croatian dynasties and for the history of Croatia and Nin. According to tradition, seven Kings were crowned in Nin, and every crowned ruler rode on horseback to the Church of Saint Nicholas, and it was in fact here that he would be presented to the people by the same symbolic ritual: on that mound he would cut with a sword the four corners of the world.
The small church is built on an earthen mound which rises above the wide field. In the mound can be found, as yet, unexcavated prehistoric graves. Due to the danger from the Turks, as an addition to the church, a defence crown with 8 battlements was built in the 16-17th century, which served as a watch tower. The Church of Saint Nicholas is the only preserved example of the early-Romanesque architecture of such form in Dalmatia, which dates from the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th century.
