In the old medieval towns, that usually follow the shape of the hill on which they were built with the curving of the streets and grouping of the houses, the one and only vertical shape and the axis of the urban composition is the bell tower of the main church (a cathedral or a parish church). In towns on the coast and islands of the Adriatic, they are the first greeting to seamen, and they bid them farewell upon their departure, while amongst the plains of northern Croatia they seem as lighthouses, inviting a traveller from far away.

As the most distinguished part of a town's identity, they have undergone numerous changes throughout history: from the almost sealed pre-Romanesque bell towers from the 12th century, like in the Lady of the Belfry chapel, built into the guard's chamber in the western gate of the Diocletian's palace in Split, to the Romanesque towers from the 13th century, that gradually open up as they ascend, (windows divided in fourths, thirds, halves and whole openings), the most monumental being the bell tower of Rab Cathedral. Renaissance bell towers(16th century) impress us with their calmness, and Baroque ones (18th century) with their playful, predominantly bronze, onion-shaped tops. Korcula takes pride in its most ornamented belfry top, by M. Nadrijic from the 15th century, in which are interwined both Gothic and Renaissance shapes. The exquisite bell tower of Trogir Cathedral is unique because of the mixture of styles: the ground floor is Romanesque, 1st floor is early Gothic, 2nd late Gothic, 3rd is Renaissance, while the sculptures on top are Manneristic, but were placed on the belfry in the Baroque period.