The interior of the church is adorned by frescos in the Romanesque-Byzantine style. Saint Chrysogonus is protector of the city and therefore placed in the City Coat of Arms.

The church and the bell tower are the only preserved parts of the formerly large Benedictine abbey whose foundations were laid in the early Middle Ages. The basilica itself is a Romanesque building erected in the same period and with the same artistic forms as the cathedral. It was consecrated by the first archbishop of Zadar, Lampridije, in 1175. The basilica and the cathedral, taken as a whole, represent a crown example of Romanesque art in the architectural heritage of Dalmatia. Many important documents and written works of art were recorded in the course materials bookshop of this abbey, including, among others, the works of art containing notated music writings, a gradual from the 1st century, an antiphonal from the 14th century, a book of rites from the 15th century, the missal of the abbot Venier, etc...