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Riferimenti storici e geografici
Istria - Arte e cultura
Scheda del Croatian National Tourist Board. [Pagina originale]
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The culture of
Istria, the largest peninsula on the Adriatic coast, reflects
the historical heritage of many small towns and a mixture of
various cultural traditions. It shows a strong interaction of
land and sea cultures, which is evidenced by the appearance of
towns, by folk customs, and even by gastronomy. The more
populous towns in the interior of Istria are Buzet, Pazin,
Motovun, Zminj, and Buje. Located at the foot of Mount
Cicarija, Buzet has existed since Roman times. In the Middle
Ages, it was a fortified town, but its walls were still being
built in later centuries. On the main square, there is an old
parish, reconstructed in the 18th century. The whole area
around the town is very picturesque, offering an abundance of
good food and excellent wines. The townspeople still keep the
old tradition of bugarenje (lamentations), which involves folk
music and dance. In the immediate vicinity of Buzet there are
several small towns with valuable historic and artistic
monuments-Oprtalj, Hum, Dragus, Roz, and Sovinjak. Oprtalj has
a preserved parish church with a late Gothic vault and
paintings from the 15th century. In Hum there is a Romanesque
church with frescoes from the 12th century and a graveyard.
Dragus boasts the church of St. Rok, with frescoes by a folk
painter from the 16th century.
Pazin is the biggest town in central Istria. The old part
of town lies above a chasm more than a hundred meters deep,
into which the river Pazincica falls. In the season of heavy
rains, water in the canyon part of the chasm forms a lake up
to three kilometres long. Jules Verne first mentioned this
phenomenon, in the novel Mathias Sandors from 1885. The story
of the novel is set in Pazin, and involves a famous cave
connected with the Limski Channel by a secret underground
passage. Of course, that is only true in the novel. The town
was first mentioned in the 10th century, but it owes its
present appearance to the 16th century, when it spread north
and east. The parish church of Sv. Nikola (St. Nicholas) from
the 15th century has a late Gothic presbytery with frescoes on
the vault and on the walls. The citadel (Kastel) now houses
the Ethnographic Museum, which has a valuable collection.
Pazin has enjoyed the right to host fairs since the 16th
century and this tradition is still observed today, on the
first Tuesday of every month. Not far from Pazin there is
Beram, where, in the cemetery church of Sveta Marija na
Skrilinah (St. Mary) there is the famous fresco cycle by
Vincent from Kastav, from the 15th century. Another place to
visit in the vicinity of Pazin is the church of Sv. Katarina
(St. Catherine) in Lindar, in which a phantasmagoric fresco
"The Living Cross" was made at the beginning of the 15th
century, and Sveti Petar u sumi, the site of a Benedictine and
later Pauline monastery.
Motovun is one of the most picturesque Istrian towns,
sitting atop a hill in the idyllic Mirna River valley. The
town is surrounded by mediaeval walls, on which there is now a
promenade offering unforgettable vistas. A town curiosity is a
water tank extending under the entire main square, an
indication of the way of life in this town in the past. Not
far from the town is Motovun Forest, where one can go looking
for truffles, a local gastronomic delicacy. An international
film festival has been held in Motovun since recently. The
town of Zminj, on the hill between Lim cove and the Rasa
valley, is famous for its cultural heritage from various eras,
ranging from the old Croatian archaeological findings from the
11th century to modern church architecture. The Zminj area is
also famous for traditional Istrian food: manestra-a vegetable
soup; supa-a piece of dry bread in red wine with a bit of oil
and pepper; a sausage and cabbage dish; and the ancient wine
sorts Teran and Malvazija. The end of August is the time of
Bartulja, one of the oldest Istrian folk festivities dedicated
to Sveti Bartul (St. Bartholomew), the patron saint of Zminj.
In July the town hosts a festival of accordion players.
The town of Buje dates back to Roman times; today it is the
centre of an agricultural region in viniculture. The wine
roads of Bujstina, which connect local wine cellars and
restaurants that offer good traditional fare, are well-known
among people who appreciate good food and wine. Seven
kilometres to the north is Momjan, a small town on Sveti Mauro
hill, from which a beautiful view opens on almost all of
Istria-one can see as far as the sea near Umag and the peaks
of Ucka Mountain.
On the northwestern coast of Istria, where the forest comes
closest to the sea, is Savudrija, an old fishing village.
According to legend, the Venetian fleet defeated the united
fleet of Friedrich Barbarossa and Pope Alexander III off the
coast of Savudrija in the 12th century. A well-preserved and
still operational 19th century lighthouse, at one time the
tallest in the Adriatic, is located in the area. By the end of
the 19th century, the tourist trade began to develop in
Savudrija. The first resorts were built at that time,
attracting European tourists with an exceptionally peaceful
and gentle coastal landscape. Numerous local restaurants offer
a special combination of continental and Mediterranean
cuisine. In the nearby settlement of Zambratija, a folk
festival celebrating St. Mary Magdalene is held at the end of
July. A local peculiarity is the traditional method of hanging
fishing boats on a wooden frame on the shore.
Down the coast to the south is the ancient town of Umag. A
nearby area of hotels and apartment complexes is already
several times bigger than the old town. For a decade now, Umag
has been home to the Croatia Open ATP tennis tournament.
Another attraction is a town-identity design project, the most
extensive in recent Croatian history. There is also a
well-equipped marina in town-the destination of many boaters
sailing in the Adriatic.
A pleasant ride south on the coastal road is the town of
Novigrad. It is located on the northern side of the Mirna
river bay. The town originated in classical antiquity, and
some of its lively history is suggested by the range of
architectural styles characterizing its churches and other
buildings. Novigrad has a long tourist tradition, which began
at the end of the 19th century. Along with swimming in the
traditionally clean sea, there are many interesting things to
do: hunting in the Mirna river valley, canoeing on the river,
or going to a jazz concert during an annual festival.
Traditional folk customs are in evidence at the end of August
when a three-day festival of Sv. Pelagije (St. Pelagius), the
patron saint of Novigrad, is held.
Further down the coast is Porec, probably the Istrian town
richest with historical monuments. The old plan of Roman
streets is still preserved in the town centre. The Episcopal
Complex of the Euphrasius Basilica from the 6th century, with
beautiful mosaics from the period of emperor Justinian, is on
the UNESCO World Heritage List. Porec also boasts several
well-preserved Romanesque and Gothic residential buildings.
The town is surrounded by beaches, and there are beaches also
on the island of Sveti Nikola (St. Nicholas), located opposite
the town centre. In and around Porec, pine forests extend
almost to the very beaches. Tourism has a very long tradition
in Porec, and the town already had a tourist guidebook in
1845. The town has a marina, so that it can be reached by sea;
it is also accessible by small aircraft, via the airport in
nearby Vrsar.
Not far from Porec is Rovinj, a town sitting on a
well-indented stretch of coast, lined by numerous small
islands. Because of the beauty of the town and its
surroundings, sanatoriums and health resorts sprung up in the
19th century, before the era of modern tourism. Built on a
small island, the town was mentioned already in the 7th
century. Later, the island was connected to the mainland. It
was once fortified with double walls that were later removed
or incorporated into buildings. The cathedral of Sv. Eufemija
(St. Euphemia) dominates the town with the sixty-meter bell
tower on top of which is a statue of the town patroness.
Particularly beautiful are the islands of Sv. Katarina (St.
Catherine) and Sv. Andrija (St. Andrew), just off the coast.
On Crveni otok (Red Island) there once used to be a
Benedictine monastery, which was later converted to a
Franciscan monastery, still later into a mansion, and then
finally into a hotel. Throughout the year, the Rovinj marina
attracts boaters seeking rest after a hard day of sailing.
Pula is the largest town in Istria. It developed on the
location of an ancient Illyrian settlement and a Roman colony.
One can sail up the town through the picturesque Pula bay,
which was known as a safe shelter for ships since ancient
days, and dock in a marina in the very town centre. The huge
amphitheatre from the 1st/2nd century, which seated 20,000
people, is still well-preserved today. Also well-preserved are
the Sergius Family Triumphal Arch and the Temple of Augustus
from the 1st century. Next to the temple of Augustus, at the
site of the Roman Forum was another temple, of which only a
wall is preserved today, incorporated in the Town Hall from
the 13th century. Outside the former town gate there was a big
Roman cemetery, mentioned by Dante Alighieri in The Divine
Comedy, in the 9th canto of "Hell." A walk through the centre
of Pula is a walk through history. The Archaeological Museum
of Istria has a good collection of exhibits depicting local
history. There are numerous churches in Pula, dating from the
Middle Ages and more recent times. Especially interesting is
the chapel of the no-longer standing Church of Santa Marija
Formosa (St. Mary of Formosa), a nice example of 6th century
architecture. An altar polyptych from the end of the 14th
century kept in the Franciscan church is one of the most
beautiful examples of Gothic wooden sculpture in Istria. Sv.
Marija Cathedral (St. Mary) was built in the 5th century.
Rebuilt several times since, it incorporates elements of
various styles, on the inside as well the outside: a Roman
sarcophagus is used as the altar, and mediaeval architectural
traits are combined with Renaissance ones. The Kastel fort
dominates the town; it was built on the location of a
pre-historic fort, and its present appearance dates from the
16th to the 19th centuries. Today, the Kastel fort houses the
Historical Museum of Istria. The beginnings of tourism in Pula
were inspired by culture and history, and the first tourists
in Pula were antiquity lovers who visited the town on
organized tours. Since the 1950s, Pula has hosted an annual
film festival; films are shown in the Roman amphitheatre. Pula
has an international airport. Near Pula, off the coast of the
small town called Fazana, is Brijuni National Park. Already in
classical antiquity the picturesque Brijuni Islands attracted
people seeking natural beauty and tranquility, and the ruins
of Roman villas speak of that attraction. In the vicinity of
Pula one should mention Medulin, with its beautiful beaches,
and Barban, a picturesque mediaeval town, where a chivalric
tournament called Trka na prstenac (Race for the Ring) has
been held in the second half of August ever since the 17th
century. Going towards the Rasa canyon in the north, one gets
to the small town of Rasa, the youngest settlement in Istria,
built in the 1930s to house workers from the nearby coal mine.
It is a fine example of modern architecture of the period. In
the centre of what was once a coal-mining area is the town of
Labin. Today, after the mining stopped, the mineshafts have
become a tourist attraction, and Labin now provides a home for
international cultural and artistic exchange under the Labin
Art Express project. The town of Labin grew out of the Roman
settlement called Albona. There are many beautiful mediaeval,
Renaissance, and Baroque palaces and houses in Labin.
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