Page 57 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Croatia

ISTRIA AND THE K V ARNER AREA  55

(Decumanus) and another
main road at right angles
(Cardo). The main monuments
of the town line these roads.
Along the Decumanus
stand many Gothic houses.
At the easternmost point is
the Baroque Sinčić Palace
(18th century), which houses
the Poreč Museum (Zavičajni
Muzej Poreštine). It is dedicated
to Roman and early Christian
archaeology; an ethnographic
Boats in the harbour at Poreč section illustrates daily life
3 Novigrad 4 Poreč (Parenzo) in the Poreč region. Nearby
in St Maurus Street (Sv. Mauro)
(Cittanova) Map A2. * 11,000. k Pula, 53 km is the House of Two Saints,
Map A2. * 4,000. k Pula, 60 km (33 miles). £ Pazin, 32 km (20 miles). all that is left of the abbey
of St Cassius (12th century),
(37 miles). £ Pazin, 41 km (25 miles). @ Ulica K Hoguesa 2, (060) 333 111.
n Mandrač 29a, (052) 757 075. n Local: Zagrebačka 9, (052) 451 with two Romanesque
_ GnamGnam Fest: Novigrad Scallop 458; Regional: Pionirska 1, (052) 452 figures on the façade. To
Evening (first Fri in Jun), Patron saint’s 797. _ Season of classical music (at the west, the Decumanus
day, St Pelagius (weekend nearest St Euphrasius) and jazz festival (both leads to Trg Marafor, once
28 Aug). ∑ coloursofistria.com Jul & Aug). ∑ to-porec.com the site of the forum,
with houses from the
Originally a Greek colony and Poreč was a Roman town 12th and 13th centuries
later a Roman one called (Colonia Julia Parentium) which, and the remains of a
Aemonia, Novigrad stands after centuries of splendour, pre-Roman temple.
at the mouth of the River was sacked by the Goths and North of the square is
Mirna. In the Byzantine period fell into decline. In 539 it was the church of St Francis
(6th century) when it was conquered by the Byzantines, (Sv. Frane, 12th–14th
enlarged, it was called “New who founded a bishopric centuries), altered
Town” (Neopolis). From the around the year 800. in the Baroque
early Middle Ages until 1831 The town then period. To the east
it was an episcopal seat. In became part of the is the parish house
1277 it passed into Venetian kingdom of the with an ornate
hands and oak from the Franks, who gave it Romanesque façade.
Motovun forests was shipped to the Patriarchate From here there is
to Venetian dockyards. of Aquileia. In 1267 a passage that leads
In the 13th century the town it was the first Istrian to the 6th-century
was walled for defence, but it town to choose Euphrasian Basilica,
was unable to withstand a Venetian rule, and which has marvellous
Turkish attack in 1687 and the the town acquired a Archaeological exhibit Byzantine mosaics
town was partially destroyed Venetian look as in the Poreč Museum (see pp56–7).
along with many works of art. palaces, squares and
Evidence of the Venetian religious buildings were built. E Poreč Museum
period can be seen on the In 1354 it was destroyed by Sinčić Palace, Dekumanska 9. Tel (052)
façades of the houses in the Genoese and later, plague, 431 585. Closed for restoration.
the narrow lanes which lead pirates and a long war greatly
to the main square (Veliki Trg). reduced the population. During
An 18th-century loggia stands Austrian domination it became
here. Of the early Christian the seat of the Istrian parliament
basilica of St Pelagius and an important shipyard.
(Sv. Pelagij), rebuilt in the 16th The old centre shelters on
century, only the Romanesque a narrow peninsula protected
crypt from the 11th century by rocks and the island of
remains. In the present-day St Nicholas. Despite being a
Baroque church are paintings popular base for visitors to
from the Venetian school of Istria, the Old Town has
the 18th century. Evidence remained intact and Poreč
of the Roman and medieval invariably wins an annual award
periods can be seen in for “best-kept town”. The layout
the museum housed in the is based on the original Roman A typical trefoil window in Venetian Gothic
Urizzi Palace. network, with a main road style, Poreč

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