Page 60 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Croatia

58  CRO A TIA AREA B Y AREA

now a marine reserve. The In the square in front of the pier
channel is 9 km (5 miles) long is Balbi’s Arch (1680), an ancient
and 600 m (1,970 ft) wide, with city gate, as well as a late-
steep sides perforated by Renaissance clock tower. The
limestone caves which have Califfi Palace, dating from 1680,
been lived in from time to time is now the Heritage Museum,
since the Neolithic Age. In the housing 18th-century art from
early 11th century, one of the the Venetian school and works
caves was the home of the hermit by modern Croatian artists.
St Romualdo, who founded In the roads branching off
the monastery of St Michael the square are Baroque and
near Kloštar. Renaissance buildings. The
Church of St Anthony in Vrsar, built in the Many of the restaurants in backs of many of these face
17th century the area offer the oysters and the sea. The cathedral,
mussels farmed in the channel. dedicated to St Euphemia (Sv.
5 Vrsar (Orsera) Eufemija), dominates the town.
Origi-nating in early Christian
Map A3. * 2,200. k Pula, 41 km
(25 miles). £ Pazin, 42 km (26 miles). times, it was rebuilt in 1736. The
n Rade Končara 46, (052) 441 187. saint’s remains are preserved in
_ International sculpture school, a Roman sarcophagus in the
Montraker quarry (early Sep); classical apse on the right of the three-
music concerts (summer). aisle church. The adjacent bell
∑ infovrsar.com tower is 62 m (200 ft) high
(the second-highest in Istria),
The remains of a villa, a quarry Fishermen on the Limski Channel and was modelled on that
and the foundations of an early of San Marco in Venice. It is
Christian building all provide crowned by a copper statue
evidence that Romans once 6 Rovinj (Rovigno) of St Euphemia.
settled here. In documents Map A3. * 13,000. k Pula, 40 km In the east of the city is the
preceding 1000 AD, this village (25 miles). £ Pula. @ Trg na lokvi, 13th-century Baptistry of the
is mentioned as the feudal (060) 333 111. n Obala Pina Holy Trinity (Sv. Trojstvo).
territory of the bishop of Poreč, Budicina 12, (052) 811 566. _ Grisia, Along the waterfront is the
who owned a fortified summer International art exhibition (2nd Sun Centre for Maritime Research.
residence here. Until 1778 it in Aug); Patron St Euphemia’s day It was founded in the late 19th
remained under the protection (16 Sep). ∑ tzgrovinj.hr century and has an aquarium.
of the bishop and then came Nearby, Red Island (Crveni otok)
under Venetian rule. Rovinj was originally an island is in fact two islands linked by
The town had an outer wall port built by the Romans. In an embankment.
and towers which have now 1763, Rovinj was joined to the South of the town is Zlatni Rt,
almost disappeared except for coast by filling in the channel a forest park planted with
the West and East Town Gate dividing the island from the cedars, pines and cypresses.
and some fragments of the mainland, creating a peninsula.
walls. On the harbour is the Initially ruled by the Byzantines E Heritage Museum
Church of St Mary (Sv. Marija) and the Franks, from 1283 until Trg maršala Tita 11. Tel (052) 816 720,
from the 10th century, one of 1797 the town was under 830 650. Open summer: 10am–2pm,
the most important Romanesque Venetian control. The remains of 6–10pm Tue–Fri, 10am–2pm, 7–10pm
monuments in Istria. Guitar a wall dating back to the Middle Sat & Sun; winter: 10am–1pm Tue–Sat.
concerts are held here in the Ages can still be seen. ∑ muzej-rovinj.com
summer months.
The town is dominated by the
18th-century Vergottini Castle,
built by restructuring the
bishop’s former residence. Near
the Romanesque gate in the
medieval wall is the small church
of St Anthony, built in the 17th
century with an open portico.

Environs
Just outside Vrsar lies
Koversada, Europe’s largest
naturist resort.
To the south of Vrsar, towards
Rovinj, is the Limski Channel, Boats docked at the harbour in Rovinj
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp226–8 and pp238–40

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