We arrived at the north of the Istria peninsula and headed for Umag. The old town with it’s pretty narrow streets opened onto a square with the usual bar’s and shops, the stone paving was slippery underfoot due to a rain shower and the sky wasn’t brilliant for photos, but we had a great look around. There was a large clock tower standing separately from the church, a town hall with flags outside, and a small museum which was free to look around at the old photos but we couldn’t understand anything. Jutting out into the sea was a long pier providing shelter to the harbour area, we were nearly blown off the top but made it back to safety in time for the sun coming out and a swift retake of our photos!
We did lots of walking around the area outside the town up lanes and fields to the north coast covering 12 miles one day. We saw boats suspended on poles to keep them out of the water, it looked quite odd but saved them from being broken up in stormy weather. Further down the coast we found the Sipar Archaeological site and ruins of an old Ironage settlement with later Roman influences. Now it is just a ruin with access at low tide giving good view of the coastline. People have built many pillars of balanced stones which looked good perched on the old walls.
Travelling inland to Groznjan and afterwards to Motovun, we looked around these spectacular, unspoilt , hilltop towns with narrow stone streets polished smooth by the passage of people and carts. The streets are so narrow, many cannot be accessed by today’s vehicles so thankfully remain as they used to be years ago. The narrow streets ensure the houses remain shaded all day and therefore cool which made walking around very pleasant.
Groznjan is particularly known as an artists town and there were many shops selling original paintings, glass creations, pottery and sculptures. Many shops also sell local olive oil, wines, gins, brandy and truffle products with lovely tempting displays.
Porec is back on the coast and a colourful old town with lots of historic buildings. We used the AdLab app to guide us around the interesting sites including stone towers, town squares, a café with architectural arches preserved in the walls along with ancient tombstones and a building called The Romanesque House with a wooden gallery surrounding the top floor.
We visited the wonderful Basilica which was used by Christians after the year 313 when they were granted freedom to worship and it was opened as a public church. In the 6th century it was nearly destroyed and rebuilt with three naves also restoring the atrium and bishop’s palace. The bell tower was a later edition built in 1520 with 4 huge bells and a tremendous views from the top. Inside were numerous mosaic floors that have been preserved in places and many panels showing the different patterns and colours. In some of the rooms of the Basilica were displays of the bishops robes with beautiful embroidery and colours.
We used the tourist ‘noddy train’ to take us further along the coast so we could walk back, part along the walkway and some up into pine woodland to find ‘the reading room’ set out with hammocks and seating in the shade. We found mushrooms, hooded crows and some jays as well a butterflies and flowers along the way.
The campsite at Vrsar has to be my favourite with an incredible sea view and beach where we swam and at night the sunset was spectacular. The small town had the tall stone houses, an open square, a nice church and a statue to Casanova who spent a few days here when he was a poor priest.
On a short drive away is Rovinj reportedly a town not to be missed for it’s quaint streets and lovely architecture, it didn’t disappoint either. The polished stone roads set off the buildings to each side, which were lovely and cool. We followed 2 AdLabs around the town and and up to the highest point for views and a beautiful limestone cathedral, we really enjoyed getting the most from such a pretty place.
At the southern tip of Istria is Pula, it’s the biggest city and supports a thriving harbour with boat building, fishing, a large market, there is also an airport, plenty of busses and lots to see. Like the whole area it is beautiful, but the most amazing architecture was centuries old. The biggest and most impressive was the stunning amphitheatre or Pula Arena, constructed between 27BC and AD68, it is the world’s 6th largest surviving Roman arenas.
The huge Arch of Sergii was built to commemorate the Sergii family who were a powerful family of the era, it was built around 29-27 BC and is in remarkable condition right inside the city. Next to it another interesting building, oddly painted bright yellow, where the famous James Joyce taught English for two years. We sat at the James Joyce bar next to it and admired both constructions over early evening drinks one evening.
The Temple of Augustus is very well preserved with a decorative freeze and many stone columns, it was dedicated to the first Roman empire Augustus and was probably completed before his death in AD14. The building on it’s right is the Communal Palace or town hall and still has the same function today. It was built on the remains of a Roman temple which is still visible and is one of the few preserved old town structures dating from 1295.
Pula was an important naval port and has many forts and fortifications, underground tunnels, batteries and trenches. We visited 5 of the main sites using another AdLab to guide us around. The Pula Citadel was built by the Venetians on a hill and used for defense of the city. As a follow on at the start of the first World Was a series of tunnels was built under the hill the at linked the fortress to the town. There are 4 tunnels and a central hub that together would hold approximately 50,000 people. They are eerie and cold with some old photographs showing the area as it used to be, I was pleased to get out, back into the sunshine.
The last stop in Istria was a campsite near to Opatija. We had visited this town on a cruise years ago when it was raining. Now it was sunny so we walked along the coast to see it with fresh eyes. We found the two statues we remembered, especially the Maiden with the Seagull, and a real seagull landed on her head, perfect! The Croatian Walk of Fame has granite stars for famous Croatians and we enjoyed learning about the granite used for these plaques. I was pleased to find Goran Ivanisevic had a star! The scenery was so pretty with beautiful buildings, the boats and the pine trees, plus sunshine and blue sky, a much nicer day than on our previous visit.
Our motorhome adventures 