Croatia13 Rovinj

1. CROATIA 13 Rovinj

2. The town of Rovinj was once an island, but 300 years ago it was joined to the mainland. A Roman settlement known as Arupinum or Ruginium is recorded as a vicus, a village, of Pola. It attracted refugees from inland locations when the region was invaded by the Avars and the Slavs, because it was situated on an islet. The limited space led to the construction of narrow buildings, streets and small town squares.Of particular interest in this town centre are the characteristically designed chimneys. The town itself was declared a cultural monument in 1963

5. Instead of the customary medieval defensive wall surrounding the town itself, Rovinj's houses rise directly up from the waterside, creating a natural and handsome defensive wall. These houses, most of them five stories, form a contiguous barricade around the seafront circle

8. Rovinj has 14,500 inhabitants • the official languages are Croatian and Italian • the main industry is tourism

12. Overall most of the town seems to have been built in the XVIIIth century. Two Provveditori alle Strade, magistrates in charge of controlling the development of the town and improving its streets, were appointed in 1717

14. Market in Rovinj

17. Grisia street leads uphill from behind the Balbi Arch to St Euphemia

19. Croatia is one of the largest producers of lavender

20. Hotel Angelo d’Oro

23. In the XIIIth century Rovigno sought the protection of Venice and it remained a possession of la Serenissima until 1797

26. Narrow streets, stairs down to the blue sea

29. Street altar

31. Small balconies are a typical feature of Venetian architecture which can be observed in many buildings of Rovigno

32. Sv. Križa street, Katarina island

33. Katarina island and Old city Rovinj

34. Rovinj St Cross gate

41. At Rovinj's farthermost point is the Cathedral of St. Euphemia, and next to it a bell tower, or campanile. Construction of the tower started in December 1651 by placing the first stone. On the top of the bell-tower there is a statue of the patron-saint

42. The unique and beautiful statue forged in the workshop of the brothers Vallana from Maniago, was placed on the bell tower in 1758 to replace an old  wooden statues destroyed from the lightning. The statue is placed on bearings so that it rotates around its axis in the wind direction. The bell-tower and the statue reach the height of more than 61 meters. The construction lasted for twenty-six years The wheel refers to a torture endured by Euphemia

43. The bell tower, with a statue of St. Euphemia (4.70 m tall), is the highest in Istria

46. A small Church of St. George used to be situated where the Church of St. Euphemia is located today. When St. Euphemia's sarcophagus was brought to Rovinj, the Church of St. George became too small for all the pilgrims. In the 10th century the people of Rovinj started building a new, bigger church S. Eufemia: (left) façade (completed in 1861); (centre) main altar; (right) reliefs which decorated the old church

47. The only memory of the Roman past of Rovigno is a roughly cut sarcophagus which according to tradition washed ashore in 800 with the relics of St. Euphemia of Chalcedon, a 4th century martyr

48. The ancient sarcophagus assumed to contain the relics of the Saint Euphemia

49. The sarcophagus being carried into the town, 1883 by Leonardo Riga

50. During the War of Chioggia (1378-81) it was sacked by the Genoese who took away the relics of St. Euphemia. These were recovered by the Venetians who however were reluctant to return them to Rovigno