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| GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT ISTRIA |
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 In
the lap of Europe spreads one of the most developed touristic region,
the nearest to the West Europe. The biggest peninsula in the Adriatic,
the gographic intersection of Alpine – Central Europe and Dinaric
– Mediterranean regions. With its wooded mountain Učka(1,396m), hills
and pitoresque small towns, the landscape is compared to the ones
of Italian Toscana or French Provence. Altrough it has a lot of differences
and wellknown touristic centres, it should be considered in its entireness
with autochtonic and well perserved gentle hinterland. The Roman amphiteatre
and the Trimphal arch of victory are in the perfect harmony with the
medieval basilicas and frescos, and the small towns built up in stone
are standing shoulder to shoulder with the modern touristic centres
which give the wide range of services to content even the most demanding
guest.This is Istria. The navel of Europe. A coffer full of secrets,
wisdom and the essence of the Old Continent. What about the key?You
have it inside, you can comprehend Istria with your soul, your essence
is hiding here. Immerse into this miniature planet and you will discover
bauty and the truth about yourself. Stone ruins, the seven thousand
year –old home of ancestors, are visible on the nearby hills. In the
numerous towns you can gaze at 2,000 years of history, you can scratch
it with your nails: Roman amphiteatre, triumphal arches, villas, Byzantine
basilicas covered with gold mosaics, medieval towers and town walls,
large and tiny churches, Romanesque buildings, luxorious Gothic and
Baroque palaces, Austro Hungarian fortifications ...As if all European
history has been sublimated in this region: Histri, Romans, Byzantium,
Ostrogoths, Lombards, Franks, Venice, Napoleon, Austria-Hungary. Every
century and every ivader engraved, destroyed and rebuilt a certian
trait, certian feature, sanctuary, shrine, road a certian seal of
his age. Istria is the homeland of olives, figs, almonds and grapes,
the homeland of innumerable little wonders. Istria is a park of luxuriously
decorated with nature: fertile valleys, fields stretching as a far
as the sea, the mountain of Učka, more than 1,000 meters high, brooks,
waterfalls, rocks and sand, all together in this small region. A road
may take You to a tiny church covered with multicoloured frescoes
and decorated with wooden statues of saints made by local craftsmen.
Istrians worship Jesus from Nazareth , because one is closer to God
and religion in this little church than in a magnificent cathedral.
You will find another local feature in these churches. An unusual
, unknowen script, neither Latin nor Cyrillic but the Glagolitic script.
This ancient Croatian script, which existed only in this part of the
world, was used throughout the centuries. The second road leads you
to plain inn or tawern where the wine is considered to be the gift
of gods. A modest , but delicious dish will be offered on a tray or
on crockery. Another miracle – a truffle, a divine gastronomic speciality,
an aphrodisiac, tuber-mushroom which grows under the ground. The third
road will lead you to a village party, church or lay celebration:
the ancient ¨balun¯dance on the square, archaic instruments – rozenice,
mih and duplice, and two – parth harsh song. Red-hot sun immerses
into the sea . The Istrian night is beckoning you...
What is underlinedby the fact that Istria
is crossed by the 45th parallel? It means that Istria is situated
exactly halfway down between the Equator and the North Pole, in the
most attractive climatic area of the Northern hemisphere. Idyllic
ans symbolic, the 45th gradient of the north latitude speaks for itself
about the area of almost eternal spring: the annual mean temperature
in Istria is 14°C . This is a peninsula of mild winters, pleasent
summers and Mediterranean vegetation.
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| Identity card of
Istria |
LOCATION: the westernmost
Country of the Republic of Croatia, the largest peninsula of the Adriatic
AREA: 2,820 km2
POPULATION: 200,000
COAST LENGTH: 445,1 km(well-indented coast is twice
as long as the road one). The western coast of Istria is 242,5 km
long, with islands 327,5 km (178,1M). The eastern coast of Istria
is 202,6km long, with the pertainig islands 212,4 km (114,5M).
CLIMATE: mild, Mediterranean climate (warm and dry
summers, mild and plesant winters). Characteristic winds are ¨bura¯
(wind blowing from the north on the south, bringing clear weather),
¨jugo¯ (south, warm wind bringing rain) and ¨maestral¯ (summer breeze
blowing from the land to the sea).
|
Month |
Max.daily temp. |
Min.nocturnal
temp. |
Rining days |
Temp.
of the sea |
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April
|
16 |
9 |
7 |
13 |
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May |
21 |
12 |
9 |
17 |
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June |
25 |
16 |
6 |
21 |
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July |
27 |
18 |
5 |
23 |
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August |
27 |
18 |
5 |
24 |
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September |
24 |
15 |
6 |
22 |
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October |
19 |
10 |
9 |
18 |
ADMINISTRATIVE CENTRE: Pazin , 9 000 inhabitants
ECONOMIC CENTRE: Pula , 82 000 inhabitants
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| Fairs calendar |
PAZIN: first Tuesday in
the month
ZMINJ: each second Wedensday in the month
VODNJAN: first Saturday in the month
MOTOVUN: third Monday in the month
SVETVINCENAT: third Saturday in the month
VISNJAN: last Thursday in the month
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| Museums in Istria |
UMAG
-Town museum, trg Sv.Martina bb, tel . 741-440
Open: 10.00 am - 12,00 am and 07,00 pm - 10,00 pm, Monday closed
BUJE
– Ethnographic collection, trg slobode 4 , tel.772-023
POREC
-Regional museum, Dekumanova 9 , tel.431-585,tel./fax:452-738
Open: 9,00 am - 12,00 am and 04,00 pm - 06,00 pm
ROVINJ
– Local museum of Rovinj
Trg m.Tita 11,tel.816-720,fax830-650 , e-mail :muzej-rovinj@pu.tel.hr
Open: 10,30 am - 02,00 pm Sunday closed
PULA
–Archeological museum of Istria, Carrarina 3,tel.218-603 , fax.:212-415
Open: 9,00 am - 08,00 pm, on Sunday 10,00 am - 03,00 pm
-Colletion of the medieval art, Istarskog konzula 1 , tel.34-629
-Amphitheatre , Flavijevska bb , tel.34-604
Open : 8,00 am - 09,00 pm
-Temple of Augustus,Forum , open 10,00 am - 08,00 p.m
-Historical museum of Istria , Ka¹tel , Gradinski uspon 6,tel.211-740
, 211-566
Open : 9,00 am - 07,00 pm
-NP Brioni , Archeological museum , tel.525-883
-Nesactiuim – Valtura
VODNJAN
– Sacral art collection / Saints corpes
Crkva Sv.Bla¾a , Zagrebački trg , tel./fax:511-420
LABIN
– National museum of Labin , 1.maja 6 , tel.885-477 , fax:855-026
Open : from June to Settember 10,00 am - 01,00 pm
PAZIN
–Etnographic museum of Istria, Istarskog razvoda 1 , tel./fax:624-351
i tel.622-220
Open :from June to Oktober 10,00 am - 05,00 pm on Suterday , on
Sunday 10,00 am - 01,00 pm
BUZET
–Local museum of Buzet , Trg ra¹porskih kapetana 1 , tel.662-792
, fax : 662-836
Open : every day 9,00 a.m - 01,00 pm , on Thursday - 04,00 pm -
06,00 pm (Saturday and Sunday closed)
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| Unique play of
nature |
BRIJUNI ISLANS – national park
As the only park on the Istrian Peninsula , Brijuni with their 14
islands covering an area of 736 hectares are the most interesting
and indented group of islands in Istria . The abundance of flora originating
from the very beginning of the 20th century , with its forms creates
a unique green landscape which is the habitat of numerous bird species
, deer , muflon and other large game .
CAPE KAMENJAK and the Medulin islands – protected landscape
The unusually indented southernmost cape of the Istrian Peninsula
is equally interesting viewed from land , air or sea . It is one
of coastal region that has preserved its original appereance – a
mosaic of cultivated fields , pastures and green groves immersed
in the deep blue sea .
Resembling at first glance scorched land of the southernmost tip
of Istria , Cape Kamenjak conceals grat secrets of nature . Owing
to the habitat of certianbird species ,Cape Kamenjak has been proclaimed
a protected landscape .
PAZIN ABYSS
Unique natural phenomenon : through the large opening of the cave
beneath the huge cliffe with the medieval castle , the Pazincica
stream flows underground .
GRACISCE – PICAN-protected landscape
Situated on hilltops , these two medieval towns offer a unique panorama
of the valley from which Učka – the highest Istrian mountain rises
. The diversity of marl and limestone base has created a phenomenon
of unusually indented relief where stream valleys were formed in
marly soil.
BAREDINE CAVE
Baredine Cave is presently the only touristically valued geomorphological
nature sight in Istria .This cave ,132 m deep with 5 chambers ans
siphon lake is rich in stalactites and stalagmites of unusual forms
. The underground animal world is just as interesting , apart from
the proteus anguinus one finds here miniature trasparent crayfish
and insects .
ZLATNI RT (PUNTA CORRENTE) – forest park
On the southern side of the town of Rovinj lies the first protected
forest park in Istria , about 100 years old . It is one of the most
significant park complexes in the coastal region , of great aesthetic
and botanical importance . Numerous meadows are divided by lines
of various specially worth mentioning.
LIM BAY
Lim Bay is a flooded karst valley . Its narrow , yet long (11km)inlet
represents one of the most beautiful landscapes in Istria . It is
a geomorphological phenomenon with overgrown canyon cliffs rising
up to 150 m above sea level
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| Istria superlative |
- Istria is the largest peninsula on the
Adriatic Coast
- Istria is the westernmost region of Croatia
- Istria is Central Europe's closest Mediterranean
- The 45 th parallel of north latitude runs through Istria , which
means that the Istrian Peninsula is right in the middle of the Norther
Hemisphere , exactly halfway between the equator and the North Pole
- The highest mountain in Istria is Ucka (1,396m)
- The longest river is the Mirna (32 km)
- Istria has an incredible number of 636 towns and villages with a
population of almost 200,000
- The largest town in Istria is Pula (82,000)
- Hum is the smallest town in the world .
- The southernmost town in Istria is Premantura
- The largest lighthouse in Istria is in Savudrija with a height of
36 m
- The largest naturist center in both Istria and Europe is Konversada
near Vrsar ,with a daily capacity of 12,000 tourists
- The largest animal in Istria is the Istrian ox measuring 1,8m height
and weighing over 1,200 kg
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| Typical food |
Istrian smoked ham , sheep-milk cheese , truffles
Mane¹tra (vegetable stew)
Home –made pasta : ¨fuzi¯ , gnocchi , lasagna , macaroni , withz
game stew
Meat dishes : home-made sausages , smoked fillet with sauerkraut
Seafood dishes : pilchard marinade , stew made of fish , sea-shells
, crabs or squids
Fish : gold fish , base , grooper , sea – bream...
Salads : made of crabs , octopus , musk octopus...
Sea-shells : oysters , scallops , dondole , mussels...
Sweets : ¨kro¹tule¯ , ¨fritule¯, ¨povetica¯ , ¨cukerancici¯
Typical wines
Malvazija –white wine
Teran - red wine
Borgonja - red wine
Hrvatica - rosé
Fine wines
Pinot – white and gray
Chardonnay - white wine
Cabernet - red wine
Merlot - red wine
Mu¹kat - white wine
Aperitifs and digestives
Home made brandy – with aromatic herbs
Biska - special brandy (Roc , Hum)
Komovica - special brandy
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