Intro.
With a friend of mine, dated from high school in Paris,
we went to his hometown, Vodnjan in search of his roots
(joke).
It is important to emphasis on the fact that that part
of Yugoslavia has been control through out history by
many rulers and empires. As a result, one can trace a
combination of many old traits of distinctive ethnics
and cultures.
People are very friendly, don’t care too much
about tourists, I think I was the first Chinese
visiting Vodnjan since the Great Khan’s troop
passing by, and yet, they don’t even bother to
look at me.
If you are unaware of Istria’s historical facts,
I think many who went there would summarize it into one
metaphorical phrase, “it has the most beautiful
women on earth.” As a friend of mine in
Washington put it, this is where the East meets the
West …
Pula
Situated near the base of the Istrian peninsula, Pula
is the largest city in Istria. It has a ship
construction yard dated from the communist time. One of
the most famous sights in the whole of Croatia is the
Roman amphitheatre in Pula, which has been well
preserved by the
History of Pula and Istria in general going back more than 3,000 years, first during the period of Pax Romana. Later under Venetian rule during the time of Italian Renaissance, Pula also played an important role in the Habsburg Empire as it was proclaimed the chief port of the Empire in 1853, and had a large German and Italian population. In 1915 it was occupied by Italy and after the WWII, in 1947 it became a part of Croatia in Yugoslavia.
Viva Tito by the way; because after the independence of Croatia, President Franjo Tudjman, a good friend of my adviser Amb. Melady in Washington wanted to chase out all the Italians from Istria. Motive? Don’t know, may be Italians are no good and they don’t even speak Croatian? However, it is interesting to note that after Croatia’s independence, the government of Italy did pay huge some through forms such as retirement pension to many elder Istrians and their families who worked for the Italian government before the end of WWII. Pretty nasty political move isn’t it.
At any rate, with respect to tourism in Pula, the main sight is, of course, the amphitheatre. Built during the 1st century AD, the three-story amphitheatre is the sixth largest in the world. It hosts the Pula Opera Festival in the summer and is also used for other events during the year. Other sights include the Triumphal arch of the Sergii, the Temple of Augustus, the Cathedral and the Franciscan Church and Monastery.
VODNJAN / DIGNANO is a little town situated in the south-west of Istria 11,7 kilometres from Pula, there are buses from Pula to Vodnjan.
I have to admit that the town is very old. An area composed of ancient buildings and streets, which can trace back to Medieval time. Indeed, according to locals, Vodnjan was once a Medieval urban and rural centre. Its wide area with innumerable characteristic kažuni or casite
Finally, I would like to add that to my amazement, I saw few old remaining political slogans such as viva Tito and viva the revolution on the walls, dated from the Cold War era.
Here is a well-developed description from a local based travel web site.
The people of that area descended from the indigenous population called ''Bumbari'' with a thousand year old roots. They have been passing down their Istrian-Roman and Istrian Venetian dialects to generations, together with a rich local folklore, valuable multi-coloured national costumes, hair accessories, hundreds of years old song and dance traditions and celebrations.
According to the legend, it developed out of the association of seven villas which were part of the colonial goods of Pula. VODNJAN / DIGNANO was known as early as Roman times as as VICUS ATTINIANUM and listed in historical records in 932 at the time of Pietro Candiniano, to whom the Istrian towns were giving amphorae of ''good wine'' in exchange of protection. Inside the historic nucleus, the town preserved its characteristic Medieval look with atria and narrow streets, irregularly winding among houses, with cobble roads and facades made of cobble stone, old streets still impressively recognizable by their Gothic, Venetian Renaissance and Baroque style and many churches rich with memories and art. Among many, in the old town there is St. Jacob Church or ''delle Trisiere'' that was designated as a parochial church as early as 1212, a church that witnessed some important historical events such as the peace agreement with Pula in 1331 and the writing of the Statute of 1492.
The streets of VODNJAN / DIGNANO still strongly evoke the past: from the Gothic palace of the Bettica counts and faces engraved in the stone facades, to decorations made of wrought iron on the wells and the wooden engraved doors of important palaces and the elegant Church of St. Mary of Carmel (built in 1630).
The large People Square in the centre of the town denotes the old place where a castle with towers was built probably in the 4th or the 5th century and torn down in 1808. The square is surrounded by important buildings such as the City Hall in the neo-Gothic style, the Benussi house, the Bembo house and the Bradamante palace with its decorated facade and an elegant triphora.
The square in front of St. Blaž Cathedral, the municipal church built on remnants of an early Romanesque church that was torn down in 1781 is another important and frequently visited square. The church was consecrated in 1800 and it maintains numerous artistically and culturally valuable works, such as a custody in bas relief from 1451, wooden figures and paintings made from the 14th to the 18th centuries, works by great masters like Paolo Veneziano, Jacopo Contarini, Jacobello del Fiore, Lazzaro Bastiani, Gaetano Grezler, Avenerio Trevisano, Antonio della Zonca and others.
The sacred art collection is specialized in numerous relics and the bodies of saints, Reliquaries from Murano, habits of the saints and valuable old books. There are many frescos in other churches; St. Margaret Church (the 12th century), Our Lady Traversa Church (the 13th century), St. Kirin Church (the 6th century) or St. Foška Church (the 8-9th century), that are destinations for today's pilgrims.