Croatia – Istra and Primorje (Rijeka, Pula, Krk, Pag) March 22
Tips for Croatia.
1. Currency. Croatian kuna HRK. At the end of March 2019: 1€ = 7.38 kn; 1US = 6.53 kn; 1 Canadian = 4.87kn
After making sure I first filled up with cheap Slovenia diesel, I left Slovenia and the Schengen Visa zone on March 22 (spring equinox) and entered the Istra region of Croatia. After going through seven countries, this was my first passport control and stamp in over two months.
Savudrija Lighthouse. On the western tip of the peninsula, this is a lovely round stone LH on a square stone base. It is unmanned and can’t be entered. I parked 50m from the lighthouse on the edge of the water under some great pine trees and had dinner. Sunset lit the entire western sky red. This was easily the darkest and quietest night in my past nine weeks. There was a tiny pill box and artillery gun placed in front of the LH. In the morning I sat in my lawn chair and put in all my sights for the next several days, lovely lovely in the war the warm sun.
On the front of the lighthouse was incised (the date is 1868):
CURSIBIS
NAVIGANTUM NOCTURNIS DIRIGENDIS
FRANCISCUS I
E. I.
MDCCCXVIII
The west Adriatic coast of Croatia is the major tourist destination in the country and a lovely drive through seaside towns full of resorts, hotels, restaurants, marinas and inland, vineyards and olive groves.
Novigrad (Istarski). A NM “small town”, this is a lovely seaside resort town with a nice harbour, marina and seaside promenade.
Episcopal Complex of the Euphrasian Basilica in the Historic Centre of Poreč. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996, it represents some of the earliest Christian architecture in the world. Christians came to Porec in the first centuries after Christ and practiced secretly. After Emperor Constantine recognized Christianity in 313AD, the first basilica was built in the 2nd half of the 4th century. In the 6th century, the Byzantine bishop Euphrasis demolished that church and built the present complex that has changed little to today. The octagonal stone baptistery has a metre deep x 3m baptismal pool. Climb the 118 creaking wooden steps of the 16th-century bell tower for sweeping views of Porec in all directions. The tower has a steep hexagonal steeple. The lapidary has a collection of stone fragments and mosaic floors (fish were the secret symbol of Christianity). The bishop’s palace has a museum. Next, visit the archaeological sight of the 3rd-century church with original floor mosaics exposed. The Cella Trichora has the Mausoleum of Bishop Euphasius. The basilica is an active parish church with lovely Byzantine mosaics in the apse and a grand marble canopy over the altar. Besides two nice side chapels and marble columns with Corinthian capitals, the church is plain with a few fragments of the original frescoes visible on the back wall. See the exposed original floor mosaics a metre below the present tiles floor.
ROVINJ
The old town sits on a peninsula. The houses butt directly onto the water so all the medieval white stone lanes are inside. The parking lots were full. An open-air market had vegies and a lot of truffle oil.
In the 18th century, Rohinj was the largest town in Istria with 10,000 people. It was a fortress of the Venetian navy and a fishing town.
Civic Museum. At the lower edge of the old town, this local museum is in the late 17th-century baroque palace of the Califfi Family with its monumental library.
Church of St. Euphemia. Sitting on top of the hill at the SW corner of the peninsula, it was built in 1725-36, it has the 5th-century tomb of St Euphemia in a great marble sarcophagus to the right of the apse. The 62m-high stone bell tower was built in 1654-80. It is topped with a copper statue that rotates with the wind.
BRIJUNI. An island off the coast just north of Pula, the entire island is the National Park Brijuni. There is a Roman Villa. I didn’t go here.
PULA
Pula Arena. This Roman amphitheatre has mostly intact 3-story walls.
Archaeological Museum of Istria.
Rojc Social Centre. In the NM “Entertainment/Things to do” series, it is a large parking lot next to a large 3-story school. I went into the school (open 24 hours) and walked the empty, dimly lit corridors covered in graffiti and street art. I used a bathroom and was surprised to see a man standing at the window. I caught a whiff of dope and said “Smells like good dope”. He invited me to share. In his mid-20s, he was very proud of Istra and Pula “the best place to live in the world. Croatia is last in wealth in Europe but Pula is relatively rich”.
Prior to 8-9 years ago, the parking lot was a no-holds bar party scene with lots of drugs and alcohol. The school building was used some. Then the local government regulated it and it died. Now, the school is used by various agencies, sports clubs, and a nightclub.
Aquarium Pula. This aquarium is unusual in the 130-year-old Fort Verudela on top of a hill in the far south of Pula. The fort was once part of the Austro-Hungarian defence complex. There are three floors of exhibits, large and small tanks that are walked around in barrel-vaulted rooms. The top floor has one large octagonal tank about 4m across with tropical freshwater fish. The fish are of variable quality.
I arrived at 15:45, fifteen minutes before closing. The nice lady said I could have a free look for 10 minutes. I generally avoid aquariums as I have had about 100 dives, and rarely see anything I haven’t seen before. I saw everything easily and even walked down a long tunnel to the Croatia River (expecting to see local fish species but it was simply a lower exit to the river). Nov-Mar 75kn, 50kn reduced.
The Istria Peninsula of Croatia is very rural, most of it disorganized, impenetrable bush. There was almost no traffic, but the roads were generally very winding. This must be the best traffic-signed country in the world: many directional signs and speed control signs – on every corner and counting down to each roundabout – 60, 50, 40. The locals ignore the speeds and drive pretty fast.
The drive from Pula to Rijeka was 100 km and took 2 hours. About halfway, it tops out at the corner of a large inlet and the sea at the Hotel Fanmona with sweeping views across to the multiple islands in Kvarner Bay. The only other place I stopped was Moscenice.
Moscenice. This small medieval fortified village, along with Brsec, Viprinic and Kastav,
have the same architecture and historical significance – they were built in the 12th and 13th centuries on the tops of hills with good visual connections between them – an important part of the defence of Kvarner Bay. The town is tiny with medieval lanes the only way around. There is the Parish Church of St Andrew and 9 more smaller churches.
Lipa – April 30, 1944
It’s spring, Sunday lunchtime. The village of Lipa, as well as the entire Liburnian Karst area, is under German occupation within the Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral. Together with the occupational forces, there were fascists who, after the Italian armistice of 1943, continued to operate under the German command. Partisans are gathering in great secrecy, taking numerous guerrilla actions dependent on the local population that provides them hideouts, food and supplies. The so-called Ten Commandments, rules issued on the 24th of February 1944 by the general of the 97th German army corps Ludwig Kübler, encourage occupiers to use looting, arson of civilian property and killing of the civilian population as an effective means of fighting the Partisan “gangs“. One such operation of cleaning the territory of Partisans, named Braunschweig, has just started.
Two women from Lipa, Katarina Kalčić Garićeva and Ivanka Ujčić Marocina are preparing to take milk to the Partisans hiding on the nearby Ravni hill. Katarina still hasn’t finished cooking lunch so Ivanka leaves alone. She’s carrying a child on her back anyway, so Katarina will catch up with her. Granpa Jakov Smajla heads out of the house to play bocce in the village. Suddenly a gunshot echoes leaving Jakov dead on his house front steps. His daughter Marija grabs her four young children and hides under the staircase. Ivanka, as she climbs towards Ravni, turns around to face Lipa and watches soldiers marching from Rupa entering the village. In the next few hours, 269 civilians from Lipa were tortured and killed, amongst them 96 children from the age of 7 months to 18 years. That day and the following days, Nazis and Fascists burned the bodies, stole the villager’s belongings, destroyed their property and burned all 87 houses and 85 outbuildings. Lipa no longer existed. Ivanka never saw her friend Katarina again. Together with Marija (daughter of granpa Jakov), she’s one of the few survivors who managed to protect their children from the horrors of that day.
The town has recently opened the Memorial Centre Lipa Remembers – lest no one forget. Lipa is now restored and has 125 inhabitants.
Lipa is about 15 km north of Rijeka. I came here on an early morning – many shells of the stone houses remain.
RIJEKA. At the north, top end of Kvarner Bay, Rijeka is the largest city in the area. The only NM sights are the Computer Museum PEEK & POKE and the ship Galeb.
Trsat Castle, Trsat. In a community that abuts the east end of Rijeka, the castle’s main draw is the panoramic view down to the city and Bay (elevation 135m). The east walls are intact with a nice round tower on the north end. Inside is a restaurant, a common wedding venue. The west part of the castle is crumbling away and has a crenellated tower.
ISLANDS in the BAY OF KVARNER
There are several islands in the Bay of Kvarner, all accessible from the “mainland” of Croatia. They are included in the Istria region. Because of time constraints, the necessity of using ferries to access them and as there was not much to see for the effort involved, I did not go to any of them. For completeness sake, I will list them from north to south with some of the sights to be seen on each. All the islands are long and thin – geologically the result of the direction of glacier movement in the last ice age.
KRK
Vrbnik, a NM “small town”.
PRVIC.
Prvic Lighthouse (Mark Strazica) on the north end of the island.
CRES. This long thin island is the most westerly in the bay.
Lubenice. This town is a tentative World Heritage Site (01/02/2005).
LOSINJ. Connected by bridge to Cres.
Mali Losinj has Fritsy Palace, the Tower Museum Gallery and the Apoxyomenos Museum.
Veli Losinj is a NM “small town”.
RAB
Kampor. Rab Concentration Camp memorial
Rab Old Town is a NM “sight”.
Paradise Beach
GOLI.
Goli Otok. In the NM “Dark Side” series.
PAG. Connected by a bridge on its south end.
Zrce Beach.
DUGI OTOK.
Vele Rat Lighthouse is on its north end.
UGLJAN & PASMAN. Just off Zadar, these two islands are connected by a bridge.
KORNATI.
National Park Kornati covers the entire south half of the island.
