CROATIA: Istria Peninsula

The Istria Peninsula is triangular shaped on the NW coast of Croatia. 

On the north it is bordered with Slovenia, and on the south and west it is bordered by the Adriatic Sea. 

It is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. 

From an Italian perspective it is considered the Tuscany of Croatia. 

Or, if you look at it from a French perspective, it is considered the Provence of Croatia. 

There is a mix of architecture, ranging from Roman, to mediaeval to Venetian.

We headed to Ravinj. 

It is a Croatian fishing port and was built between the 3rd and 5th centuries. 

The old town was built on an island and was connected to the mainland in the 18th century. 

It has a hilltop church, St Euphemia. 

There is a maze of car-free cobbled streets, 

with cute little town squares.

There are tightly packed colourful houses leading to the shore. 

It is often compared to Venice, which, is across the Adriatic Sea. 

There are little shops, cafes and restaurants along the waterfront to enjoy the beautiful weather and Adriatic Sea.

Further south on the peninsula we also went to Pula. 

Pula still has evidence of the Roman occupation of the area.

You can also see that over the centuries the Roman buildings were used as a quarry as it was easier to pilfer from an abandoned building than it was to cut new stones. You could call it re-used, or, up-cycled.

Look closely at this wall and you can see pieces from prior Roman buildings. 

Take a closer look at this wall as well. 

Pula has the largest and best preserved Roman amphitheater. It is much better preserved than the Roman Coliseum. 

It was built into a hill, which is Greek theatre style, but, it is a full circle, which is Roman Amphitheatre style. Because it was built into a hill, one side had more rows of seats than the other side. 

The wealthy sat on the lower water side since it would get the sea breezes during the hot summer days. 

Performances included theatre and gladiator fights. 

The outer ring of the Amphitheatre had a retractable cloth roof that was suspended at the four corners. The centre was left open.

You can see the part where it has been cleaned. 

It is still used for concerts and performances. 

The centre part where the animals and gladiators were kept has been cemented in as a floor, Hence, it is not a protected UNESCO World Heritage site. 

The engineer in John marvels at the skills of the Roman engineers and architects. 

Istria lies in three countries: Croatia, Slovenia and Italy. By far the largest portion (89%) lies in Croatia. "Croatian Istria" is divided into two counties, the larger being Istria County in western Croatia.