POREC (PARENZO), NOVIGRAD (CITTANOVA
D'ISTRIA), BUJE (BUIE), GROZNIAN (GRISIGNANA), OPRTALJ (PORTOLE), MOTOVUN (MONTONA), SVETI
LOVREC PAZENATICKI (SAN LORENZO DEL PASENATICO)
POREC, PARENZO
Roman castrum
in the 2nd century bC; later become Colonia Julia Parentium in the 1st century aD.
The seat of the diocese already at the turn of the 3rd into the 4th century. On the
collapse of the Western Roman Empire, it was occupied by the Goths (493), from AD 539
under the Byzantine rule, and in AD 715 it came under the Longobards. Municipal
administration was set up in Porec (Parenzo) in the 12th century. From 1232 the town was
under the rule of the Aquilean patriarch, and from 1267 it came under the power of the
Venetian Republic. In 1354 devastated by the Genovese. After the fall of the Venetian
Republic Porec (Parenzo) came under the sovereignty of Austria. In 1861 became the capital
of Istria and the seat of the Istrian Diet; 1918-43 under the rule of Italy. After the
second World war it was under Jugoslavia and then after its dissolution became part of
Croatia.
The most precious cultural monument in
the city of Porec, comprising a 6th-century complex of sacral buildings erected during the
time of Bishop Euphrasius, lies in the northeast part of the urban-historical core of the
city. The Basilica, built on the foundations of a much earlier church, is dominated by a
triple-naved apse, a narthex, the atrium, an octagonal baptistery, and the bishop's
palace. The edifice was added to in the 13th and 15th centuries, and a bell-tower was
erected in the 16th century. The apse is ornately decorated with figural mosaics, which,
together with the mosaics in San Vitale in Ravenna,
comprise one of the most remarkable examples of mosaic art in Europe.
In 1997 the
Episcopal Complex of the Euphrasian Basilica in the Historic Centre of Porec (Parenzo) was
declared by Unesco a World Heritage patrimony with the following words: the group of
religious monuments in Porec (Parenzo), where Christianity was established as early as the
4th century, constitutes the most complete surviving complex of its type. The basilica,
atrium, baptistery and episcopal palace are outstanding examples of religious
architecture, while the basilica itself combines classical and Byzantine elements in an
exceptional manner.
