Rovinj

The old town began life as an island close to the shore, and the narrow channel that separated it from the mainland was filled in during 1763. Settlement here goes back to prehistoric times, and the town developed through the Roman and Byzantine periods before centuries under Venetian rule shaped much of its architecture.

The Church of St Euphemia, built between 1725 and 1736 on the site of earlier churches, holds the relics of the town's patron saint in a Roman-era sarcophagus. Local legend tells that the sarcophagus floated ashore after a storm and was hauled up the hill. The bell tower, completed earlier, in 1680, was modelled on the campanile of St Mark's in Venice and is topped by a copper statue of the saint that turns with the wind.

Rovinj's fishing heritage lives on in the batana, a traditional flat-bottomed wooden boat, and in bitinada songs, both celebrated at the town's eco-museum.

Rovinj has a strong bilingual Croatian and Italian heritage, visible in street names and heard in conversation. Fishing traditions remain part of the town's identity: the batana boats in the harbour are painted in bright colours, and the bitinada style of singing is still performed. Every August the Grisia street becomes an open-air art exhibition, a tradition going back more than 50 years, reflecting the town's long association with painters.