Istria, from Pula to the hilltop villages

Istria, from the coast to the hills

The west coast of Istria runs from Pula to Novigrad, among pines, coves and old harbours. Rovinj is built on a hill above the sea, around a large church. Further north, the road drops to the head of the Lim Fjord, down at the water’s edge, near the oyster beds.

Inland, there are green hills, vineyards and oak forests, with a village perched on every height: Grožnjan, Motovun, Buzet, Hum. The roads are slow, but the distances are short. Autumn is white truffle season here.

To the east, the road crosses the Učka massif by the Poklon Pass, at 922 metres. From Vojak, the summit, you can see the Kvarner Gulf and its islands. The road winds back down to Opatija, a seaside resort that grew up under Austria-Hungary. It then follows the coast south by way of Mošćenice, a village perched above the sea, to Labin, an old mining town.

Below Motovun, the forest along the Mirna is white truffle country. Buzet, further east, calls itself the town of truffles. In Livade, down in the valley, a shop displays a bronze copy of a 1.31-kilo truffle found in 1999, which made it into the Guinness World Records.

Between Roč and Hum, the road follows the Glagolitic Alley: eleven monuments set up between 1977 and 1985, over seven kilometres. They pay tribute to Glagolitic, the oldest Slavic alphabet. Hum calls itself ‘the smallest town in the world’. It has a few dozen inhabitants.

Rome and Venice on the west coast

Pula was a Roman colony. Its amphitheatre, the Arena, begun under Augustus and enlarged under Vespasian, is one of the largest in the Roman world: 133 metres by 105. Its outer wall is preserved all the way round, with three storeys on the sea side.

In Poreč, the Euphrasian Basilica was built in the 6th century by Bishop Euphrasius, with gold-ground mosaics. It has been on the UNESCO list since 1997. Then, for centuries, the coast belonged to Venice. Rovinj’s bell tower, around sixty metres high, copies the one at St Mark’s. Later, Pula became the main naval base of Austria-Hungary, and James Joyce taught English there in the winter of 1904–1905. Italian is still an official language in several municipalities, and the towns have two names: Rovinj is also Rovigno, Poreč is Parenzo.

What not to miss

1. 1The Pula ArenaThe arena, then the underground galleries, with an exhibition on olive oil and wine in Antiquity.
2. 2RovinjLanes climbing up to the church of St Euphemia, whose sarcophagus is said to have washed ashore here around the year 800.
3. 3DvigradA medieval town emptied in the 17th century by plague, malaria and war.
4. 4The Lim FjordNot a true fjord, but a river valley flooded by the sea for ten kilometres.
5. 5VojakThe highest point in Istria, at 1,396 metres, with a view over the Kvarner.
6. 6LabinAn old town perched above Rabac, whose museum has rebuilt a coal-mine gallery.

Istria in pictures

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Poreč at dawn, the bell tower of the Euphrasian Basilica above the sea.

Istrian food

In Istria, truffle is grated over handmade pasta, fuži and pljukanci. People also eat maneštra, a thick soup of beans and vegetables, Istrian cured ham, and boškarin, a local breed of ox. On the Lim, you try the oysters.

The most common white wine is malvazija istarska, the red is teran. Istrian olive oil often wins prizes at international competitions. In Hum, people drink biska, a mistletoe brandy. Out of season, many konobas, the country inns, close or open only on certain days.