petak, 23. studenoga 2007.

Dubrovnik



Dubrovnik is the city located at the south end of Croatia. It has it’s own airport as well as ferry terminal so it can be reached by air from vast range of European cities as well as by various ferries from Croatian cities, towns and islands as well as from Italy. Dubrovnik is city rich with culture and history so it is listed in UNESCO World Heritage List. Dubrovnik old town was built in the 13th century and remains almost untouched to the present day. Tall walls surround Dubrovnik Old Town. There are two main portals to the old town, Pile and Ploce, both leading to the Stradun, the Dubrovnik’s main boulevard. Dubrovnik has a rich cultural life that includes Dubrovnik theatre, several cinemas as well as Dubrovnik Film Festival and Dubrovnik Summer Festival, held every year in July and August.

Brac



BRAC is one of the largest islands in Croatia. It is separated from the mainland by the Brac Channel, from the island of Solta by the so-called Splitska Vrata and from the island of Hvar by the Hvar Channel. The highest peak of the island is Vidova Gora (780 m) is the highest peak of all Croatian islands.
Brac has a good ferry and boat connections with Croatian mainland and it also has its own airport. The most popular tourist place is Bol with its popular sandy beach Zlatni Rat. The favourite tourist destinations are Supetar, Pucisca and Milna . An especially pleasant climate, abundant vegetation and beautiful beaches are a great bonus for people who visit Brac

Split


Split is the main city in Dalmatia. Split is the one of the largest cites in Croatia, and is the largest city on the Croatia Adriatic coast. The city was first settled when, at the end of the third century AD, the Roman Emperor Diocletian built his palace on the site of today’s Split. Diocletian's Palace is well preserved Roman palace located now in the very heart of Split. Many of Split's historical and cultural monuments are located within the walls of Diocletian's Palace. One of them is Peristile, the main open space in the palace with it's colonnade of six columns and the cathedral on eastern side of the squre is site not to be missed in Split..


Split has it's own airport that connects ti with Zagreb, as well as other international cities. Various ferry lines connect Split with the nearby Adriatic islands (Korcula, Vis, Lastovo...) and there is a coastal ferry service between the city and Rijeka to the north and Dubrovnik to the south. There are also daily ferries during the summer that connects Split and Ancona in Italy.

Rovinj


Rovinj is another Croatian walled town built on small peninsula. Architecturally it looks very similar as Korcula , Dubrovnik or Porec - located on small peninsula, surrounded by sea with its historic centre modelled on Venice). Rovinj is very popular among visitors and travellers to Croatia and is one of the top Croatian tourist destination. ( Check Top Ten Croatian Places).

Shadow of Rovinj
Rovinj used to be Istrian fishing port , and once was also the principal town of the Istrian peninsula. Nowadays, it's maze of narrow streets leads to a harbour full of fishing boats as well as sailing boats and yachts. As a town, Rovinj was first mentioned in the 7th century, as Ruvignio-Ruigno. It changes rulers throughout the history . IMportant part of it's history was period when it was under Venetian rule. From 1283 until fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797, Rovinj got the majority of it's architectural marks. After fall of VEnetian Republic, it came under Austria-Hungarian Empire rule, and from 1918 under Italian rule. After Second World War, Rovinj joined Yugoslavia (Croatia) .

Pula


Pula (“Pola” in Italian) is the largest city in Istria, western Croatia, located on southern tip of the Istrian peninsula. Pula was once an Austro-Hungarian Empire major naval base. Nowadays, it is an important Croatian port and an industrial centre being something in between a busy working port and active Istrian Riviera town.
The Romans captured Pula in 178 B.C. where they built the most amazing and well-known Pula amphitheater, which remains are still used as Pula’s summer stage for various opera and pop performances, as well as for well-known Pula Film Festival, that is hosted there since 1953.
The Pula amphitheater (“arena” in Croatian) was built at the end of first century B.C. It is sixth largest amphitheater in the world, with capacity of 22 000 people. Outer shell is almost complete, while inside seats are just partly remaining.
During the history, Pula was destroyed by Augustus, but was rebuilt by him and named Pietas Julia. Pula was taken by the Venice Republic in 1148, and 200 years later overtaken and destroyed by Genovese.The Venetians continued to rule Pula until the Treaty of Campo Formio (1797) when Pula was transferred to Austro-Hungarian Empire. The city was surrender to Italy after World War I. Since the World War II, Pula belongs to Croatia, then one of the Yugoslav republics.

Novigrad


Novigrad or Cittanova ( in Italian) is a small, picturesque town located at the north-west shore of Istrian Peninsula, just about 25 km away from Slovenian border and about 15 km from Porec, Umag or Buje - another places in Istria.
Town of Novigrad includes 5 different areas : Antenal, Bužinija, Dajla, Mareda and Novigrad. Novigrad is positioned on a small limestone peninsula on which the old town centre is built, surrounded by partially preserved mediaeval walls and towers with numerous houses built in period between 15th and 18th centuries.


The parish church of St. Pelagus is structured as Romanesque basilica with some Baroque add on's, where Romanesque crypt lies underneath its sanctuary. The church has Baroque altars. A three-nave church of Sveta Agata with three semicircular apses is situated on the Novigrad's cemetery. Further north of Novigrad, there is palace of Carlo Riga - old country mansion from 1760's, built as combination of Venetian and Central European Baroque style. It currently contains a display of ancient tombstones and Byzantine fragments too. Novigrad used to be a small fishing village, before it became tourist place where the beginning of tourist trade started at the end of the 19th century, when most of other Istrian and Kvarner Gulf places got their tourist Renaissance. Rivarella is popular Novigrad's promenade, that stretches along coast.

Motovun


Motovun is one of the best preserved Istrian hill medieval towns. It is located at the south side of Mirna River Valley about twenty kilometers from Buje (another Istrian town) and offers 360 degrees panoramic view of Istrian valleys all the way to Adriatic Sea. The hill at which Motovun is built has height of about 300 meters.


Motovun is walled town too. It's walls were built in 13th and 14th century and are still well preserved. Architecturally, Motovun is very cute place to see - there are several Romanesque and Gothic houses in the very centre of the place as well as system of fortifications with walls, towers and gates, built in the period between the 14th and the 17th centuries. A bell tower in the Gothic and Romanesque style is situated on the top of the hill at the Motovun's main square. Next to it is Renaissance castle with add-ons from the 14th to the 19th centuries. The parish church of Sveti Stipan, built in 17th century has features of the late Renaissance architecture, with it's paintings and sculptures attributed to well known artists.


Motovun Film Festival : Motovun is well known for it's popular. The festival is established in 1999 and since then it become one of the most popular places to be for five days in late July every year. The festival promotes independent films and it is estimated that festival is visited by 50000 people. Films are shown at open with large screen placed at Motovun's main square.