The old town of Rovinj is intertwined with cobbled streets and stairs that wind along small colorful houses. What we know today as the old town used to be an island. Under Venetian rule, the island and the mainland were merged. Three of the seven city gates have preserved their shape today: the Gate under the Wall, the Gate on the Shore and the Gate of St. Cross with the city coat of arms when it forms a red cross drawn on a white background. The door of the old fish market has been changed several times, as well as their name (Balbi's arch).
Two figures of the head are visible on the port of the Venetian building: one in the Turkish style, and the other in the Venetian style.In the second half of the eighteenth century, two coats of arms of the Balbi family were added to the door, after which they are named today. The Old Town preserves the town hall and the Center for Historical Research with a rich library that today numbers more than 100,000 bibliographically valuable titles. Numerous churches have been built in Rovinj for centuries: the Church of St. Joseph, the Holy Cross, St. Benedict, St. Thomas the Apostle, the Church of Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows known only as the "Oratory", the Church of Our Lady of Health and the most famous - the Church of St. Euphemia.
Author of the article
Ana Lazarević - correspondent for Rovinj
Contact: [email protected]
Photo credit: Haris Suljic
