This is a SEO version of revitas_urbanaPOVsredista_ITL-ENG. Click here to view full version
« Previous Page Table of Contents Next Page »Te view of Rovinj, from whichever perspective , always focuses on the same detail, so it is impossible to tell the story of this town without mention-ing it: high up on the belfry of the parish church stands the magnifcent statue of St. Euphemia, patron saint of the town ever since the 9th c. Today, the preserved body of this martyr is kept in the parish church sanctuary in a marble sarcophagus, which according to legend, was washed up on the beach at Rovinj. Te legend is an echo of the typical Byzantine custom of the early medieval period to win the favor of east Adriatic towns by giving holy relics, since it was not possible to achieve this by the presence of their own navy whose power had diminished. In prehistoric times, the Iron Age hill-fort on Rovinj Island constituted part of the developed system of hill-fort settlements in the surroundings. Its continuity can-not be confrmed in Roman times, therefore the founding of the town can be dated to the perilous times of Late Antiquity, when a number of fortifed towns were formed, described at the beginning of the 7th c. by Anonymous Raven-nas in his Cosmographia, among them also Ruvigno (Ruigno, Ruginio). Medieval sources, mentioning the Cissa diocese which existed from the mid-6th to 8th cc., refer to ancient sources, mentioning the island along the western coast of Istria. Historiography of the Age of Enlightment places that island south of Rovinj, but the thesis about the existence of diocese and connection with Rovinj is not sup-ported by archaeological fnds.
In the early Middle Ages, on the most elevated part of the island probably stood a fort (castrum), and beside it the church dedicated to St. George. Te island was separated from the mainland by a channel. As it was the target of frequent attacks of people from the Neretva region, Croats and Saracens in the 9th c., it was sur-rounded and protected by walls. In the 10th c. the three-aisled basilica became the parish church. Te heptagonal Church of the Holy Trinity situated on the mainland, outside the town dates from the Romanesque, and the careful observer will surely notice the transenna with the representation of the Crucifxion with the Holy Virgin, St. Peter and two apostles.
Rovinj retained its independence until 1150, when it was forced to swear loyalty to Venice. Te period of Venetian rule was a time of prosperity for Rovinj. It grew into an indispensable port for seafarers from which ships were piloted to Venice. High quality limestone from the nearby quarries was exported for the construction and decoration of Venetian palaces and churches. Te religious life of townspeople was organized around societies – confraternities engaged in building and main-taining churches of patron saints.
Te conficts between Venice and the Turks in the 16th c. also left traces in Rovinj. Te town walls were fortifed, and on the mainland side, along the channel, an additional stretch of walls with three square towers was built. Te town gate Por-ton del Ponte from the mid-16th c. in front of the central tower led to the stone bridge. Te Middle Ages defned the urban basis of the island with narrow wind-ing streets that in a fan-like pattern descend to the bottom of the hill. However, most of the preserved buildings date from the period after the 15th c. Apart from a few Gothic houses, a greater number of houses with Renaissance and Baroque features are preserved in the historic core. In 1580 the proud town authorities commissioned the fresco with allegorical representation of the town government in the council hall of the Praetorian Palace. While numerous Istrian towns were wiped out as a result of epidemics in the 17th and 18th cc., Rovinj became one of the most densely populated towns in the northern Adriatic. From the 16th c. on-wards, the surrounding area was deliberately settled by people feeing from Dal-matia, Herzegovina, Albania and Greece; that is how Rovinjsko Selo was formed. In the 17th c. wealthy confraternities initiated the reconstruction of the parish church. In the second half of the 17th c. a new belfry was erected, on the model
71
HISToRIC URBAn CoReS
This is a SEO version of revitas_urbanaPOVsredista_ITL-ENG. Click here to view full version
« Previous Page Table of Contents Next Page »