Buzet
In prehistoric times the hill-fort, from which the town later developed, watched over the road along the Mirna Valley. The settlement Piquentum derives its name from the semi-Romanized community of Illyrian-Celtic origin that populated these areas in Roman times.
In perilous times of Late Antiquity and beginning of the Middle Ages the inhabitants left the lowland settlements and withdrew to the well-protected areas. In addition to the barbarized Romanic population, from the beginning of the 7th c. the surroundings of the town were also settled by the Slavs.
Throughout the Middle Ages Buzet shared the destiny of northern Istria by changing rulers: Frankish kings, German feudal lords, Patriarch of Aquileia (1102 – 1421), the Republic of Venice (1421 – 1789).
On the hilltops overlooking the Mirna River and slopes of Ćićarija a number of small towns emerged (Rašpor, Vrh, Sovinjak, Draguć, Roč, Hum). The limited living area surrounded by walls and dominant position of castle defined their urban development. At that time the urban foundations of Buzet were also laid, the town spread along the ridge. From the western entrance towards the east, where the Church of St. George, patron saint of Buzet stood on a cliff within the town walls, stretched parallel streets with rows of houses.
After taking control of Aquileian possessions Venice joined the towns of northern Istria into a defensive fortification system of the Rašpor Captaincy. By moving the seat of the Rašpor Captaincy to Buzet in 1511, later also the administration of the continental part of Venetian possessions in Istria, and especially after the armed conflicts settled down in the second half of the 17th c., the town began to flourish. In spite of the medieval layout, a large number of palaces and houses leave an impression of a Renaissance and Baroque town. Venetian captains, whose coats of arms today adorn numerous town monuments, undertook large-scale public works. The town walls with the Large (Vela vrata, 1547) and Small Gates (Mala vrata, 1592) were reconstructed; the Small Well (Mala šterna 1517 – 1522, 1568) and grain storehouse were built.
Patricians and wealthy citizens erected a number of Renaissance and Baroque palaces. The town churches underwent radical changes. At the site of the earlier St. George's Church a new one was built at the beginning of the 17th c., where the Captains of Rašpor were buried. The Parish Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built at the end of the 18th c., on the site of an earlier one. The belfry was constructed in the following century, but the preserved small bell with a Glagolitic inscription dates from 1514.
In the last years of Venetian rule, in 1789, Captain M. Antonio Trevisan undertook an impressive project of building the large public cistern, Large Well (Vela šterna), in the Rococo style.
The town itself opened up in the 18th and 19th cc. when magnificent palaces were built against the walls, and below them gardens and promenades were arranged. At Goričica a small nucleus developed around the Gravisi family property with St. Ann's Chapel from the 18th c. In the area around the smaller settlement Sv. Ivan stands St. John's Church from 1634. Below the Large Gate, next to St. Vitus Church from the 15th c., a cemetery emerged. Today, this quiet, somewhat deserted town surprises visitors with the richness of architecture and spectacular views towards the rocky slopes of Ćićarija.
Visit:
Parish Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Town Museum of Buzet
Towns in the Mirna Valley: Vrh, Sovinjak, Draguć, Roč, Hum, Pietrapelosa Castle
Subotina po starinski - traditional fair at the beginning of September when old streets and long-forgotten crafts come alive again.
Interesting facts:
In 1755 the so-called "lion's mouth" was walled into the section by the Bigatto Palace (17th c). This was in fact a mail box where unsatisfied citizens of the Venetian Republic could drop an anonymous report against official authorities, enemy, neighbor...
