Rovinj

Rovinj was a settlement of Illyrian or Venetic tribes before the Romans took it, calling it Arupinium or Mons Rubineus and later Ruginium. It passed to the Byzantine Empire, became part of the Exarchate of Ravenna in the 6th century and fell to the Franks in 788. After centuries under a succession of feudal lords, it was acquired in 1209 by the Patriarchate of Aquileia, and from 1283 to 1797 it was one of the most important towns of Venetian Istria. Under Venice it was enclosed by two rings of walls with three gates, gained its first statute in 1531, and built its baroque church and campanile. The town stood on an island until 1763, when the channel separating it from the mainland was filled in.

After the fall of Venice and a Napoleonic interlude, Rovinj became part of the Austrian Empire until the First World War; at the last Austrian census, in 1911, nearly 98 per cent of its people spoke Italian. It belonged to the Kingdom of Italy from 1918 to 1947, when it was ceded to Yugoslavia and its name changed from Rovigno to Rovinj. In the post-war years many Italian inhabitants left, transforming the town's population.

From 1876 to 1966 a branch railway linked Rovinj with Kanfanar. Since Croatian independence in 1991 Rovinj has become one of the main centres of Istria County, its third-largest town after Pula and Poreč, and one of its leading tourist destinations.

Rovinj's identity rests on its two languages and its fishing past. The town's statute makes it officially bilingual, and its official name is Rovinj-Rovigno; Italian has equal status in administration and signs, and the town has Italian-language primary and secondary schools. Istriot, a Romance language spoken by a few hundred people in south-western Istria, survives in Rovinj, whose dialect is called Ruvignìʃ, and the local poet Ligio Zanini wrote in it.

The batana, a flat-bottomed wooden fishing boat, is the town's emblem. Casa della Batana, a community ecomuseum in the old harbour, keeps alive the boat, its builders and the fishing community around it, and UNESCO has listed it on its Register of Good Safeguarding Practices as a model for protecting living cultural heritage. The harbour remains a working fishing port.

Art is the other thread. Grisia, the artists' street of the old town, is known for its studios and galleries, and galleries continue along Carera Street. The town also holds a photography festival, Mundial. St Euphemia, the town's patron saint, whose relics rest in a Roman sarcophagus in the church, stands as a wind vane on top of the bell tower, watching over a town that turns towards the sea.

At the 2021 census Rovinj had about 13,000 people, of whom about 11,600 lived in the town itself; the only other settlement in the municipality is Rovinjsko Selo. The population has fallen since 2011, when it was about 14,300. At that census Croats formed a majority of just under two-thirds, with Italians the largest minority at about one in nine, and about a tenth declaring a regional identity.

Tourism is the main economic activity. Rovinj is the second-biggest destination in Istria County by overnight stays, and from May to September its bars, restaurants and galleries keep long hours, then shorten them for the off-season. Accommodation runs from private rooms and campsites to large resort hotels, and a few islands off the town have hotels reached by boat. Fishing continues from the harbour.

The town is governed by a directly elected mayor and a council of 16, which can grow to ensure the Italian community is represented. Everyday life gathers along Carera Street, at Valdibora market and around the harbour; outside summer the town is much quieter, and locals get around by bicycle and scooter.

Rovinj eats Istrian food, which is close to Italian cooking: some dishes that Istrian Italians took with them after the post-war exodus, such as scampi alla busara, brudet and cured ham, are now part of Italian cuisine too. Brudet is a fish stew shared by the coasts of Istria, Kvarner and Dalmatia. Fuži, the region's traditional pasta, is made by cutting thin sheets of dough into strips, then cut diagonally into diamond shapes. Istarska jota is a hearty soup of beans with sauerkraut or sour turnip, potatoes, bacon and spare ribs, seasoned with garlic and olive oil.

The Valdibora market shows what the town cooks with: fish straight from the boats, truffles and truffle oil, olive oil, fruit and vegetables.

Malvazija, the Istrian Malvasia, is one of the region's main white wines, and Teran, a red grape native to the Croatian part of the Istrian peninsula, makes its red wine. The harbour front and the old town hold many seafood restaurants and konobas, and Rovinj's bars cluster between the bus station and the old town.