Rovinj Old Town

Rovinj is a coastal town on the western tip of the Istrian peninsula in Croatia, built on a small peninsula that was an island until the channel was filled in 1763. The old town is a dense cluster of tall, narrow Venetian-influenced houses in terracotta, ochre, and dusky pink, their facades rising directly from the sea at the peninsula's western edge. Cobblestone lanes — some too narrow for two people to pass comfortably — climb steeply from the harbour toward the Church of Saint Euphemia, whose 60-metre Baroque bell tower dominates the Rovinj skyline and can be seen from the sea for many kilometres. The church, completed in 1736, houses a marble sarcophagus said to contain the remains of Saint Euphemia of Chalcedon; the tower can be climbed for a 360-degree view over red-tiled rooftops, the harbour, and the forested islands offshore. The harbour front — Obala Pina Budicina — is lined with fishing boats, restaurant terraces, and the galley at which local painters sell work; Grisia Street rising from the waterfront hosts an open-air art exhibition every August. The town is entirely car-free within the old peninsula and best explored on foot. Several small islands lie immediately offshore: St. Catherine's Island, a five-minute boat ride from the harbour, has a hotel, café, and swimming platforms. The Red Island to the south is a national reserve with pine forests and rocky shore accessible by scheduled boat. Inland from the harbour, the Batana boat museum tells the story of Rovinj's traditional flat-bottomed fishing vessel.