 Colonization of the area began in prehistoric times. During the 2ndC. B.C., a Roman castrum of 400 metres long and 200 metres wide was built on a small peninsula where the old city centre is today. In the 1stC., during the Roman emperor August’s domination, the castrum was officially declared a town and was included in the Roman colony Colonia Julia Parentium whose remains of forums and temples still stand as a witness. In the 3rd C. the town already had an organized Christian community as well as an early Christian church complex. During the two hundred years, from the beginning of the 4th to the middle of 6th C. in Poreč – the Parentium, municipium of the Roman province of Histria – began the construction of churches of the new Christian cult of which only one is still in tact, the last and most lovely, the Euphrasian Basilica.
. This is a representative sacral object that consolidates the chapters of late antiquity and early byzantine art that are listed under the UNESCO register of world cultural heritage and which from its incurrence became the main accent of the town which it continues to have today. Crowds of tourists visit the exceptional monument every year, for a number of reasons. In 1844, the Austrian steamship company Lloyd made a tourist route in which Poreč was also included whilst in 1845 the first tourist guide with descriptions and pictures of the town was published. The Austro–Hungarian aristocracy discovered it in 1866 after the arrival of the archduchess Stephanie who, with her yacht Phantasy, navigated into Poreč\'s port and presented it to the wider public. Later, more and more guests came to pass their holidays here. In 1902, the narrow gauge railway line from Trieste to Poreč was built and named Parenzana whilst the oldest hotel and trade mark of the history of tourism in Poreč, the Rivijera, was built in 1910 when the great ascent of tourism in Poreč began. From 1920-1943 the town was under the governance of the Kingdom of Italy but on September, 10 1943 together with Istra, it became part of Croatia. Today Poreč has more than 40 hotels as well as numerous campsites, naturist campsites, 16 apartment complexes, together with private accommodation such as villas, bungalows and family houses. So, a town with more than 10,000 inhabitants can host up to 120,000 guests in the area, in the so called Poreština. It is an amazing number compared to the town’s size so the tourist infrastructure is deliberately sparse along the 37 km Poreč coast. At the southern end, are the large independent centres of Plava Laguna, Zelena Laguna, Bijela Uvala and Brulo, whilst to the north of the town, are Materada, Červar-Porat, Ulika and Lanterna. These summer “suburbs” have their own beaches, department stores, vehicles, playgrounds, entertainment and various shops. The sport infrastructure is very well-developed and is used throughout the year as it becomes the weekend destination for numerous tourists from Croatia, Slovenia, Austria and Italy. During the season, as tourists are at the beaches during the day out of town, the evening is when the tourists “attack” the old town which becomes full of pedestrians from every European country, looking for the services of the numerous shops, restaurants, disco clubs, bars as well as the numerous galleries. The old town has preserved the formation of streets from the old Roman castrum whilst the main streets Dekumanus and Cardo Maximus are protected in their original historical formation. As well as the afore-mentioned Euphrasian Basilica, tourists can also visit the Marafor, the Roman square with two temples, and houses from the Roman period as well as some beautiful Venetian gothic buildings, the Istrian Parliament Building that was originally a Franciscan gothic church from the 13th C. and many other sights. |
