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Vidalumi

Croatia

Rovinj, Croatia

Rovinj: An Old Town Built on a Former Island in Istria

Rovinj sits on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula, and the 2021 census counted 12,968 people in the town and its municipality. Venice ruled it from 1283 to 1797 and Italy from 1918 to 1947, and it keeps both of its names, Rovinj and Rovigno, on an equal footing. The sea stays above 20°C from mid-June to September, and the town is at its busiest from May to September.

Good to know

Arriving in Rovinj

Your ship will tell you how you come ashore in Rovinj. From the main square you enter the old town through Balbi's Arch, a 17th-century gate built where the old main gate, the Porton della Pescheria, once stood.

  • Cars are not allowed into the old town, so expect to walk on cobbles and stone stairs.
  • The clock tower on the main square began in the 17th century as a tower at the south corner of the town walls.
  • Croatia uses the euro, and there are cash machines throughout the town.
  • Boats to St. Catherine's Island and St. Andrew's Island leave from the small pier and the Delfin pier.

Rovinj on Your Own

Rovinj is small and best seen on foot, so you need no tour to enjoy it. A simple plan is the old town and its church in the morning, the market or a short boat ride after that, and a return to the landing well ahead of all-aboard.

  • Up to St. Euphemia: Grisia is the steep, stepped lane from the old town up to the church. Each August since 1967 it has hosted a one-day open-air art show.
  • The church: The Baroque church of St. Euphemia was completed in 1736, and its bell tower, about 60 meters high, is topped by a statue of the saint that turns with the wind. Her relics lie in a Roman sarcophagus.
  • The market: The open-air market at Valdibora, at the edge of the old town, sells truffles, olive oil, fruit and vegetables, and fresh fish is sold in a small hall beside it.
  • A short boat ride: Small boats cross to St. Catherine's Island, about 100 meters from the town, and to St. Andrew's Island, the largest in the archipelago. They run through the day.
  • Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own.

Getting Around

Most visitors walk, because the town is compact and the old town is closed to cars. For anything farther, taxis, buses and bicycles all start just outside it.

  • The main bus station is at the south-east end of Carera, the pedestrian main street, and buses run to Pula throughout the day.
  • Taxi Rovinj has its stand at Trg na lokvi, and Uber also operates in the town.
  • Small electric vehicles carry passengers on short transfers around town.
  • Bicycles are a popular way to get around, and cycle paths run south along the coast through pine forest.

Food in Rovinj

Rovinj's traditional cooking is built on seafood, once caught by fishermen working from batana boats. The market sells Istrian truffles and olive oil alongside the day's fish.

  • The Batana House eco-museum has published a cookbook of fifteen traditional Rovinj recipes, among them brodet, a fish stew, fried picarels with kale and fried sea anemones.
  • Pelinkovac, a bitter herb liqueur, is made in Rovinj by the Darna company, which has a small museum and shop in the center.
  • Malvasia and teran are the local wine varieties.
  • Carry some cash, because not every restaurant takes cards, and many places close for the winter.

Tipping in Croatia

Service is not added to restaurant bills in Croatia, so a voluntary tip is customary. Rounding up the bill is a common way to leave one.

  • It is somewhat customary to let a taxi driver keep the change, in small amounts only.

Culture and Traditions

Rovinj is officially bilingual, and both Croatian and Italian are used equally in its town hall and on its signs. Its own traditions come from the fishing life of the old town.

  • The batana is a wooden boat 4 to 6 meters long. In summer a boatbuilder works on one in the evenings on the square in front of the Batana House, and later in the season it is launched.
  • Bitinada is Rovinj's folk song. A soloist leads while a group of fifteen or more imitates the sound of instruments with their voices, usually improvising.
  • Istriot, a Romance language once widely spoken in this part of Istria, is still spoken by some residents.
  • St. Euphemia is the town's patron, and her day is September 16.
  • At the beginning of June, a regatta of traditional boats with lug and lateen sails has been held in Rovinj's waters since 2006.

A Brief History

Rovinj began on an island hill, passed from Byzantine and Frankish hands to Venice, and changed countries several times in the 20th century. Its biggest buildings, including the Baroque church, date from the growth of the 17th and 18th centuries.

  • Earliest times: People were living on the island at the turn of the second and first millennia BC.
  • 7th century: The town is first recorded, as Castrum Rubini, in a geography written in Ravenna.
  • The saint's arrival: A local legend tells of a marble sarcophagus holding the saint's body that floated ashore and was hauled up to the church on the hill.
  • 1283: Rovinj sided with Venice, beginning a period of Venetian rule that lasted until 1797.
  • 1379: Genoese forces captured and devastated the town and carried off the saint's relics, which were later returned.
  • Late 16th century: Uskok raiders attacked and plundered the town.
  • 1763: The channel between the island and the mainland was filled in, and the old town stood on a peninsula from then on.
  • 1876 to 1966: A branch railway linked Rovinj with Kanfanar.
  • 1888: A seaside hospital for sick children opened on the Muccia peninsula, which the town counts as the beginning of its tourism.
  • 1918 to 1947: Rovinj belonged to Italy until it was ceded to Yugoslavia, and many Italian residents left after the war.
  • To learn more ashore: The Batana House eco-museum, at Obala Pina Budicina 2 on the old harbor, tells the town's story through its wooden boats and the people who built them. It is listed on UNESCO's Register of Good Safeguarding Practices for intangible cultural heritage.

Rovinj with Children

Rovinj works well with children because the sea is never far away, though reaching the church means a climb on stepped, cobbled lanes. Swimming spots, an aquarium and an island boat ride fill a day easily.

  • Younger children: Lone Bay, in the Golden Cape forest park, has a gravel beach popular with families, shade under old trees and snack bars. The town center is about 15 minutes away on foot.
  • School age: The Rovinj Aquarium, in the marine research center of the Ruđer Bošković Institute, shows the sea life of the Adriatic. It opens in the summer months; check hours and ticket prices before you go.
  • Teenagers: Rent bicycles and ride the coastal paths south through the pines of the Golden Cape, or climb the bell tower of St. Euphemia.

Beaches

Rovinj's beaches are mostly gravel, pebble and rock, and the nearest good swimming is in the Golden Cape forest park south of town or on the islands just offshore.

  • Lone Bay has a gravel beach with shade and snack bars, and nearby Kurent Cove adds deck chairs and public changing areas.
  • Mulini Beach, rocky and pebbly, was built in 2014 in the southern part of town.
  • On St. Catherine's Island the most visited beaches are on the eastern side and are mostly stony.
  • On St. Andrew's Island, a small stretch of shore near the little port is covered with gravel, which suits children and older swimmers.
  • Swimmers may go no more than 100 meters from the shore.
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