This was to be our easiest cycling day with the total distance travelled being only 20km and this was along mostly level seashore paths.
Rovinj
From Rovinj we followed the waterfront southwards past the open air market and on to the marina which appeared to be jam packed with large and very expensive yachts and cruisers. The Maserati and the Ferrari plus the numerous luxury BMWs and Mercedes in the adjacent car park gave a hint that this is a rich person’s playground. We rode around Zlatni Point and then further south through a parkland area and past a nudist campground that was empty.
Riding through camping area, near Rovinj
Bike path, near Rovinj
Our travels ended at a extensive caravan park right on the water’s edge where many of the motor homes were huge and seemed mostly to belong to German retirees enjoying the Adriatic coast now that the tourist masses have departed.
On our return journey to the boat we stopped at one of the very few seaside cafes which was open and had a coffee while some of our fellow cyclists had a swim.
Rovinj from beach
Coffee time, near Rovinj
As an interesting and highly informative interlude we then sat along the foreshore wall and our cycling guides Vili and Ina gave us an hour’s ‘lesson’ on the history of Croatia and its language. They did a wonderful job using both German and English in explaining the structure of the Croatian alphabet and they helped us with the pronunciation of common words and expressions. The history segment was from 1000BC up to the Balkan civil wars.
We arrived back at the boat at 13:00 and had lunch which included dragon fish which was very tasty indeed!
After lunch we walked around to the antique market and then walked up to the hilltop location of St. Euphemia’s Church hoping to climb the Bell Tower but unfortunately it had closed for the day at 15:00. The view of Rovinj from the hill summit was panoramic and magnificent. A wedding party had gathered outside the church and meanwhile a baptism was happening inside the church. We found St. Euphemia’s sarcophagus (see more below) in the apse behind the right altar.
Bell Tower, Rovinj
St. Euphemia’s Church, Rovinj
St. Euphemia’s sarcophagus, St. Euphemia’s Church
Rovinj is regarded as the pearl of Istria and has been a favoured tourist destination for many Europeans. In early times it was a favourite of the Venetians and the wealthy classes in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Nowadays it becomes overwhelmed with visitors during summer months whereas in winter it is practically deserted. We are lucky to be experiencing summer weather and yet relatively few tourists.
Grisa area, Rovinj
Grisa area, Rovinj
Rovinj was originally an island inhabited since the Bronze Age or earlier but in 1763 the isthmus between the island and the mainland was filled in and the town grew to well beyond the city wall. Rovinj became a major ship building, fishing, trading and stone exporting town with its quality marble and limestone used to build parts of Venice and other nearby cities.
After 1813 Rovinj came under Austrian rule having previously been controlled by Venice and even Napoleon for a brief period.
Apart from the amazing architecture evident throughout this city, the structure that captures one’s imagination above all else is St. Euphemia’s Church. One of its more notable features is the bell tower modelled on that of St. Mark’s in Venice. St. Euphemia stands atop of the bell tower as a weather vane. The original and much smaller church on this site was built in the 10th century and then it was completely rebuilt in 1725.
The story of St. Euphemia is intriguing. Born in Chalcedon she was the daughter of a 3rd century (AD) Roman Senator and believed in the Christian God. Because of her failure to worship the Roman Gods she was tortured by beating and stretching (being put on the ‘wheel’) and then sacrificed to lions in a Roman amphitheatre. The myth goes that the lions just licked her skin and showed no aggression towards her (a miracle!). As a martyr, St. Euphemia’s relics were placed in a golden sarcophagus and later transferred to Constantinople. In the 7th century Iconoclasts dumped her reliquary into the sea and part of her remains ended up washing ashore in a marble sarcophagus at Rovinj (another miracle!). For the strong fishermen who found the sarcophagus it was too heavy to move but a small boy and two calves towed it up the steep hill to the church where it remains today (a further miracle!).
In the late afternoon we joined a guided tour of the old city of Rovinj and walked along the original area that divided Rovinj from the mainland. After passing one of the old city gates we ventured further uphill past the point where Euphemia’s sarcophagus had supposedly washed ashore. Passing Euphemia’s Church in near darkness we then ventured downhill through the artists’ quarter of Grisa where paintings, jewellery, clothing and all types of souvenir items were on display.
After this two hour tour which was mostly in German we then gathered for an evening meal in a downtown Rovinj restaurant after which we headed back to the ‘Tarin’ for rest.
Tomorrow will be our last day’s bike riding on this trip and we are already feeling sad that this wonderful experience has to come to an end. It has been totally brilliant!