Svetvincenat Istria
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In the centre of the southernpart of Istria, halfway down betwen Pazin and Pula, near by the road connecting inland
istria with the south of the peninsula, lies the old town of Svetvinčenat, with its mediaeval castle, churches and bell-tower.
Svetvinčenat, Savičenta und Sanvicenti, sind drei Namen für den gleichen Ort, die
aus dem Namen des hispanischen Märtyrers Heiliger Vinzenz und der gleichnamigen Abtei, um die das Städtchen gegründet wurde,
stammen. Die Geschichte beginnt am Ort des heutigen Friedhofs, wo die tüchtigen Benediktiner als Pioniere die Wälder rodeten,
das Land bebauten, ihre Quartiere und die Kirche erstellten und damit die ersten Bewohner angezogen. Zwischen den hohen, schweigsamen
Zypressen, die das gut erhaltene Bauwerk von Svetvinčenat verbergen, hört man noch heute den alten Wahlspruch ˝Ora et labora˝
(bete und arbeite).
*The church of St. Vincent
*Placa
*Grimani Castle
*The parish
church of Mary's Annunciation
*The church of St. Anthony the Abbot
*The church of St. Rochus
*The church of
St. Catherine
Svetvinčenat and its surrounding countryside is know, not only for its historical and
cultural legacy and a real aboundance on the folklore and artistic manifestation, but also by its recreational possibilites
– a number of recrenational bike and walking pathways, rich flora and fauna, large and rich hunting grounds, excellent wine
and geniune Istrian cuisine. The Istrian cuisine today, as many other things in Istria after all, is a blend of different
historic and cultural influences. Its base is, however, the Mediterranean prevailingly Italian gastronomy. The Istrian dhises
are therefore simple and very tasty, imaginative and moderate, having many characteristics of bouth, littoral and continental
ways of food preparing.Its basic characteristics could generally be described as more boiling, less roastin, very moderate
seasoning, simple side dishes consisting of vegetables and pasta, plenty of wild growth and grape vinegar and olive oil dressed
salads. As a far as the cold dishes are concerned, the best you can be offered in Istria are the famous home-made prosciutto
anb sheep-milk cheese. As a hors-d'oeuvre you must also tray different kinds of local pasta-dishes (fuži, gnocchi, pasutice...)
or famous soups and Istrian «maneštra». Main dishes are based on various sorts of meat (poultry, game) with tasty side dishes
with plenty of vegetable, pasta, different orts of salads. Istria has always been know by its wines. It was by its wines that
Istria has become renowned since the Roman and Greek times. Malvasia, Pinot and Moscato – the best white sorts of Istrian
wines. Borgnogna, Merlot and Terrano – the famous red wines. In Svetvinčenat there are several taverns, a restaurant and pizza-house.
Svetvinčenat and its surrounding contryside, a region rich in flora and fauna, is above all an attractive recreational part
of Istria. It is overflowed with medicinal herbs (rue, mint, wormwood, nettle, sage, rosemary, dandelion, elder, juniper,
wild asparagus and is a natural habitat of a hundred sorts of edible mushrooms, like boletus, chanterelle, cep, slender funnel
fungus... During the week-end the countryside around Svetvinčenat becomes the hunter meeting place. For both, the local and
Italian hunting enthusiasts there are rich 4200 hectares of pheasant, partidge, hare, woodcock and quail hunting grounds.
The Svetvinčenat community covers an agricultural area located in the inland part of the southwestern plateau belonging
to the Poreč-Pula area.
Based on the natural conditions it is practically homogeneous. It borders with the following
communities: Vodnjan, Bale, Kanfanar, Barban and Žminj. The entire area slightly rises from the south towards the interior
with gentle slopes and alternating areas covered with typical Mediterranean vegetation and farmlands with an average area
of some 3,600 m2 bordered by dry stone walls or vegetation.
Grapes and olives dominate, as well as vegetables and
field crops. In livestock breeding, sheep farming plays an important role.
The area of the Svetvinčenat community
has a sub-Mediterranean climate. Based on Köpen’s classification the following type of climate dominates in the area:
It is
characterized by the rainy period in autumn and minimum rainfall in summer, average temperature of the warmest month of the
year is over 22o C, and during eight months in the year the average daily temperature is over 10oC. The information of the
Pula weather station is considered referential for the Svetvinčenat community.
The area of the Svetvinčenat community
completely comprises the following cadastral communities:Svetvinčenat, Smoljanci, Bokordići, Juršići and Štokovci, as well
as parts of cadastral communities Vodnjan and Filipana.
The community consists of nineteen
statistical towns:
Bibići, Bokordići, Boškari, Bričanci, Butkovići, Cukrići, Čabrunići, Foli, Juršići, Krančići,
Pajkovići, Peresiji, Pusti, Raponji, Režanci, Salmabati, Smoljanci and Svetvinčenat. Those not considered statistical towns
are Sv. Kirin, Bankovići, Brščići, Ferlini ….
According to many features the Svetvinčenat community may
be regarded as a typical area of so-called “Red Istria”, which belongs to the central Istrian lowlands, with gentle slopes
and without prominent morphological units (entities), but having a large number of karst features (pits, karst valleys, ponds,
rocky ground).