Svetvincenat Istria

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).

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