The Decumanus and other Porec, Croatia General Tips

Favorite Thing: Early morning (first photo) is the best time to visit the Decumanus (BTW, this is true not only for the Decumanus). Everything is quiet and you have (nearly !) the whole town for yourself ! Moreover, the light is perfect for pictures !

As early as mid morning (second photo), it is beginning to be crowdie, but you can still walk quietly ... if you have been able to park your car ! in summer, after 10 AM, parking can be very difficult and eventually impossible. We experienced it once and had to drive back to our place !

No, no, no, now, there are too many people for us ! If you enjoy the crowd, then, that will be for you. I don't, that is why there is no photo but a picture ! I came once, some years ago, and that has been enough for me for a long time !

Fondest Memory: Quietness !

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Favorite Thing: Like most houses in the Decumanus, this Venetian Gothic style palace(first photo) is difficult to look at and it is difficult to take a picture, as there is absolutely no space in front to have a general view. Too bad !

However, on this close up on the windows (second photo), it is possible to see more clearly the delicately carved pillars on each side of the windows as well as the coat of arm in the middle.


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Favorite Thing: Another Venetian gothic style palace is not far, on "trg Grabara". It is even more difficult than the previous one to take a photo (first photo). It seems to be not so ''wealthy'' than the other one, as there are much less carvings.

The second photo is another Venetian Gothic style house, at the corner of the Decumanus and a small alley. It has beautiful three cusped windows. The top level seems to be built in bricks, with only the window frame in stone. The use of bricks was very unusual in Istria.

The third photo shows a different part of the same palace.


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Favorite Thing: When the old city of Poreč is quiet and almost desert, you can look at the front of the houses instead of trying to avoid bumping against other pedestrians ! I hate that and whenever I can, I avoid it.

These four photos were taken on the occasion of a small trip to Istria for white truffle tasting, in early November. I had never seen the city so quiet ! That allowed me to discover new Venetian gothic palaces that I had never spotted in Summer. However, there remains to identify them and learn more about each of them, which I am now trying to do.


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Favorite Thing: The Pentagonal tower (Peterokutna Kuċa) was built in 1447 by Niccolo Lion as a defense tower for the city walls, which were dismantled at the very beginning of the 19th (when Napoleon ruled Istria ?)

Is it really pentagonal ? At first sight (first photo), it does not seem to be !

However, even if it looks square from the Decumanus, the Pentagonal Tower is actually pentagonal from the rear ! I have checked because I was puzzled about it ! So the so Pentagonal Tower IS definitely pentagonal ! (second photo)

High on the Pentagonal tower, a cartouche with a winged lion is engraved in the front wall (third photo). It is another testimony of the presence of Venice in Poreč. Underneath, the letters N U flank a smaller cartouche with another winged lion. What N U stands for, I have not found anywhere.

The fourth photo is a close up on the lion holding an open book, meaning "peace" while when it holds a sword, it means "war".


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Favorite Thing: The building on the first photo, though in poor condition looks great. It overlooks the northern quay. It must have been something important but I have been unable to identify it. It is in the rear of the Eufrazijeva Basilika and must belong to it's complex.

While the Decumanus is packed with tourists, the northern quay (second photo), less than 50 meters away, is almost desert and remains quiet, even in Summer. It makes quite a change to walk from one to the other ! Walking around the peninsula by the quay is a nice walk.


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Favorite Thing: The Round tower (Oktugla kula), on Narodni Trg, was built in the second half of the 15th century. It is another of the few remains of the defenses of the city and of the city wall. On top of the Round tower, a restaurant has installed its terrace with parasols. We have not tried it but should next time (at least for the sight !)


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Favorite Thing: The superb house (first photo) with three cusped windows is located not far from the roman temples. Its style is looking like the late Venetian gothic, but more simple and looking more modern. It might have been built later, ''on the model of''.

This amazing house (second photo) is not far, neither, from the Roman temples. It has not the same great looking than the previous one but seems really pleasant to live in, in a quiet part of the city, but so close from the busy center.

I do not think that the architecture of this typical Istrian stone house of a very classical feature has anything particular (third photo), but the low-angle of the sunlight gave it a very strong character and I HAD to take this picture !

Not far from the Roman temples, stands a strict style house (fourth photo) which seems to have been built in the late 19th or the early 20th century. Nothing fancy, but certainly a nice and quiet place to have a drink.


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Favorite Thing: On the west side of the square (first photo), there remains very little of the Roman temples, the temple of Neptune (Neptunov hram) and the Great temple (Veliki hram), both built in the second century : a fluted column and the lower parts of a few walls, half hidden by laurel bushes.

A few Roman sarcophages are scattered among the ruins of the Roman temples, under the cedar trees (second photo). They are empty and the cover has been removed. No writing is visible. The place is very quiet and peaceful, very different from the crowd in the Decumanus !

The remains of the Roman Temple to Neptun (Neptunov hram) are the memory of the past, but (third photo) behind, in the background, Pore? is living and its inhabitants doing their laundry, and hanging their laundry behind the Roman ruins because everyday life is always stronger than remains of the past.

The cartouche on the fourth photo shows a coat of arm representing a tree with its fruits. The tree is drawn in a symbolic way and might represent the tree of life. The tree of life can be represented under the appearance of either an apple tree or of an orange tree. Here, I would bet for an apple tree.

The fifth photo shows a doorway which is all what remains of a Roman temple. It stays still, while the walls and the temple have fallen down long ago. It looks like the symbol of pointlessness! A wall-less doorway allowing to enter into an roof-less space ??!! It is about as useful as Jarry's handless knife with the blade missing !


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Favorite Thing: Though that now this old well is not anymore in use (it is sealed and the top has been filled with sand), it has been used for such a long time that the ropes used to draw the water out have made their way inside the stone !


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