Piran, Slovenia to - Porec, Pula and Opatija Croatia

Just a pretty corner....

The inner courtyard of the Euphrasian Basilica.

The Byzantine altar of the Basilica...

and the detailed mosaics above with Mary centrally placed....

in both scenes, which was quite revolutionary.

The Amphitheatre in Pula.

One of several Roman arches. 

Wall art.

The church and tower built with blocks from the Amphitheatre. 

The Lady of the Sea and the skyline of Opatija.

 Thursday, September 26th.

We departed Piran in the morning and continued by road across the border into Croatia where our first stop was Porec, a pretty seaside town dating back to the Roman period. We met our local guide and had a very informative walk through the ancient narrow lanes, to see the ruins of the Roman Temple of Augustus, and visit the Euphrasian Basilica. This church was built, and rebuilt several times over the ages and houses some of the finest Byzantine mosaics in the world. The mosaics are made from coloured pieces of stone and glass. The main mosaic above the altar created in the Byzantine era has two scenes depicting Mary, Jesus’s mother centrally positioned between the 12 disciples and then between the most important people of the area. Our guide said this was the first illustration of a woman being the most important figure, hence the first step in woman’s lib. The Basilica is listed as a protected UNESCO World Heritage site. 

We also stopped in Pula, called Pola by the first Illyrian settlers and Polensium by the Romans. We visited several Roman ruins but the most impressive site in town by far was the huge amphitheatre, located near the harbour. It rivals the Colosseum in Rome and was built in the same era. I learned that the Romans had half circle theatres for acting entertainment, but needed a complete circle theatre for gladiatorial fights and executions of prisoners and Christains, and amphitheatre means two theatres. All of the inside seating was stolen over the centuries to build other structures including the town’s main basilica. Built entirely of local limestone, the amphitheatre was designed to host gladiatorial contests and could accommodate up to 22,000 spectators, although only about 6000 people lived here at the time, which means that ‘tourists’ came to see the spectacles. We learned that the gladiatorial contests were not fights to the death. It cost too much and took too long to train them to have them die, so there was fake blood in their armour and the battles were fixed much like the WWF. 

Then we loaded up again and took a modern four lane highway that contained numerous bridges and tunnels (including one 5 kms long!) to our next stop in Opatija, the oldest established and still one of the most popular Croatian resorts. A Rijeka businessman built the first villa here in 1844, and after a visit by the trend-setting wife of the Austrian Emperor, the town was promoted as a handy health resort for aristocratic Austrians. We had an excellent group meal again in a local restaurant and then Shayna and I walked down to the water’s edge with David from Toronto and Angie, an English woman who now lives in Calgary. Then back for the night.