Rovinj, Croatia
The first documented mention of Rovinj was in the 5th century. However, it is very likely that Rovinj is much older, emerging somewhere at the turn of the 3rd and the 4th centuries. During this period, Istria was occupied by the Romans who stayed there until 476. Later came the Ostrogoths, Franks and the Venetians. During the Venetian times, Rovinj was developing into a strong fishing, shipbuilding and maritime center, especially in the 17th and 18th century when they had the precedence over Istria. At the time that the town walls were secured, the town started to expand to the mainland and in 1763 the channel between the mainland and the island was covered up and Rovinj became a peninsula. In 1797 the Venetian republic lost its power and for a short time and Istria fell under Austrian and then under Napoleon's rule. In 1813, Rovinj became part of the Austor-Hungarian Empire and a period of industrial and urban development started. Rovinj fell to fascist Italy until the end of World War II and in the second half of the 20th century was a part of Yugoslavia, as was all of Croatia, until 1991. In the past 40 years Rovinj has developed from a fishing village into a real tourist center thanks to its picturesque surroundings, its pleasant Mediterranean climate and its cultural-historical values.
