Called also the little Venice, Rovinj is a typical Mediterranean seaside resort which will seduce you with its extraordinary beauty. In the dense tissue of the old city centre there are numerous magnificent palaces from different historical periods and today most of them host a gallery or an art studio. If you follow numerous chimneys of Rovinj and narrow meandering streets you will come in front of the baroque church of St Eufemia, the greatest monument in the city from which you can admire a magnificent view of the Mediterranean almost in your hand palm. If you are here in mid September you can participate in the celebration of St Eufemia, the patron saint of Rovinj whose body, as the legend tells, arrived by sea in the year 800 floating in a sarcophagus directly to the shores of Rovinj. Apart from the church of St Eufemia there are numerous other medieval churches worth visiting in the city: the church of the Madonna of the grace in Carducci street, the church of St Benedict in the harbour next to the arcade, the church of St Cross near the homonymous city portal, and the church of St Thomas the Apostle in Bregovita street. Continue to St Pelagius near the hospital of Rovinj and then ride in the direction of Figarola where you will have a magnificent view of the old city centre, the one you have visited before. On the coast, in Saline, near the entry to the Lim Fjord there is another church of St Eufemia – a small basilica built at the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th century. Along the trail you will also find the Romanesque church of St Borthole situated at the edge of the field on the bottom of Valalta bay and close to it the church of St Christopher at the edge of the camp called Basilica. Passing by the stone pit Mondelako you will arrive at the branch of the railway line Rovinj-Kanfanar inaugurated back in the year 1876. Continuing 4 km north of Rovinj, close to the railway line, you will find the church of St Thomas from the 8th - 9th century, a nice example of architecture from the Carolingian period in Istria, and just a few kilometres further at the bottom of the homonymous hill there are ruins of the church of St Proto. If you continue 7 km north-east the trail brings you to Rovinjsko selo founded in the year 1526 by the refugees from the surroundings of Zadar escaping from the advancement of the Turks. The penultimate stop along the trail is at the edge of a fertile field where you will find the magnificent Romanesque church of St Cecily from the 11th century. In the end, you will arrive in Turnina. Once a prehistoric ruin, it was known in the Middle Ages as Torre di Boraso and it is believed that this massive fortified tower was built on underground galleries excavated in the solid rock.
Source: istria-bike.com