Novigrad is a small romantic fishing town of enviable beauty and with a proud tradition ...
History and cultural heritage :
The ancient town of Emonia, Neapolis, Novigrad (4000 inhabitansts), lies on a peninsula with a well protected harbour. It is said that here the Greek sailors have established their colony and the Romans a fortification called Civitas Novum. Once the seat of the bishopric, nowadays it is an urbanized green peninsula and a famous tourist resort on the western coast of Istria. The town has developed on an island, which was connected to the land in the 18th century. The old town centre was once fully surrounded by town walls that can today be recognized only by the remains. Near the former city entrance there is a quadrangular tower and in the old part of the town there are a few Gothic houses, residential palaces and the Municipal Loggia.
When talking about churches the most important is surely the St. Pelagius' and St. Maximus' Parish Church. This three-naves basilica (a cathedral till 1831) was originally built in the Early Christian period dating back to the fifth and sixth century B.C. when the bishopric was established. Underneath the main shrine there is a tree-naves (Early) Romanesque crypt, a very precious sacral treasury, the only of its kind in Istria, and one of only a few in Croatia. The restauration work from 1996 till 1999 have revealed many unknown details about the exact dates of the crypt, of the church and even of the whole town. The bell tower of the church was built in 1883 using as a sample the St. Mark's bell tower in Venice. At the top of the bell tower there is the St. Pelagius statue who is the patron saint of the town. The statue is made of wood and covered with bronze plate.
Besides the St. Pelagius' and St. Maximus' Parish Church, Novigrad has also three other churches: the St. Mary of Mount Carmel Church, that is not performing church services, the St. Anthony's Church, built during the Gothic period and St. Agathas's Church which was restored and conserved from 1993 till 1995. In Karpinjan, only a kilometer away from Novigrad there is an antique building built following a late baroque style. It was originally built in 1770 as a country residence by Carlo Rigo, a nobleman that influenced deeply the culture life of this town. In Dajla, not far away from Novigrad, there is another important architectural block (country residence/ Monastery) which is an important monument of the neoclassical period and one of the rare architectural examples of this history period on the whole Adriatic coast. Unfortunately, this monument is today abandoned and devastated by time.
Novigrad has become in June 2005 member of the international association of cities with town walls called Walled Towns Friendship Circle (WTFC). This association was founded 16 years ago and its aim is to stimulate friendships between the citizens of towns with town walls and to promote tourism as well as the protection and maintenance of the town walls.
Besides the private collection "Our Austro-Hungarian Navy" in the Gallerion, Novigrad has been enriched by another valuable cultural building built in October 2006 - the Lapidarium Museum that includes a collection of 101 ancient stone tablets and other archeological relic discovered in the crypt. The most important part of the lapidary is the collection with the Mauritius Ciborium from the end of the 8th century.
Traditional festivities :
Festivities of St. Pelagius - it is the celebration of the town of Novigrad and of its patron saint. The feast lasts up to three or four days around the 28th of August. During the feast there are many organized activities going from sport tournaments, various games and competitions during the day to music acts and shows in the evening hours. Festival Music Nights Novigrad-Cittanova - this music manifestation is the most important cultural and entertaining event of the city. This festival was started by the legendary Boško Petrovic (a famous jazz musician) in 1995. In year 2004, on the tenth anniversary of the festival, there have been made some changes in the conception of the festival so that besides the main stage events, there are also after sessions and performances on the beach underneath the town walls. Fishermen's Evenings - organized a couple of times during the summer, every 2 or 3 weeks. During this feast guests can enjoy sardelles and wine, for a very symbolic price, accompanied by Croatian music.
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Istra / Novigrad !
