Poreč

Hello everyone;

So, as I said, here is my first entry about the first place i got to visit on my travels in Croatia: Poreč.

Poreč (the purple pin, was initially founded as a town and later a colonial city by the romans in in the second century BC (about 2200 years ago, became a city 1800 years ago). After the Roman empire collapsed, the city changed hands several times before electing to joint the republic of Venice. The city is a popular tourist destination both because of its seaside location and because of the Venetian architecture that has been preserved, most notably the Euphrasian Basilica.

My host brother Florian and I in front of the Euphrasian basilica

The basilica was built on top of old roman ruins, and if you look through the floor of the church in specific places, you an old roman mosaics. The church is an absolutely incredible place to visit.

The interior of the Euphrasian Basilica, 

Like many old European towns, the old downtown has narrow cobblestoned streets that are crowded with people. Cafe's, souvenir shops, and outlet stores are the most common stores to be found, however some old traditional stores can still be seen if you look in the right places. A very common object that can be bought in souvenir shops here that you wouldn't think of being sold in gift shops in Canada are soccer jerseys. With the recent signing of Ivan Rakitic (sorry non-soccer fans) by Barcelona, Barcelona and Croatia jerseys are now sold in almost all of the souvenir shops here.

One of the main streets in Poreč

A side street of Poreč

A different church lying in the downtown plaza of Poreč.

Any ways, that is all for Poreč. In conclusion, I would say it is certainly a must visit if you are in the Croatian region, especially the Euphrasian Basilica. However, don't plan to spend a couple of days here, as it is a comparatively small town compared to other towns and regions in the area, such as Pula (more on that city later) and the nearby Plitwitzer Seen National Park (which I didn't go to, but it looks fantastic).

Once again, if you have any questions, recommendations, suggestions, post these in the comments below. If you like this, maybe click the follow button so that you don't have to keep checking back. I'll leave you with this photo of the old downtown core, taken just as we were leaving Poreč.