Pazin

Pazin
—  City  —
City of Pazin Grad Pazin
Panorama over Pazin, to the left the Montecuccoli Castle
Coat of arms
Pazin Location of Pazin within Croatia
Coordinates: 45°14′N 13°56′E / 45.233°N 13.933°E / 45.233; 13.933
Country	Croatia
County	Istria
Government
– Mayor	Renato Krulčić (IDS)
Area
– Total	137 km2 (52.9 sq mi)
Population (2001)
– Total	9,227
– Density	67/km2 (173.5/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
– Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	52 000
Area code(s)	052
Website	pazin.hr

Pazin (German: Mitterburg, Italian: Pisino) is the administrative seat of Istria County in Croatia. The town has a population of 4,986 (2001), the total Pazin municipality population is 9,227 (2001). In 1991 it was made the capital of the županija for its location in the geographical center of the Istria peninsula and in order to boost the development of its interior territories.

History

Pazin was first mentioned as Castrum Pisinium in a 983 deed regarding a donation by Emperor Otto II to the Diocese of Poreč.^[1] It then belonged to the Imperial March of Istria, which had originally had been under the suzerainty of the newly established Duchy of Carinthia in 976, but separated together with the March of Carniola in 1040.

Castle Montecuccoli

In the 12th century Mitterburg Castle was in possession of the Lower Carniolan count Meinhard of Schwarzenburg, who held the office of a Vogt of the Poreč bishops (in Latin documents he is known as Cernogradus), and established the Pazin County (earldom). Upon his death, Pazin was inherited by his son-in-law Count Engelbert III of Gorizia (Görz) in 1186.

While most of Istria had gradually been annexed by Venice, Engelbert's descendant Count Albert III of Gorizia in 1374 bequested his Mitterburg estates to the Austrian House of Habsburg, who attached them to their Duchy of Carniola and gave it out in fief to various families, the last of which was the comital House of Montecuccoli^[1] from 1766.

Sights

The current town was mostly built beneath the medieval fortress. The present-day Castle Montecuccoli was rebuilt in the 15th and 16th century and disassembled in the 18th and 19th. It has been a museum since the end of World War II.

The Pazin ponor (Pazinska jama/Foiba) located under the castle was partially explored by Édouard-Alfred Martel in 1896 and is the best example of karst hydrography and morphology in Istria. Castle and a gorge inspired Jules Verne for the novel Mathias Sandorf of 1885.

Settlements

The following settlements comprise the city's administrative region:^[2]

• Beram
• Bertoši
• Brajkovići
• Butoniga
• Grdoselo
• Heki
• Ježenj
• Kašćerga
• Kršikla
• Lindar
• Lovrin
• Pazin
• Trviž
• Vela Traba
• Zabrežani
• Zamask
• Zamaski Dol
• Zarečje

Famous people born in Pazin/Pisino

• Juraj Dobrila (1812-1882) - bishop of Istria
• Tugomil Ujčić (1906-?), educator and writer
• Luigi Dallapiccola (1904–1975), composer
• Pier Antonio Quarantotti Gambini (1910–1965), poet and writer [1]
• Antun Motika (1902–1992) - photographer

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Naklada Naprijed, The Croatian Adriatic Tourist Guide, pg. 27, Zagreb (1999), ISBN 953-178-097-8
2. ^ http://www.dzs.hr/hrv/censuses/census2001/Popis/H01_01_03/h01_01_03_zup18-3212.html

External links

Croatia portal

• Pazin
• Pazin portal
• Pazin tourist board

Coordinates: 45°14′N 13°56′E / 45.233°N 13.933°E / 45.233; 13.933