Porec - City of Croatia

Porec is a town and municipality on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula, in Istria County, Croatia. Its major landmark is the 6th century Euphrasian Basilica, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997.

Porec is almost 2,000 years old, and is set around a harbour protected from the sea by the small island of Sveti Nikola .The municipal area covers 142 km², with the 37 km long shoreline stretching from the Mirna River near Novigrad to Funtana and Vrsar in the south.

The area has been inhabited since prehistoric times. During the 2nd century BC, Roman Castrum was built on a tiny peninsula with approximate dimensions of 400 m by 200 m where the town centre is now. During the reign of Emperor Augustus in the 1st century, it officially became a city and was part of the Roman colony of Colonia Iulia Parentium. In the 3rd century the settlement had an organized Christian community with an early-Christian complex of sacral buildings. The earliest basilica contained the remains of and was dedicated to Saint Maurus of Parentium and dates back to the second half of the 4th century. The floor mosaic from its oratory, originally part of a large Roman house, is still preserved in the garden of the Euphrasian Basilica.

After 1918, it was annexed by the Kingdom of Italy, during which time there was considerable oppression of the Slavic population . The Italian population left the city and was replaced by Slavic people from different regions of Yugoslavia. From 1945 to 1991 Croatia, and Porec within it, were part of Yugoslavia, since when Croatia has been an independent state. Today the official bilingual name is Porec-Parenzo .

Situated on the western coast of Istria and cooled by sea breezes, the local climate is relatively mild and free of oppressive summer heat.The average annual rainfall of 920 mm is more or less equally distributed throughout the year, although July and August are very dry . Winds here are Bora, bringing the cold, clear weather from the north in the winter, and the Sirocco warm Mediterranean wind from the south bringing rain. The summer breeze that blows from the land to the sea is called the Maestral.

In 1844 the Austrian Lloyd steamship company opened a tourist line which called at Porec. The first tourist guide describing and depicting the town was printed as early as 1845. The oldest hotel is the Riviera, constructed in 1910. Later came the Parentino and others.

Today, tourist infrastructure is intentionally dispersed along the 37 km long coastline, between the Mirna River and the deep Lim valley. The south hosts self-contained centres like Plava Laguna, Zelena Laguna , Bijela Uvala and Brulo. To the north, mirroring centres are Materada, Cervar Porat, Ulika and Lanterna. In the high season, the area's temporary population can exceed 120,000.

Porec's heritage can be seen in the historic town centre, in museums and galleries hosted in houses and palaces, many of them still private homes as they have been for centuries. In the off season, weekend visitors from Croatia, Slovenia, Austria and Italy visit the area. Sports complexes are developed and used year-round. During the Croatian War of Independence , these complexes were used to host refugees from other parts of the country.