Walk in Porec is very interesting!
Porec have a wonderful sea!
Beautiful places to enjoy local cuisine - Porec!
Outstanding monumental cultural heritage - Porec!
The tradition of fishing - Porec!
Unusual places of entertainment - Porec!
Enjoy the sea - Porec!
Ever since the 1970s Porec has been the metropolis of Croatian tourism. This town of magnificent cultural-historic monuments (Euphrasian Basilica dating from the 6th century is inscribed on UNESCO World Heritage List), clean and beautifully land-scaped parks and gar¬dens, accommodation to suit every taste and budget, wealth of catering-tourist offer especially sports and recreation, is Croatia's leading destination of European tourists.
The town's tourist fame dates from the late 1950s with the construction of cheap tourist villages in the surrounding coastal area, by promoting active summer vacation with plenty of sports and fun. Tourist village Plava Laguna marked the beginning of such a concept that reached its peak in the 70s and 80s. At that time hotels, tourist villages, campsites, sports and entertainment centers sprang up along the entire Porec Riviera: from Lanterna in the north to Plava and Zelena Laguna south of the town.
Also a complete tourist "town" Cervar-Porat was built together with apartments, hotel and marina. Probably the best equipped and leading tourist village in Croatia is Zelena Laguna with eight hotels, villa complex, two campsites, marina, entertainment, shop-ping and catering center... The Porec-Vrsar Riviera stretching from the mouth of the Mirna River to Lim Bay can accommodate over 100,000 tourists in one day.
The strong hotel and utilities infrastructure, as well as complete tourist orientation of local entrepreneurs, politicians and population, to whom the tourist trade is by far the most important source of income, enabled Porec to overcome the crisis in Croatian tourism resulting from the war of independence. Renovated hotels, great attention devoted to gardening in the town and its vicinity, as well as high ecological standards (the area of Porec boasts of the greatest number of beaches with the Blue Flag) are all reasons why Porec has been awarded prizes not only by numerous guests but tourist bodies as well.
The town's history of tourism records that the first guidebook of Porec was written as early as 1845 by Pietro Kandler. In 1886 Marquis Polesini built a castle on the Sv. Nikola island that "closes" the port of Porec.
Today it provides accommodation in tourist apartments, whereas in 1895 it was the first public beach when men and women took turns at bathing. At the beginning of the 20th century there were only several inns and taverns in Porec, whereas the first hotel and another public beach (today's Town beach) date from 1910. The Hotel Riviera was built by the Austrian stock company of the same name, as was the hotel in Pula a year earlier. It was regis-tered in the name of entrepreneur F. Klein, who started the hotel business in Opatija.
It is interesting that Klein, wishing to open a representative catering facility in Porec which was then the political center of Istria where sessions of the Regional (Istrian) Parliament were held could not obtain a construction permit and building site, because local innkeepers were afraid of competition.
But the persistent and ingenious entrepreneur bought part of the sea in the town harbor from the insurance company Lloyd, filled it up and built the Riviera, which became one of the symbols of Porec tourism. Episcopal Complex of the Euphrasian Basilica built in the 6th century, is the most valuable monument in Poreč, which is inscribed on UNESCO World Heritage List. The complex basilica gemina, baptistery and the Bishop's Palace is a unique example of Byzantine art. Regional Museum Poreč Among the Baroque buildings the Sinčić Palace built in 1729 stands out.
Today it houses the Museum of the Poreč region. It was the first museum in Istria founded in 1884 to store the finds from the archaeo-logical site Picugi near Poreč. It has a rich archaeological, cultural, historic and ethnographic collection, as well as a collection of portraits of the famous Carli family from Kopar, eminent politicians, writers and historians. In summer jazz con certs are held in the atrium of Euphrasiana.