The St Julian crypt
Interlaced Carolingian carving, among Istria''s best survivals.
Atbc at Italian Wikipedia — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Thomas Pusch — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Thomas Pusch — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Bjoertvedt — CC BY-SA 3.0
A small stone town on a low hill between Rovinj and Pula, which most people pass on the main road without stopping — and that is half of why it is worth stopping for. At its centre is the **Soardo-Bembo Palace**, a fifteenth-century building combining Venetian Gothic with Renaissance elements, surrounded by narrow stone lanes and houses with arches and balconies that have not been turned into gift shops. Its most important holding is **beneath the church of St Julian**: a crypt containing a set of **carved stone panels** of the eighth and ninth centuries with interlaced Carolingian ornament, among the best survivals of that style in Istria. The town also has a small **dinosaur museum**: bones were found near Bale in the 1990s on the seabed and in nearby quarries — one of the few Mediterranean sites to yield near-complete skeletons. Note: it is small and quiet with no visitor programme; an hour or two covers it.
Interlaced Carolingian carving, among Istria''s best survivals.
A Venetian Gothic front dominating the town square.
Not turned into gift shops, which is half the reason to stop.
Bale, Istria — about 15 km east of Rovinj
The road between them is about 40 km and can be driven in half an hour, but three detours are worth taking. **Bale** is closest to the midpoint, and the quietest and most genuine. **Vodnjan** is nearer Pula, with its undecomposed saints, ancient olive trees and the House of Olive Oil. And **Svetvinčenat** a little to the east: a complete and unexpectedly harmonious Renaissance square for a town of its size, with a castle, a church and its medieval walls. ⚠ All three are **small and very quiet** with few restaurants, and some sights keep short seasonal hours — check before relying on them for a meal or an indoor visit.
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