The apse mosaic
A gold ground with the Virgin at its centre, sixth century.
Tiefkuehlfan — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Berthold Werner — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Berthold Werner — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Terragio67 — CC BY-SA 4.0
A **sixth-century** episcopal complex in the town of Poreč, UNESCO-listed for a specific reason: **its Byzantine mosaics are the finest surviving of their kind outside Ravenna**. It was built under Bishop **Euphrasius** around 550, in Justinian''s reign, and the complex survives entire: the church, the octagonal baptistery, the bishop''s palace, the columned atrium and the tower. For a sixth-century episcopal complex to survive **with all its elements** is very rare in Europe. The mosaic above the altar is what people come for: a gold ground with the Virgin at the centre, ringed by saints and angels — and among them **Bishop Euphrasius himself**, holding a model of the church he built, one of the earliest examples of a donor portrait inside a religious work. Beneath the present floor, fragments of an **older fourth-century mosaic** are exposed, from an earlier church on the same site. Note: **Poreč is about 35 km from Rovinj** — half a day by car or bus, with a tourist boat in summer.
A gold ground with the Virgin at its centre, sixth century.
Fourth-century fragments exposed beneath the present floor.
A separate sixth-century building, with the tower beside it.
Eufrazijeva 22, Poreč — about 35 km north of Rovinj
The distance is about **35 km**, with a regular bus taking around 45 minutes; half an hour by car. In summer a **tourist boat** runs along the coast, which is prettier but slower and dearer. In Poreč itself beyond the basilica: the **old town** on a small peninsula with a Roman street plan still legible (decumanus and cardo), the **pentagonal tower**, and the ruined Roman **Temple of Neptune**. Half a day covers it. ⚠ Anyone driving can add **Baredine Cave** on the way (about 5 km from Poreč) — the best show cave in Istria.
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