Pazin | |
|---|---|
| Grad Pazin Town of Pazin | |
  .jpg)     Pazin | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Pazin Location of Pazin within Croatia | |
| Coordinates:45°14′25″N13°56′12″E / 45.24028°N 13.93667°E /45.24028; 13.93667 | |
| Country |  Croatia |
| Region | Istria |
| County |  Istria County |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Suzana Jašić (M!) |
| • Town Council | |
| Area | |
• Town | 139.1 km2 (53.7 sq mi) |
| • Urban | 15.8 km2 (6.1 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 277 m (909 ft) |
| Population (2021)[2] | |
• Town | 8,279 |
| • Density | 59.52/km2 (154.2/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 3,981 |
| • Urban density | 252/km2 (653/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 52 000 |
| Area code | 052 |
| Vehicle registration | PU |
| Website | pazin |
Pazin is atown in westCroatia, the administrative seat ofIstria County. It is known for the medievalPazin Castle, the former residence of theIstrian margraves.
The town had a population of 8,638 in 2011, of which 4,386 lived in the urban settlement. In 1991 it was made the capital of thecounty for its location in the geographical centre of theIstrian peninsula and in order to boost the development of its interior territories.
Since records began in 1961, the highest temperature recorded at the local weather station at an elevation of 297 metres (974 ft) was 39.5 °C (103.1 °F), on 3 August 2017.[3] The coldest temperature was −18.7 °C (−1.7 °F), on 8 January 1985.[4]
Pazin was built in an area rich in history and inhabited since ancient times. The burg surrounding the castle was inhabited sinceprehistory.[6] Some of the surrounding rural settlements, such as Glavizza, Beram, which features anecropolis dating from the 7th to 5th century BC, and thecastellieri of Bertossi, likewise inhabited since prehistoric times, developed into urban centers, while others became burgs around newly built castles, and others still remained rural villages.[6] Just to its southeast lieGračišće,castrum Callinianum in Roman times, andPićan, which was settled by theHistri, and then became a strategically important Roman military settlement under the namePetina. Some historians also link it toPucinium, an unidentified fortification in central Istria, whosewine was famous even at the Roman court,[7] withLivia, wife ofEmperor Augustus, believing that her longevity was due to it.[7] Just to the north of Pazin liesDraguć, formerly part of the County of Pazin as well as the Pazin county, which was a Roman fortification, and where numerous Roman archaeological finds were uncovered. The areas of Pazin, Draguć,Buzet andRoč ( an important Romancastrum since the 2nd century BC) are rich in Roman finds.[8][9][10][11]
The current settlement of Pazin originated with the houses built around a castle erected by Germanic rulers. These were the houses of the family relatives and feudal settlers, to which were later added those of the foreignartisans, who offered their services to the lords of the castle as well as their employees and subjects.[12] Thus a little burg was born, which was greatly developed when Pazin was enfeoffed to the bishops ofPoreč and the town became the capital and center of the County of Pazin. Thus the small burg increased its population, both with commoners and nobles, who embellished it with new buildings, such as thehospice founded by Giovanni Mosconi, then the captain of Pazin.[12]
Pazin was first mentioned asCastrum Pisinum in a 983 deed regarding a donation by EmperorOtto II to theDiocese of Poreč.[13] It then belonged to the ImperialMarch of Istria, which had originally been under the suzerainty of the newly establishedDuchy of Carinthia in 976, but separated together with theMarch of Carniola in 1040.
In the 12th century, Mitterburg Castle was in possession of theLower Carniolan count Meinhard of Schwarzenburg, who held the office of avogt of the Poreč bishops (in Latin documents he is known asCernogradus), and established the Pazin County (earldom). Upon his death, Pazin was inherited by his son-in-law Count Engelbert III ofGorizia (Görz) in 1186.
While most of Istria had gradually been annexed byVenice, Engelbert's descendant Count Albert III of Gorizia in 1374 bequested his Mitterburg estates to the AustrianHouse of Habsburg, who attached them to theirDuchy of Carniola and gave it out in fief to various families, the last of which was the comital House ofMontecuccoli[13] from 1766.
TheTurks invaded Pazin (Pisino) multiple times. In 1467 they struck the heartland of Pazin and Beram (Vermo), with the people of Beram later claiming to have killed a whole band ofakindjis (pictured). In 1501 the Turks encamped near a village in the Pazin heartland, and the place where they encamped became known asMonte dei Turchi.[14] The last Ottoman incursion in Istria occurred in Pazin in 1511.[15] On this occasion they destroyed the city's castle.[16] Pazin and the surrounding areas were invaded multiple times by theTurks. These attacks intensified in the 1460s and 1470s.[17] In 1463, Ivan Frankopan devastated Cerovlje and Zarečje before heading to the castle of Pazin. Eventually, however, he did not attack it, heading instead to the less protected Kašćerga and Sovinjak.[18][17] Both the Turks and the Venetians attacked the town of Draguccio (Draguć), in thePisinese, and part of the County of Pazin since 1350,[19][20] and destroyed the settlement around its castle during Austrian times. After the little town passed to Venice, theUskoks and Austrians gave it the same treatment.[18]
In 1501, the Turks encamped in the vicinity of Lindar.[18] In the 19th century, the place where they encamped was still known as theMonte dei Turchi ("Mount of the Turks").[14] The last Ottoman incursion in Istria occurred in Pazin in 1511.[15] On this occasion, they destroyed the castle.[16]
In 1508, during theWar of the League of Cambrai, the city was conquered by Venetian forces underBartolomeo d'Alviano, and annexed by theRepublic of Venice.[21][22] It remained under Venetian rule until 1509.[23] During its time under theSerenissima, Francesco Loredan was thecastellan of the fortress, while Secondo de Cà Pesaro served in the position of captain of Pazin, asprovveditore of the Republic of Venice.[23][24]
Slavs inhabited the countryside around Pazin since the 9th century; they worked for the German landowners, who lived in the small fortresses and rocks, built on the edges of the cliffs. The Italians of Pisino trace their origins to the pre-existing Roman community living in the area of the County of Pazin, having resisted the expansion and assimilation of the newcomers. The Italian ethnicity in the County of Pazin was also kept alive and powered by the continuous contact and relationships with the nearby and strictly Italian communities of the Pola and Parenzo (Poreč) areas.[12]
In the area surrounding Pazin, there is a very old presence ofCroatizedRomanians (Vlachs). They are recorded as early as 1102 inMoncalvo di Pisino.[16] In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Austrians brought to the County of Pazin many families ofMorlachs, especially after theTreaty of Madrid, which ended theUskok War.[25]
As with the other Istrian counties, the notary and diplomatic language of Pazin remainedLatin, in preference to theGerman language. TheIstrian Demarcation (Razvod istarski) was written in 1325 in Croatian and in theGlagolitic script.[26] Beside this debated document, there is only one document written inCroatian, a borders act betweenKožljak andMošćenička Draga, which, however, was written in Croatian to please to chieftains of the Mošćenička Draga area, subjects of the lords ofKastav, who didn't understand Latin. The only official language of the public and private documents of the County of Pazin was Latin, which in the 17th century was replaced by theItalian language. Even the acts and the registers from the captain administration were written in Latin, and then in Italian; German, which was still marginally used up to the 16th century, was used ever less, and finally disappeared in the 17th century.[12][27]
By 1500, the city of Pazin, with a population of around 1500 people. The head of the comune, and elected representative, did not bear the title ofzupano (župan), but that ofgastaldo. He was elected by the twelve counselors of the so-calledBanca, and to operate needed the confirmation, or captain investment. Hiscoadiutori (literally, coadjutors, collaborators) were usually called thegiudici rettori. A public notary with Imperial authority acted as chancellor of the comune, stipulating its acts and contracts.[12]
In 1890, through an artificial formation of the comune, the Austrian government was able to make themunicipio fall to the Slavs, but the Italians "passionately defended the city on this and other occasions".[27] The Italians kept in Pazin the headquarters of theSocietà politica istriana ("Istrian Political Society").[27][neutrality isdisputed]
Until 1918, the town (under the name Pisino) was part of theAustrian monarchy (Austrian side after thecompromise of 1867), seat of the district of the same name, one of the 11Bezirkshauptmannschaften in theAustrian Littoral province.[28]
In the same year, Pazin and all thePeninsula of Istria were transferred to theKingdom of Italy.Benito Mussolini, then, introduced a fascist regime in Italy which, under the "Duce", began to Italianize the region. Most of Istria became part ofYugoslavia afterWorld War II with the Treaty of Paris in 1947, and subsequently became part of modern-day Croatia.
Public education was neglected until the 16th century, when some priests started to teach the basics of Latin to the children of the local nobles and thebourgeoisie. Thereafter, the Pazin comune started to hire an Italian tutor (precettore italiano), who had also to serve as the organist of the Church of San Nicolò. The young Pazin students who wanted to pursue their studies in the humanities or philosophy would then move toTrieste or Rijeka, where they would study in the local Jesuit colleges. Those who then wanted to continue with higher studies would often go toPadua.[12][27]
Between 1646 and 1766, 73 youngsters from the County of Pazin attended the Jesuit college in Trieste, 41 of whom were from Pazin proper. The rector of the Jesuit college of Trieste,Giacomo Rampelli, was himself from Pazin.[12]
In 1836, the first middle school in Pazin was opened. It operated until 1890 when it was moved to Pola (Pula). Teaching in the gymnasium of Pazin was only in the German language. In 1872, the Pazin deputyFrancesco Costantini obtained, after long insistence, that also a lower gymnasium with the Italian language would be opened. Slavic parliamentarians of theDiet of Istria bought time until they received assurance that a Croatian gymnasium would also be opened.[29] In 1899, by order of the Austrian government, the firstCroatian Gymnasium of Pazin was to be set up, which caused a "manifestation of Italianness" throughout theJulian March.[27] There were manifestations throughout Istria and Trieste, which caused the diet to decree that also the Italian school would be opened in 1899.[29]
The Italian Gymnasium of Pazin prospered, and its initial premises became too small. Theconsiglio comunale spotted a suitable area for the new building, but the then Austrian appointed podestà, a Croatian, opposed the purchase. Thegiunta provinciale intervened, voiding the decision of the podestà. The new school was opened in 1902, and before it was completed it was visited byGabriele D'Annunzio, who was surprised by the Italian population, writing to his friendFrancesco Salata:[29][30]
In Pisino - remember? - on that savage slope, so thick with vigorous and impregnable roots, we see the highest and most effective form of modern intellectual heroism, the struggle for culture, expand throughout a whole people. We feel with a proud and unanimous heartbeat the right of the great, manifold, transfiguring Latin civilization against the barbaric abuse[29]
The Italian gymnasium suffered duringWorld War I, being requisitioned from August 1914 to October of that year. Three of its professors were called to arms, one of whom died on the battlefield. The school was evicted in 1915 and had to resettle in a private house. There were then the first political persecutions, with the arrest of one student and his family and the internment in concentration camp of a professor. It was eventually closed down by the Austrian authorities in 1916. Thirty-tree students of the gymnasium voluntarily participated in the war, four of whom died on the battlefield, and one in prison. In 1918, after theBersaglieri entered the city, works to reopen the school, now dilapidated, were started.[29]
It was named afterGian Rinaldo Carli since 1919.[29][32] The building was further enlarged in 1926 and ten years later the boarding schoolFabio Filzi was completed.[29] The school was attended by students from all over Istria, notablyLuigi Dallapiccola,Biagio Marin,Pierantonio Quarantotti Gambini,Mario andLicio Visintini, and Dario Leaone, the youngest victim of thefoibe massacres.[29][32] It produced many students who fought for Italy in various wars. It was bombed during World War II, on 4 October 1943, and finally dismantled in 1946, with the demolition of the structure.[32] Its rector Eros Luginbuhl was killed inSplit by the partisans, while professor Teresita Bonicelli tragically disappeared. TeacherNorma Cossetto was tortured andinfoibed in thefoiba of Villa Surani; the principal of the school and rector of the boarding school, Vitale Berardinelli, and professor Antonio Natoli were killed by Yugoslav fleeing forces.[29]
After the Germans reoccupied the city, lessons restarted in the boarding school, which was shared with the German soldiers. The latter eventually evicted the school, which was again relocated to a private house. After the Yugoslav partisans entered the city in May 1945, one of their first actions was evicting the school from that private house. It was then relocated to another house. Pazin was then in ruin, but it was decided to restart the school in the boarding school, which was now inhabited by the Croatian clerics, who opposed this. Thanks to the mediation of Italian bishopSantin, the school was successfully restarted there.[29]
A sanitary commission then visited the school, evicting it again, and themselves leaving the building in deplorable condition when they departed. The Italians cleaned the school and lessons were restarted, but an exhibition of the Croatian civilization was organized there and the school had to be closed again. It was then moved to the infirmary in the back of the boarding school. The school was later allowed to move back to the previous room, where the students had to put up without heating in the winter. In February, the rector Stefani was arrested in his home, brought toLabin and thenOpatija, where he miraculously managed to escape. The school was definitively closed in the summer of 1946.[29]
The current town was mostly built beneath the medieval fortress. The present-dayPazin Castle was rebuilt in the 15th and 16th century and disassembled in the 18th and 19th. It has been a museum since the end ofWorld War II.
The Pazinponor (Pazinska jama/Foiba) located under the castle was partially explored byÉdouard-Alfred Martel in 1896 and is the best example ofkarst hydrography and morphology in Istria. Castle and a gorge inspiredJules Verne for the novelMathias Sandorf of 1885.
Pazin was also home to theRapicio Castle, built in the 16th century. The Castle was bombed and badly damaged duringWorld War II together with the Italian Gymnasium.[31] Today, its ruins are still visible.[31]
According to the 2021 census, its population was 8,279, with 3,981 living in the town proper.[2] At the2011 census it was 8,638 and 4,386 respectively.[33]
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 8,342 | — |
| 1890 | 8,330 | −0.1% |
| 1900 | 9,200 | +10.4% |
| 1910 | 10,317 | +12.1% |
| 1921 | 11,211 | +8.7% |
| 1931 | 10,518 | −6.2% |
| 1948 | 8,685 | −17.4% |
| 1953 | 8,537 | −1.7% |
| 1961 | 8,389 | −1.7% |
| 1971 | 8,158 | −2.8% |
| 1981 | 8,889 | +9.0% |
| 1991 | 9,369 | +5.4% |
| 2001 | 9,227 | −1.5% |
| 2011 | 8,638 | −6.4% |
| Source: Naselja i stanovništvo Republike Hrvatske 1857–2001, DZS, Zagreb, 2005 | ||
The town's administrative area consists of 18settlements with their respective populations:[34]
| population | 7966 | 8167 | 8342 | 8330 | 9200 | 10317 | 11211 | 10518 | 8685 | 8537 | 8389 | 8158 | 8889 | 9369 | 9227 | 8638 | 8279 |
| 1857 | 1869 | 1880 | 1890 | 1900 | 1910 | 1921 | 1931 | 1948 | 1953 | 1961 | 1971 | 1981 | 1991 | 2001 | 2011 | 2021 |
Climate in this area has high diurnal variations, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. TheKöppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Cfb". (Marine West Coast Climate).[44]
| Climate data for Pazin (1971–2000, extremes 1961–2021) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 21.4 (70.5) | 23.6 (74.5) | 26.5 (79.7) | 28.8 (83.8) | 33.7 (92.7) | 35.6 (96.1) | 38.6 (101.5) | 39.5 (103.1) | 34.8 (94.6) | 28.8 (83.8) | 25.2 (77.4) | 21.6 (70.9) | 38.7 (101.7) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 8.7 (47.7) | 10.0 (50.0) | 13.0 (55.4) | 16.2 (61.2) | 21.6 (70.9) | 25.1 (77.2) | 28.4 (83.1) | 28.5 (83.3) | 23.9 (75.0) | 18.7 (65.7) | 12.9 (55.2) | 9.5 (49.1) | 18.0 (64.4) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 3.0 (37.4) | 3.5 (38.3) | 6.4 (43.5) | 9.9 (49.8) | 14.8 (58.6) | 18.3 (64.9) | 20.8 (69.4) | 20.2 (68.4) | 16.0 (60.8) | 11.7 (53.1) | 6.9 (44.4) | 3.9 (39.0) | 11.3 (52.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −1.9 (28.6) | −2.1 (28.2) | 0.5 (32.9) | 3.9 (39.0) | 8.1 (46.6) | 11.4 (52.5) | 13.3 (55.9) | 12.9 (55.2) | 9.6 (49.3) | 6.1 (43.0) | 1.9 (35.4) | −0.9 (30.4) | 5.2 (41.4) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −18.7 (−1.7) | −15.9 (3.4) | −14.0 (6.8) | −7.8 (18.0) | −2.5 (27.5) | 1.7 (35.1) | 5.2 (41.4) | 3.5 (38.3) | −2.0 (28.4) | −5.6 (21.9) | −10.5 (13.1) | −15.5 (4.1) | −18.7 (−1.7) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 74.7 (2.94) | 66.9 (2.63) | 78.8 (3.10) | 91.7 (3.61) | 79.1 (3.11) | 92.7 (3.65) | 65.0 (2.56) | 94.9 (3.74) | 102.8 (4.05) | 123.5 (4.86) | 123.7 (4.87) | 92.6 (3.65) | 1,066.4 (41.98) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.1 mm) | 10.0 | 8.1 | 9.4 | 13.1 | 11.9 | 12.1 | 8.5 | 9.1 | 9.6 | 10.9 | 11.2 | 10.4 | 124.2 |
| Average snowy days(≥ 1.0 cm) | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 3.6 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 78.6 | 73.0 | 70.8 | 71.4 | 72.1 | 71.9 | 68.4 | 70.6 | 76.6 | 78.6 | 79.4 | 79.3 | 74.2 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 86.8 | 118.7 | 142.6 | 165.0 | 210.8 | 222.0 | 275.9 | 266.6 | 207.0 | 151.9 | 90.0 | 74.4 | 2,011.7 |
| Source:Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service[45][46][47] | |||||||||||||
Subdivisions ofIstria County | ||
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| Cities and towns |  | |
| Municipalities | ||
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| National | |
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