Vižinada Visinada | |
|---|---|
Municipality | |
| Vižinada Municipality Općina Vižinada -Comune di Visinada[1] | |
Panorama of town centre | |
Location of Vižinada in Istria | |
![]() Interactive map of Vižinada | |
| Coordinates:45°20′N13°46′E / 45.333°N 13.767°E /45.333; 13.767 | |
| Country | |
| County | |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Marko Ferenac |
| Area | |
• Municipality | 35.7 km2 (13.8 sq mi) |
| • Urban | 2.8 km2 (1.1 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 40 m (130 ft) |
| Population (2021)[3] | |
• Municipality | 1,142 |
| • Density | 32.0/km2 (82.9/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 269 |
| • Urban density | 96/km2 (250/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code[4] | 52440 Poreč |
| Website | vizinada |
Vižinada ([needs Croatian IPA]Italian:Visinada)[5] is avillage and municipality in the interior of the western part ofIstria, westCroatia. It is 17 kilometres (11 mi) northeast ofPoreč-Parenzo at an elevation of 400 metres (1,300 ft). The economy is agriculture-based.
The parish was first mentioned in 1177, in the papal document granting a privilege to the bishop of Poreč. Vižinada is located at the intersection of the main roadBuje -Pula (M2, E751) and a local road toward Poreč.
Despite various attempts at defacing stone effigies of the Lion of St Mark in the square and church interior, the township and its environs were under Venetian control at various periods throughout history.
Traditional events are Versi na sterni, festival of poetry, as well as the folk feasts of Krostulijada, St. Mary and St. Valentine.
Theballet story ofGiselle was created in Vižinada. There is also theGothic church of St. Mary with astone head on the facade which, according tolegend, depictsAttila, theHun general.[6]
According to the 2021 census, its population was 1,142 with 269 living in the village of Vižinada itself.[3]The municipality consists of the following 27 settlements:[3]
| population | 2061 | 2272 | 2177 | 2394 | 2643 | 2786 | 3523 | 3753 | 2768 | 1961 | 1760 | 1350 | 1268 | 1150 | 1137 | 1158 | 1142 |
| 1857 | 1869 | 1880 | 1890 | 1900 | 1910 | 1921 | 1931 | 1948 | 1953 | 1961 | 1971 | 1981 | 1991 | 2001 | 2011 | 2021 |
Although though theGovernment of the Republic of Croatia does not guarantee official Croatian-Italian bilinguialism here, the statute of Vižinada itself does.[7]: 3

In 1969, various locations in Vižinada were used assets during the filming of theheist filmKelly's Heroes; the village was used as a stand-in for the French town ofClermont, with the script having a German-held bank full of gold bullion being up for grabs. Yugoslavia itself had been chosen for a shooting location for, among other reasons, that at the time it was one of the few nations whose army still possessed operational WWII-era tanks and other vehicles suitable for use in the film.[8] Vižinada today remains mostly the same as it was in the production, as seen in the photograph of the church square, in which the confrontation with theTiger tank takes place.
The photograph (right) shows Vižinada as seen in the film. The church tower is where the characters Cowboy (Jeff Morris) and Gutowski (Richard Davalos) are positioned, overlooking the town square, and the bank. To the right of the photograph, where the gentleman is standing, the Tiger Tank was sitting, as the three men (Kelly,Oddball andBig Joe) approached it to confront the commander.