Kanfanar

Nearby Kanfanar, there is Dvigrad, a place where, a long time ago, stood an abandoned medieval city. The link between Kanfanar and Dvigrad is unbreakable and exists since the Middle Ages. According to old people, former inhabitants of ancient Dvigrad, fleeing attackers and illnesses, founded the town of Kanfanar. They took with them everything that was considered sacred and precious, such as the flag mast from the 15th century, which now adorns the square, or a beautiful pulpit on six pillars, which now adorns the church Sv.Silvestro. Today’s residents of Kanfanar still celebrate the Jakovlja – today a folk festival, once a feast, which was preserved from the time of Dvigrad.

History

The presence of man on the Kanfanar territory dates back 12,000 years ago, shown by the remains of the Paleolithic man in the cave of St. Romuald above the Lim Fjord. In the surrounding area, the culture from the Neolithic period was found, while on the hills Žamnjak and Maklavun human burial ground from the Bronze Age was found. From Iron Age, there are remains of forts, the settlements of old Histrians on seven locations where there are traces of Roman culture. The oldest known mentioning of Kanfanar dates back to 08.05.1096. Kanfanar began to develop when people from Dvigrad ran away from war and malaria in 1630 and began to migrate to Kanfanar. Kanfanar had a further development when the Austrian government built a railroad to Pula. During World War II, Kanfanar was shelled and burned and numerous civilians were executed by Hitler’s Germany. The partisans who burned the building of the Kanfanar’s municipality and thus destroyed a large part of the written historical material in this area, including the legacy archives from Dvigrad, made a big damage.

Recommendation

Dvigrad – the largest cultural monument in this part of Istria, built on the site of old ruins, is undoubtedly Dvigrad, one of the largest and best-preserved abandoned cities in Europe. It originates from a castle, which was located in the immediate vicinity thousands of years ago. Moncastello became a village and took a common name of Duecastelli (Dvigrad). The number of its population exceeded a thousand, and his territory included the entire municipality of Kanfanar. Today the walls, towers, city gates and walls of houses are visible. At the top, the solid rock once contained an early Christian church of St.Sofia. In XIV century, a pulpit with a relief of St.Sofia was built holding in each hand one city. It is also the symbol of Dvigrad. Nearby, there are also remains of the Monastery of St. Petronil.

Church of Sv. Sylvester– from 1696 with sacred utensils brought from the church of St.Sofia. A low relief of a scene of St.Sofia on the organ from the eighteenth century is particularly interesting.

The church of St.Agata – one-nave church with a semicircular apse, which has a three-sided outer wall. The triumphal arch is decorated with frescos from the 11th and 12th century. It is interesting that the pictures represent, among other things, only 11 apostles.

Ladići – Church-St. Sixtus from the 12th century, with a wooden altar and the tombs from the eighteenth century. Sošići -The church of Sv. Martin-built on the foundations of a Roman temple of the god Mars.

Lim channel – beautiful 11 km long bay, formed in the Jurassic limestone, is one of the most beautiful Istrian countryside, with an average width of 600 meters with cliffs rising to 150 meters above sea level. Apart from its exceptional beauty, Lim is known for the Romualdo’s cave, where many bones of more than 40 animal species were found, such as the cave bear, cave lion, leopard, cave hyena, wild horse etc. In the cave, tools from the period of the early Stone Age were found while the cave is an interesting speleological object with cave decorations.

Sport climbing – near Kanfanar there are two marked trails for sport climbing. One is located at the end of the Lim canal above the road, and the other above Dvigrad on the north side of Lim.

Events

Jakovlja – folk festival held on a last Saturday in July on the occasion of the St. Jakov day, along with the Istrian cattle festival (boškarin)- the indigenous and protected breed of Istrian cattle. As its main attractions, Jakovlja also has a rich sport and cultural program.