Istria
Istria is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at the top of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Kvarner Gulf, the peninsula is shared by three countries: Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy, 90% of its area being part of Croatia. Most of Croatian Istria is part of Istria County.
Geography
The geographical features of Istria include the Učka/Monte Maggiore mountain range, which is the highest portion of the Ćićarija/Cicceria mountain range; the rivers Dragonja/Dragogna, Mirna/Quieto, Pazinčica, and Raša; and the Lim/Canale di Leme bay and valley. Istria lies in three countries: Croatia, Slovenia and Italy. By far the largest portion lies in Croatia. "Croatian Istria" is divided into two counties, the larger being Istria County in western Croatia. Important towns in Istria County include Pula/Pola, Poreč/Parenzo, Rovinj/Rovigno, Pazin/Pisino, Labin/Albona, Umag/Umago, Motovun/Montona, Buzet/Pinguente, and Buje/Buie. Smaller towns in Istria County include Višnjan/Visignano, Roč/Rozzo, and Hum/Colmo.The northwestern part of Istria lies in Slovenia: it is known as Slovenian Istria, and includes the coastal municipalities of Piran/Pirano, Izola/Isola, and Koper/Capodistria. It also includes the Karstic municipality of Hrpelje-Kozina/Erpelle-Cosina.
Northwards of Slovenian Istria, there is a tiny portion of the peninsula that lies in Italy. This smallest portion of Istria consists of the comunes of Muggia/Milje and San Dorligo della Valle/Dolina with Santa Croce lying farthest to the north.
The ancient region of Histria extended over a much wider area, including the whole Karst Plateau with the southern edges of the Vipava Valley/Vipacco Valley, the southwestern portions of modern Inner Carniola with Postojna/Postumia and Ilirska Bistrica/Bisterza, and the Italian Province of Trieste, but not the Liburnian coast which was already part of Illyricum.
Name
The name Istria is derived from the river Ister , because the Greeks erroneously believed, early in their travels around the Mediterranean, that a branch of the Danube flowed into the Adriatic Sea in that area. In addition, the Greeks called the inhabitants of the area Histri ; if this was their native name, it may have initially led the Greeks to assume a connection with the river Ister.History
From prehistory to Roman times
The Histri tribes, which Strabo refers to as living in the region and who are credited as being the builders of the hillfort settlements, are classified in some sources as a "Venetic" Illyrian tribe with certain linguistic differences from other Illyrians. The Romans described the Histri as a fierce tribe of pirates, protected by the difficult navigation of their rocky coasts. It took two military campaigns for the Romans to finally subdue them in 177 BC. The region was then called together with the Venetian part the X. Roman Region of "Venetia et Histria", the ancient definition of the northeastern border of Italy. Dante Alighieri refers to it as well, the eastern border of Italy per ancient definition is the river Arsia. The eastern side of this river was settled by people whose culture was different from Histrians. Earlier influence of the Iapodes was attested there, while at some time between the 4th and 1st century BC the Liburnians extended their territory and it became a part of Liburnia. On the northern side, Histria extended much further north and included the Italian city of Trieste.Some scholars speculate that the names Histri and Istria are related to the Latin name Hister, or Danube. Ancient folktales reported —inaccurately— that the Danube split in two or "bifurcated" and came to the sea near Trieste as well as at the Black Sea. The story of the "bifurcation of the Danube" is part of the Argonaut legend. There is also a suspected link to the commune of Istria in Constanța, Romania which is named after the ancient city Histria, named after River Hister.
In the Early Middle Ages, Istria was conquered and occupied by the Goths. Ostrogoth coins were found in Istria, as well as the remains of some buildings. South of Poreč there are the remains of the church of Sv. Petar, erected in the 5th century, which reportedly served the Arian eastern Goths ruling Istria. Most notably, the Goths used Istrian stone to build their best known monument, the Mausoleum of Theodoric in Ravenna. In the following centuries, the peninsula was attacked and conquered by the Lombards, often in conjunction with the Slavs, such as in 601. However, the extent to which the Lombards occupied Istria is a matter of debate. After the Goths, Istria became part of the Exarchate of Ravenna. Gulfaris, who served the Byzantines but was of Lombard descent, is reported as its dux in 599.
Pope Gregory I in 600 wrote to bishop of Salona Maximus in which he expresses concern about arrival of the Slavs, "Et quidem de Sclavorum gente, quae vobis valde imminet, et affligor vehementer et conturbor. Affligor in his quae jam in vobis patior; conturbor, quia per Istriae aditum jam ad Italiam intrare coeperunt". Some ancient reporters, including Pope Gregory, who were unaware of the importance of the Avars in the Balkans, used the terms "Slavs" to refer to the Avars or the Avaro-Slavs.
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the region was pillaged by the Goths, the Eastern Roman Empire, and the Avars.
Middle Ages
The first Avaro-Slavic invasion of Istria was recorded in 599. Another major incursion occurred around 600–602, in which all of Istria was devastated with fire and rapine. This was followed by the 611 invasion, the most devastating for the peninsula. It remains unclear when and how the first Slavic settlement occurred. Traces of early Slavic incursions and settlement are scarce. A few Avar findings have been discovered on the Istrian territory, chiefly around Nesactium. By 642 the Slavs were settled in the peninsula, as indicated by the mission of an abbot Martin, sent by Pope John IV to rescue captives held by the pagans in Istria and Dalmatia.After the barbaric invasions, the western part of Istria was annexed to the Lombard Kingdom in 751, and then annexed to the Frankish kingdom by Pepin of Italy in 789. In 804, the Placitum of Riziano was held in the Parish of Rižan, which was a meeting between the representatives of Istrian towns and castles and the deputies of Charlemagne and his son Pepin. The report about this judicial diet illustrates the changes accompanying the transfer of power from the Eastern Roman Empire to the Carolingian Empire and the discontent of the local residents.
Afterwards it was successively controlled by the dukes of Carantania, Merania, Bavaria and by the patriarch of Aquileia, before it became the territory of the Republic of Venice in 1267. The medieval Croatian kingdom held only the far eastern part of Istria, but they lost it to the Holy Roman Empire in the late 11th century.
Venetian era
Under Pietro II Candiano, who was Doge of Venice between 932 and 939, Istrian cities signed an act of devotion to the Venetian rule. On Ascension Day in 1000, a powerful fleet sailed from Venice to resolve the problem of the Narentine pirates. The fleet visited all the Istrian and Dalmatian cities, whose citizens, exhausted by the wars between the Croatian king Svetislav and his brother Cresimir, swore an oath of fidelity to Venice. In 1145, the cities of Pula, Koper and Izola rose against the Republic of Venice but were defeated, and were since further controlled by Venice. During the 13th century, the Patriarchate's rule weakened and the towns kept surrendering to Venice – Poreč in 1267, Umag in 1269, Novigrad in 1270, Sveti Lovreč in 1271, Motovun in 1278, Kopar in 1279, and Piran and Rovinj in 1283. Venice gradually dominated the whole coastal area of western Istria and the area to Plomin on the eastern part of the peninsula. The wealthier coastal towns cultivated increasingly strong economic relationships with Venice and by 1348 were eventually incorporated into its territory, while their inland counterparts fell under the sway of the weaker Patriarchate of Aquileia, which became part of the Habsburg Empire in 1374.On 15 February 1267, Parenzo was formally incorporated with the Venetian state. Other coastal towns followed shortly thereafter. Bajamonte Tiepolo was sent away from Venice in 1310, to start a new life in Istria after his downfall. A description of the 16th-century Istria with a precise map was prepared by the Italian geographer Pietro Coppo. A copy of the map inscribed in stone can now be seen in the Pietro Coppo Park in the center of the town of Izola in southwestern Slovenia.
During the history of the coexistence of Slavic and Roman communities in Istria, the Slavs mostly lived in the interior, while the coast was Roman.