Motovun is the most significant ancient hilltop city in Istria, dating back to before Roman times. Through subsequent periods as part of the Venetian Empire, then the Austro Hungarian Empire before its ceding to Italy after the First World War, it retains its dual Italian personality today within modern day Croatia with its alternative name of Montona.

Likened to its cousins in Tuscany and Umbria, Motovun dominates the Mirna valley and forest, famous for truffles and special walks, from its position almost 1000 feet above sea level. As the quintessential medieval city in the area, it is being proposed to join the list of Unesco World Heritage Sites, offering as it does structures from the Renaissance through to the Venetian period.

The Motovun giant Veli Joze (it was the writer Vladimir Nazor who transposed him from the legend into literature) is the symbol of the power of free will and of moral postulates but at the same time, he is also a message his fellow townspeople try to convey and that is the need to preserve old values.

The renowned Motovun Film Festival is a major modern attraction, held annually in July, bringing together leading film makers from all over the world. Motovun is also a convenient base from which to reach the attractive east and west coasts of the Istrian peninsula and lies barely an hour by road from Trieste and Pula airports.



More pictures of Motovun....