Rovinj (Istriot: Ruvèigno or Ruveîgno; Italian: Rovigno) is a city in Croatia situated on the north Adriatic Sea with a population of 13,562 (2007). It is located on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula and is a popular tourist resort and an active fishing port. Istriot, a Romance language once widely spoken in this part of Istria, is still spoken by part of the residents (also called Rovignese by those who speak it here). There is a centre of History Research which is an institution of the Council of Europe.
Rovinj was already a settlement of Illyrian tribes before being captured by the Romans, who called it Arupiunum or Mons Rubineus, and later Ruginium and Ruvinium. Built on an island close to the coast, it was connected with the mainland in 1763 by filling in the channel.
It became part of the Byzantine empire, then in the sixth century part of the Exarchate of Ravenna and in 788 part of the Frankish empire. Then it came under the rule of different feudal lords during several centuries. From 1209 it was ruled by the Aquilean patriarch.
It was from 1283 to 1797 one of the most important towns of Istria under the Republic of Venice. The city was fortified by two rows of walls with three town gates. The remaining town walls date from this period. Close to the pier one can find the old town gate Balbi's Arch, dating from 1680, and a late-Renaissance clock tower. The city got its statutes in 1531.
After the fall of Venice and the Napoleonic parenthesis, Rovinj was part of the Austrian Empire until World War I. Then it belonged to Italy from 1918 to 1947, when it was ceded to SR Croatia within SFR Yugoslavia. During that period much of the Italian inhabitants left the city.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rovinj
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