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Porec is a paradise for all those who want to enjoy a lazy holiday. It is a town of pleasant sun and warm sea, as well as town of many cultural monuments. It is also known for good wine, ham, cheese, olive oil and sports. There are plenty of well-known bars, nightclubs, discos and restaurants. For tourists, there are plenty of places for camping, hotels, apartments and beaches.
Eupharasius Basilica:
This is the most important monument in Porec. Built by Bishop Euphrasius in the first half of the 6th century on the remains of an earlier tri-naval basilica, the complex is a UNESCO-designated heritage site. Undertaking his great architectural enterprises, Euphrasius assimilated his ideas with an existing ancient base and to a major extent brought architectural and artistic innovations in this cathedral, which the West was not familiar with. Most of these innovations were done in the eastern part of the basilica as well as in the iconographic programme that the bishop undertook with the help of the artisans. |
The basilica is only the central part of a larger complex formed by a number of buildings constructed mostly around the same period. The building of the bishop's palace is a larger edifice but only parts have retained its original appearance. It is located to the northwest of the basilica itself, and is linked with its narthex by a narrow corridor. In the north eastern corner of the basilica there is a memorial chapel. The entrance to the basilica is via a narthex. Opposite to the basilica is the baptistery. This octagonal building is modeled on buildings of pre-Euphrasian time and is dependent on the architecture of the late classical tradition. The walls of the Euphrasius Basilica are done up brilliantly with mosaics on which are engraved stories from the Bible.
The basilica also has floor mosaics in which there are motifs of tendrils, meanders and pictures of fish that point clearly to their symbolic significance. In the upper part of a square mosaic, the names of the donors and size of the mosaic are written. There are several such examples of names of donors, in the mosaics that have been excavated under the north nave of the Basilica of Euphrasius. From all these floor mosaics and from the inscriptions that have been preserved we are able to follow the phases of the building, adaptations and renovations, in other words, the dynamics of the life of the Christian community in Porec of the pre-Euphrasian era.
In 1277 a great marble ciborium was built in the basilica, ordered by Otto, Bishop of Porec. The high canopy is placed on four slender pillars that belonged to the previous ciborium with capitals from the 6th century. The new canopy too is covered with mosaics, and on the frontal side it has the same iconographic motif as already exists on the wall of the apse - the Annunciation.
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