Discover the Municipality of Karojba

The Municipality of Karojba brings together several themes that can carry different weight when choosing a travel destination: protected nature, church architecture and historical traces, trails, and regional cuisine. If you would like to combine natural features with history, the places and dates offer concrete starting points. For your planning, it is also useful to distinguish the short walking distance to the Parenzana from the explicitly difficult access to Dolac Sopajac.

Natural monuments and traces of the historical landscape

The botanical natural monument “Ćetiri Pinije u Karojbi” has been protected since 1966. The four pine trees stand beside the road between Karojba and Pazin. The oldest trunk has a circumference of 3.30 metres and a height of 14.5 metres. The natural monument’s protected status is thus accompanied by specific measurements of a single tree.

Dolac Sopajac lies between Karojba and Vižinada, near Škropeti, and is considered the largest and deepest doline in Istria. Access to its floor is difficult because of the terrain and vegetation. When considering this natural feature, this limitation is just as relevant as the doline’s exceptional size.

Another trace in the landscape is Valigaštar, a drinking-water spring near the hamlet of Močibobi. Its water was already used in Byzantine and Roman times. A Roman military camp was probably located near the spring in antiquity; Roman roads crossed near Valigaštar. The wooded hills around Valigaštar and Vrućak also contain historical sites and had been inhabited since prehistoric times. These springs thus bring together the landscape and traces from different historical periods.

Churches with traces from different periods

In Karojba, the single-nave parish church of All Saints shows several building phases: it was built in 1580, extended in 1840 and 1913, and restored in 1986. The Church of St. Andrew in Karojba dates from the 13th century, contains remains from the 8th century, and stands on the site of a former Roman necropolis. The two churches thus offer different historical points of reference: at All Saints, the sequence of construction, extensions, and restoration takes centre stage; at St. Andrew’s, the connection between different eras and a Roman site is the focus.

The surrounding settlements also have their own distinctive church features. The Church of St. Mary Magdalene in the hamlet of Konobari dates from the 12th century; its bell dates to 1607. In Rakotule, the Romanesque Chapel of St. Nicholas preserves frescoes depicting Christ in Glory, or the Maiestas Domini, as well as scenes from the legends of St. Nicholas. One example links the date of construction with the date of the bell; the other identifies the frescoes’ subjects.

Trails: the border dispute and the Parenzana

The Istrian Border Dispute Trail lies near Karojba and begins at the Lourdes grotto, built in 1898. Information panels explain the border dispute in four languages. The trail therefore has a clear focus: on-site orientation is linked to a historical subject and multilingual panels.

Another route description concerns the Parenzana: from the site of the former railway station just before Karojba, a footpath leads to the viaduct over the Krvar stream in less than five minutes. This short time estimate applies to the connection between the station and the viaduct. By contrast, the Istrian Border Dispute Trail focuses on its subject, while the Parenzana route specifies a short walking leg.

Regional cuisine

Regional cuisine in Karojba includes maneštra and homemade pasta such as fuži, njoki, pasutice, and ravioli. Wild asparagus is also part of the cuisine; truffles are an autumn speciality. Alongside the nature and history themes, this gives your trip a culinary focus with an explicitly seasonal element: truffles are associated with autumn.

Discover places in the destination: Karojba, Rakotule, Škropeti, Novaki Motovunski.

Discover more destinations: Municipality of Pazin, Municipality of Medulin, Municipality of Kanfanar, Municipality of Žminj.

Go to the overview of destinations: Istria County.