In the Harbour

The harbour was formed in the 19th century when a number of houses were built on the slope between the old town centre and the sea front. However, life has been going on in the bay of Vrsar since ancient times up to present days. In some medieval documents the area around the harbour of Vrsar was called "Fabian". In the period from the 12th to the 17th century here the saltworks and storehouses were standing that belonged to the Poreč bishopric. Along the coast between the village of Funtana and the Lim Channel the archaeological zone is stretching containing finds from the Antiquity and Roman times. On several locations remains of Roman country villas (villae rusticae) have been discovered. Abundant traces of Roman private and public buildings have also been found around the bay. Pietro Coppo. an Italian geographer from Isola was the first who. in his book "Del sitto dell Istria" dating from the first half of the 16th century ("On the position of Istria", Venice. 1540), drew attention to the remains of the Roman architecture in the harbour of Vrsar. Referring to them, he wrote: "Along the most part of the coast... there are remains of ancient buildings, what gives evidence that once a number of houses were standing here". At the beginning of the 20th century the Czech archaeologist Anton Gnirs (1875-1933) wrote about some Roman remains in the harbour of Vrsar which had come under the sea due to soil depression.