Pazin

Pazin is a town of long and rich tradition. It is situated in the very centre of Istrian peninsula, only 30 km away from well-known tourist centres. The intensity of life here is pretty much the same in winter and summer, with the monthly exception of every first Tuesday, when a flood of curious buyers from all over the Istria runs into the town to visit the traditional Pazin Market. The current town was mostly built beneath the medieval fortress. The present-day Castle Montecuccoli was rebuilt in the 15th and 16th century and disassembled in the 18th and 19th. It has been a museum since the end of World War II. The Pazin ponor (Pazinska jama/Foiba) located under the castle was partially explored by Édouard-Alfred Martel in 1896 and is the best example of karst hydrography and morphology in Istria. Castle and a gorge inspired Jules Verne for the novel Mathias Sandorf of 1885.