POREC, a town, port and tourist resort on the western coast of Istria. The peninsula represents the natural border of the town in which remains of the Roman architecture can be found even today: cardo - decumanus. Landscape is formed of predominantly low and tame limestone plain situated between the Mirna valley in the north and the Limski Kanal Fjord in the south.Main occupations include farming, viniculture, olive growing, fruit growing, fishing and tourism.

The old part of the town is situated on a small peninsula separated from the mainland by an artificial canal, and protected from the maritime influences by the island of St. Nicholas, distinguished by its rocky and sand beaches. The bathing beach and a large campsite are located in a nice cove south of the town, ringed by a pine forest. The tourist resorts of Plava laguna (Blue Lagoon) and Zelena laguna (Green Lagoon) lie farther in the south.

Even today the ground-plan of Porec reveals the typical geometric pattern of a Roman castrum; the decumanus ("main road") has preserved the character of the main road even today. In the 6th century the complex of St. Euphrasius' Basilica was built. In the following centuries the town suffered a decline; it was renovated at the end of the 12th century; in the 13th century the town walls were reinforced, and in the 15th century, facing the Turkish threat, the town erected a new fortification system. In the 18th century the town walls, having lost their function, gradually decayed. In the 19th and 20th centuries the construction of overdimensioned buildings, particularly by embanking the south-western part of the peninsula, where a hotel was built, disturbs homogeneity of the urban part, and a new centre of the town has developed on the eastern part, outside the town walls.

The castle on the islet of St. Nicholas, erected in 1886, was turned into a hotel. The round tower from 1402 is one of the oldest preserved light-houses on the Adriatic.

Museum of the Porec Region (housed in the Sincic Palace) has a collection of stone monuments ("lapidarij"), an archaeological collection, furniture, paintings and ethnographic artefacts. In 1974 the Collection of the Porec County was set up, comprising about 40 exhibits, the most important of them being mosaic fragments (the oldest dating from the 3rd c.), crosses (13th c.), and several altar paintings (15th- 17th c.) as well as choir stalls.

Porec is a tourist centre famous for its beautiful natural landscape, long tradition in tourism and several well-equipped tourist resorts: Plava and Zelena Laguna (Blue and Green Lagoon), Brulo,Pical, Spadici. In 1844 the steamers society, the Austrian Lloyd from Trieste, opened a tourist line which included Porec, and already in 1845 the first tourist guide of Porec was printed. After having founded a meteorological station in Porec in 1863, Marquis Polesini had a castle built on the islet of St. Nicholas, in which many prominent persons stayed after visiting St. Euphrasius' Basilica. In the 1880s Porec had many distinguished visitors: Archduchess Stephania, Archdukes Karlo Stephan and Karl Ludwig, and the Duke of Parma, even the Chinese ambassador Li Fong Pao!

The first hotel (Alla citta di Trieste) was built in Porec. The first public beach in Pore was constructed in 1895 on the islet of St. Nicholas, and in 1910, together with the construction of the first large hotel (Rivijera), which has survived until the present day, the beach of the same name was arranged on the southern part of the town. Since 1900, when the regulation about the price lists for dishes, drinks and rooms was passed, Porec has been investing much in tourism, and in the 1970s it became one of the most prestigious Croatian tourist resorts. Being a tourist resort with the largest number of hotels, apartments, campsites, rooms, Porec has a diverse tourist offer. There are numerous tennis courts, gyms, sports grounds, together with horseback riding, water-skiing, bungee jumping, yachting and diving opportunities.

Many cultural events are organized throughout the year: classical music concerts (from May to September) in St. Euphrasius' Basilica, jazz evenings in the Museum of Porec (stone collection department) or picturesque folk feasts in nearby Tar and Funtana. A tourist train runs regularly through Porec. A small airport for aerial sports, Crljenka, is located in nearby Vrsar.