The story of the island of St. Nikola

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The first Istrian town to acknowledge the Venetian rule was Poreč in 1267. In the Poreč port, there used to be a building that served as accommodation for pilots, experts who welcomed the ships heading towards Venice, boarded and guided them further to the Venetian lagoons. To ensure the navigation safety, the Venetians built a light house in 1403 on a small island near Poreč (island of St. Nikola).

Raising 15 meters above the sea level, the lighthouse was the highest one on the Croatian shore of the Adriatic in that time. In the evening, fire was lighted in its top. It was the fire that caused the bareness of the island. For centuries the fire burned the trees on the island. In the 17th century, a large lantern replaced the fire. Today this lighthouse is overgrown with ivy and is in pretty bad condition.

The first inhabitants of the island were most probably the priests who built the church of St. Anastasia in the 9th century. The Benedictines from the monastery of St. Nikola in Venice came to the island in the 12th century, and the island was later named after it. They paid a symbolic compensation to the bishop of Poreč each year, on the day of St. Maurus, the patron saint of Poreč (21 November). Since St. Nikola is the patron of sailors, the island was frequented by sailors and the owner of boats and ships, who prayed here for calm sea and peaceful navigation. The Benedictines gave them “the Miracle working medallion” with St. Nikola and Poreč on one side.

By the end of the 18th century, after the fall of Venice, the family Polesini bought the island. The church deteriorated slowly, and in 1887 it was demolished and replaced with a luxurious summer house built by Benedetto Polesini (renewed some thirty years ago).

There is also a deserted quarry on the island. The story goes that the rock from which the dome of Mausoleum of Theuderic in Ravenna was made, originated from this quarry. The dome was made from one rock only.

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