I Visited Croatia's most Italian town 🇭🇷🇮🇹

Join me on a hitchhiking adventure to Grožnjan/Grisignana, the enchanting Croatian town with deep Italian roots! 🇭🇷🇮🇹
I explore this hidden gem and uncover a blend of Croatian and Italian culture, architecture, and the stunning Istrian landscape.
Experience the Italian history and heritage of Grožnjan/Grisignana.
Also watch my other video searching for Italian heritage in Croatia.
• Roman and Italian root...
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[@mihael.stojanovic]

I am a tour guide for Istria so if you need anything ask

[@PandaaArts]

amazing video and great content!! ur very underrated man.. deserves thousands of subs

[@LewisWirth]

Thanks! If you know people that you think would enjoy it too and could share it with them. That'd help me a lot

[@jorehir]

I think the kids were talking Italian, so that's probably the dominant language in that village. But i might be wrong... it was barely audible. Anyway, beautiful place, and nice documentary.

[@jameshudson169]

i'll check. i couldn't hear nothing. just some babbling.

[@jameshudson169]

yeah, it sounds like italian. though i couldn't exactly make anything out either. maybe a "basta" or two and maybe a "muovati!". it didn't quite sound slavic. don't quote me.

[@LewisWirth]

Please Subscribe, I plan to make more videos like this one in other parts of the world

[@Tommie.ManicGK]

I have family living in Rijeka and they all speak Italian

[@LewisWirth]

I wish I spoke some decent Italian and had the chance to meet more people there that did Maybe I'll be back some day

[@ararune3734]

Bro not even 2% of the population of Rijeka is Italian, according to the 2021 census its 1.45%. Your family may speak Italian, but most people do not. In the whole county of Istria, 5% are Italian. You will find more Italians living on the westernmost parts of Istria.

[@Tommie.ManicGK]

@@ararune3734 I'm not saying the majority speak Italian but my dad's side of the family in Rijeka do speak Italian and have Italian name's.

[@ararune3734]

@@Tommie.ManicGK Fair enough, but point being, if he's looking to find more Italian speakers, he'll have more luck on the western coast of Istria (Rovinj, Pula, Portorož, etc.)

[@sapinta]

I'm surprised someone still speak Italian there, weren't all surviving Italians deported after the war?

[@robertoorsi5771]

You have to know that Istria and Dalmatia were part of Republic of Venice in ancient times that was interested in the sea. Instead the other part of Croatia had other population.However after the Congress of Vienn the Republic of Vnice becone part of Asburgic Empire. After WW1 the fascist italians occupated Istria and Dalmatia, and these territory were united to Italy. After WW2 these territory were united to Jugoslavia. After the split of Jugoslavia was created the Republic of Croatia joining these territory with Zagabria.

[@LewisWirth]

I know, if I could do it again I would've explained it better but I think the end result is alright, hope you still enjoyed it. Plan to make more similar stuff a few months from now

[@robertveneziani4799]

Can you speak italian in Zagabria?

[@LewisWirth]

@@robertveneziani4799 Nope not really, Just parts of Istria and maybe some of the islands

[@ararune3734]

Dalmatia was part of the Byzantine territory in the early middle ages. According to "De Administrando Imperio" written by the 10th-century Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII, the Croats had arrived in Roman province of Dalmatia in the first half of the 7th century. In the early 9th century, the Eastern Adriatic coast including Dalmatia was the scene of the sphere of influence struggle between the Frankish and Byzantine Empire, but although the Byzantines have retained supremacy, Dalmatia became a meeting place between the West and the East. It's only with the 4th crusade in 1204 that the Byzantine power could no longer be projected in the area, the Venetians started expanding and clashed with Croats and Hungarians (because Croatia and Hungary entered a personal union a hundred years prior through marriage shennanigans). The idea that Dalmatia was Italian is just absurd, many Latins lived there, as is the case with everywhere in that era, people moved, borders weren't a thing. It's also not true that "Dalmatia and istria" had Latin population and "other part of Croatia had other population", it's simply untrue, the Latins and Slavs lived side by side and mingled. The hostilities were very limited after the Christianization of Croats. It's a story of Latins trying to project power onto eastern Adriatic, and they failed, but to say it was Italian, when there was no concept of Italy at the time, when the first Italy was created in 1861, you can see the absurdity of these claims. United to Italy? No, annexed. My grandpa was born in Italian occupied parts of Dalmatia, I know a decent bit about it. I really don't understand where Italians get the idea that these belonged to Italy, they were occupied as part of various wars, doesn't mean they were theirs to keep. Ultimately demography is destiny.

[@pankogulo]

Italians have always been a very small minority in Istra. But Croatian law for minorities is one of most advanced in Europe.Bilingual names are from the time of 50's or 60's if not late 40's. This video is full of malintentional information. N.B. Italians killed more than 100 000 Croats during WW2 in Istra and Dalmatia.They hung all Croatian teachers, publicly, on the trees. Male and female.

[@user-ls8bv9cw5f]

350.000 esuli italiani da Fiume,Istria e Dalmazia.1945-1954.

[@beppogiglio]

italians were not small minority in istria, according to the Austrian census in 1910, 386,000 inhabitants lived in Istria, of which 38.1% (147,417) were Italians. 43,5% (168.184) were croats, 14,3% (55.134) were slovens.With the fact that Italians represented over 80% of the population in the cities of western Istria/ Kopar, Novigrad, Portorož, Umag, Rovinj...// Capodistria, Cittanova, Portorose, Umago, Rovigno..../ Acording to austrian census italians were also well represented in Dalmazia town of Krk ( Veglia) (1880): 1.541 italians of 1.562 citises - 98,6% Rab( Arbe) (1880): 567 of 811 - 69,9% Pag (1880): 785 of 3.527 - 22,3% Boka Kotorska (1880): 689 of 2.949 - 23,4% Trogir ( Trau) (1880): 1.960 of 3.129 - 62,6% Split Spalato (1880): 5.280 of 14.513 - 36,4% Šibenik Sebenico (1890): 1.018 of 6.921 - 14,7% Zadar Zara (1910): 9.318 of 14.056 - 66,3%

[@pankogulo]

And they all ran away - I guess with a clear conscience

[@beppogiglio]

@@pankogulo after the First World War, about 50,000 Croats emigrated from Istria to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. About 60,000 Italians immigrated to Istria by 1924 / army, civil servants, teachers/. After the Second World War, the exodus from Istria lasted until 1954. A total of about 320,000 people, among esuli there was also a large number of Istrian Croats who did not want to live under communism, their number is estimated at about 50,000.They mostly settled in North America and Australia.

[@pankogulo]

I have family on both sides. For me Italian fascists and Yugoslav communists are same scum. But before Tito's killers no Croat ever started any enmity to Italians.

[@predragmilovanovic4710]

Maybe I'm wrong, but this is an Orthodox church.

[@LewisWirth]

Well I looked it up and from what I could find almost all of Croatia is Roman Catholic only close to the Bosnian border it becomes more Orthodox. But still I can't find much on this church specifically

[@predragmilovanovic4710]

@@LewisWirth The church door looking on west?

[@LewisWirth]

@@predragmilovanovic4710 Because of how the door looks? I don't know mate, couldn't find anything about it online, you can try to find it yourself the town is called Grožnjan

[@beppogiglio]

@@LewisWirth church is catholic, first it was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and later to saints Vito, Modesto e Crescenzia./ martyrs in the Roman arena/. There were no orthodox people in this part of Istria so there are no ortodox churches. You can find montenegrinos /settled in the 17th century/ in area of Pula, so there are two orthodox churches, / St Nicolas in Pula. /previosly catholic, donated to orthodox people in 1657/, and orthodox church in village of Peroj near Pula.

[@beppogiglio]

churches / both Catholic and Orthodox / are built so that the altar is in the east, and the entrance door is in the west. /Jusus is like the sun, he is born in the east/ But some, for some strange reason, think that Catholic churches are built with a different orientation. You can also find churches with a different spatial orientation, but that is in cities where the construction was in some cases conditioned by urban plans / layout of streets and squares/. For examle in Zagreb the cathedral, the church of St. Mark, the church of St. Catherine, St. Jerome in Bukovečka street, and St. Paul in Retkovac have an entrance from the west / correct / side. Church of Saint Peter's Church in Zagreb has an entrance on the south side, and the Church of Saint Mary in Trnovčica, / Zagreb/ entrance from the north side.