I went to Draguć in 2016 with my camera, but a big part of that town was under reconstruction, so I didn’t get the photos I wanted. This time, I didn’t plan on visiting Draguć; this was accidental. I was traveling to Poreč, where I decided to spend the last days of 2023, and while driving, I saw a table that said that the next exit from the highway leads to Draguć. Since I had some time to spare, I decided to go there, even though the weather wasn’t as beautiful as in 2016.
So, before checking on photos, let’s see what the Internet says about Draguć.
Draguć, also known as Draguccio in Italian, is a village located in central Istria, Croatia. Situated at a latitude of 45°20′N and a longitude of 14°1′E, Draguć rests at an altitude of 359 meters above sea level. As of 2021, it has a population of 56 residents and is approximately 17 kilometers northeast of Pazin, within the Cerovlje municipality.
The village is positioned along the Pazin – Cerovlje – Buzet road, overlooking the Butoniga basin.
Historically, the population has engaged in agriculture (grapevines, olives, figs, cherries) and livestock farming (cattle, pigs). More recently, tourism (holiday homes) has become an important part of the local economy.
Archaeological remnants on the hill above Draguć (Stari Draguć, 504 meters) indicate the presence of a prehistoric hillfort. During Roman times, the area was inhabited but not heavily Romanized.
The settlement of Draguć originated as a feudal castle atop a ridge, around the 11th century, when it was under the ownership of the Margraves of Istria. It is first mentioned in a 1102 deed by Ulric II (as Dravuie) when it came under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Aquileia. In 1350, it was annexed to the Pazin County. After the Venetian-Austrian War in the early 16th century, Draguć came under Venetian rule in 1523. It was known as Dragutsch in German sources and Draguchi in Venetian reports. Draguć was an important military point in defending the Venetian border against the County and suffered during the Uskok War in 1615, as well as from a subsequent plague epidemic.
In the 15th century, the Parish Church of the Holy Cross was built within the castle area and has been renovated multiple times since. After the Uskok War, the entire former suburb was surrounded by unique walls with corner towers (constructed by Venetian provveditore Francesco Basadonna). The main square in front of the church and bastion features a communal well, a municipal building, and a fontik. The settlement began expanding southeastward, and during the 18th and 19th centuries, the main longitudinal street was formed with baroque and neoclassical houses.
The church’s inventory is mainly from the 19th century, including a marble altar and an altarpiece by Venerio Trevisani. The Church of the Holy Rosary (Saint Mary of the Rosary), built in 1641 and renovated several times, is located at the eastern entrance of the village. It houses numerous artworks, including a carved altar with a pall, a late Gothic statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Carmel, several wooden retabula with saint figures, and multiple altar paintings. The cemetery church of St. Elizej, a Romanesque building from the 12th-13th centuries, features a semicircular apse and flat ceiling, with a striking color effect on the external walls created by alternating rows of darker and lighter colored stones. Its altar pillar is a Roman tombstone, and Romanesque wall paintings with strong Byzantine iconographic influences were discovered and restored (early 14th century). On the western edge of the settlement, outside its borders, is the small Church of St. Rok from the early 16th century. Its walls and vault are covered with paintings by the Istrian painter Antun from Padova (Kašćerga), blending folk expression with Renaissance forms.
Since 1999, the village has hosted the music event Bajsi in Draguć, which promotes traditional instrument playing. In 2015, the House of Frescoes was opened in a former school building as part of the European Revitas project. This facility, operating as a branch of the Historical and Maritime Museum of Istria in Pula since 2017, includes an info-point, a small gallery, and has hosted symposiums, workshops on wall painting, education for teachers and tourism professionals, and produced several publications. It also launched an online cultural heritage database called Istrian Cultural Heritage / Patrimonio culturale istriano.
Thanks to its picturesque setting, Draguć has been a filming location for domestic and foreign movies and TV series since the second half of the 20th century, earning it the nickname “the Hollywood of Istria”.