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Prehistoric Times
Evidence
of people living on the Istrian peninsula can be traced back to the
preistoric time. Traces of the Paleolithic and the Neolithic culture
(the Old and the New Stone Age) have been discovered here, as for
example in the Cave of St. Romualdo, just above the Lim Channel.
The ethnic belonging of these oldest inhabitants is not known.
The first inhabitants whose ethic belonging can be defined
with certainty were the Histris and the Liburnians. The Histris domiciled
major part of the peninsula (it seems that after them it got its
name: Histris – Histria – Istria), while the Liburnians lived only
on the north-eastern coast called Liburnia.
Besides with agriculture and cattle raising, the Histris
and the Liburnians were occupied with maritime trade. They were also
trading with ancient Greeks. Greek ships used to come to the North
Adriatic to purchase the precious amber which had been brougt here
by land from the distant Baltic. So the ships often entered also
the harbour of Vrsar and the Lim Channel.
On the hills of the peninsula the Histris and the Liburnians
built fortified settlements. These settlements had as a rule a circular
ground-plan and were surrounded by defensive walls. There was a number
of such fortificationds in the area between the river Mirna and the
Lim Channel. They were built on the inaccessible, but strategically
important spots. One of them was standing on the hill where today's
old town of Vrsar is situated, what can be confirmed by the archaeological
finds (ceramics fragments).
Some hills in the vicinity were likewise inhabited in
prehistoric times. So for examole, on the hill Gavanov vrh (ital.
Monte Ricco), 1 km to the east of Vrsar, there is a significant archaeological
location where ceramics fragments from the Bronze Age were found.
The settlement existed here in the Bronze Age, as well
as in the Iron Age – a prehistoric fortification with the necropolis
(burial ground). In the 1st century BC a rich Roman built a large
country house (''villa rustica'').
Fragments of interesting rural villa remains of the water
tank) have survived until the present days. The villa had a perisyle
(space surrounded by columns) and floors of polychromatic mosaics.
Samo walls were painted with polychromatic frescoes. In the ruin
of the villa small archaeological finds (coins, ceramics) have been
discovered. The evidance of its existence has been preserved in the
name of the adjacent field: Alla villa.
Nevertheless, the real history of Vrsar has begun in
the time of the Roman domination.
Times of the Roman Emperors
The
Histris and the Liburnians were notorious as dangerous pirates. They were
attacking Roman ships sailing in the Adriatic, what resulted in heavy conflicts
between the Histris and the Romans. After they had built the fortification
Aquilea (181 BC) close to the Istrian border, the Romans started to abuse
Histrian tribes. After many assaults, suffering great losses, they first
conquered the Histris and after that the Liburnians. During the war in the
years 178-177 BC the Romans burst upon Istria with a strong army and destroyed
the Histrian metropolis Nesactium, present-day Vizače near Pula. N the besieged
town the last Histrian king Epulon committed suicide. Under these circumstances
the Histris surrendered, but for a long time opposed a vigorous resistence
to the conquerors. In the 1st century BC the Romans subjugated the Liburnians
too, so the whole peninsula became part of the Roman Empire for several centuries
long.
Roman colonies soon developed on the Istrian coast (Pola – sresent-day
Pula, Parentium – present-day Poreč). The border between the two teritories
was going just along the Lim Channel (from the Latin word ''limes'' meaning
''border'').
When the Roman rule started, the pre-Roman village Vrsar did
not cease to exist. 
Moreover, under the hell, along the seashore, a new settlement
of private and public buildings arose. The settlement expanded especially
in the late antique period. In this area some wealthy Roman aristocrats had
their properties, as well as country houses with houses with farm buildings
(''villae rusticae'').
In any case, in Roman times Vrsar was more than a ''vicus'' (vilagge).
It represented a very important market-town for agricultural and cattle-raising
products (wine, oil, corn, cheese, meat...). The vicinity of Ravenna (on
the opposite side of the Adriatic Sea) had a great nfluance on the development
of trading in Vrsar and other Istrian villages. Istrian agricultural products
were very appreciated on Roman trade market.
In the background of Vrsar the Roman road Via Flavia was Passing,
connecting Pola (Pula), Parentium (Poreč), Tergeste (Triest) and Aquileia.
The importance of Vrsar is also suggested by cartographic data.
Under the name Ursaria out town was marked as a small island
in front of Pula on the Peutingerian's map (''Tabula Peutingeriana'') dating
from the
3rd or 4th century.
Obviously the unknown Roman cartographer was not well acquainted
with the Istrian coast, so he placed Ursaria near Pula, that is too much
to the south.
During the 2nd and the 3rd century a new religion spread in Vrsar
– Cristianity. Besides Poreč and Pula, Vrsar became a significant centre
of early Cristianity in the 4th century.
In today's Vrsar remote Roman times are reflected in numerous
traces of Roman culture.
Vrsar in the Early Middle Ages
In
the second half of the 5th century (476) the West Roman Empire declined
and Istria came under the rule of the German conquerors – the Goths. The
Byzantine emperor Justinian (527 – 565) defeated the Goths, so in the year
538 Istria was annexed to the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) and remained
part of it util the end of the early Middle Ages are very scarce. The blue
sea of Vrsar is mentioned in some documents dating from the 6th century
as a significant fishing region.
The well-known Poreč Bishop Euphrasius, who had built the famous
baslilica in Poreč, issued in 543 a special deed of gift by which he gave
to the canons of the Poreč church the right to the third of all fish caught
in the Lim Channel. (In the 10th century this deed of gift was confirmed
by the German emperor Oton III.)
At the end of the 6th and the beginning of the 7th century
the Byzantine Istria was attacked by the Slavs (mostly Croats and Slovenes)
migrating from their homeland, the Carpathians. Byzantine authorities tried
in vain to stop their invasion. From Istria the Slavs attacked also Italy.
The first Slavic invasion to Istria was registered in 599.
The old Roman Latin-speaking in drew into the fortifications and coastal
towns: Pula, Rovinj, Poreč. The ancient Vrsar was also conquered. The Croats
penetrated to the town along the valley of the river Draga. Between the
years 599 and 611 they subjugated and destroyed the town. The old Roman
population was driven away and the Old Cristian basilica from the 4th century
deserted.
The presence of the Croats in Vrsar in the Early Middle Ages
is confirmed by archaeological finds of Slavic ceramics, as well as by
the mill on the location of the above mentioned basilica.
In the 7th and at the beginning of the 8th century Ursaria
was mentioned by an anonymous geographer from Ravenna (Ravennas Geographus),
when he placed the town on an island by the western cost of Istria.
The Byzantine rule in Istria was interrupted for a short time
by invasion of the Langobards (751 – 774). At the end of the
8th century (788) Istria was conquered by the Franks to become part of
the large empire
of the Frank conqueror Charlemagne (768 – 814). The Franks
introduced the feudal system. On their feudal possessions the Slav peasants
were working.
At the beginning of the 9th century the feudals of German origin
played a significant role in the political life of Istria.
During the second part of the 9th century the Dalmatian pirates
harassed the towns on the western Istrian coast (Rovinj, Umag,
Sipar). Probably Vrsar also suffered damages al thet time.
The poreč bishopric, founded in the second part of the 3rd
century, had a large agricultural possession in the area between the river
Mirna and the Lim Channel, which was named ''Teritorium sancti Marvi''
(the Territory of St. Maurus) after the martyr and paron of the Poreč church.
It is not known exactly Vrsar came under the authority of the
Poreč bishopric, but it eas part of it continuosly from 983 till 1778.
The territory of West Istria was the place where the economic
and political interests of the Venetians and Aquileian patriarchs
clashed. Both authorities tried in vain to capture Vrsar from
the Poreč Bishops.
In this long struggle the Poreč Bishops were cunning and stubborn,
so they managed to retain Vrsar under their rule almost eight
centuries long.
County of the Poreč Bishops
From
the 10th till the 18th century Vrsar was the adminnistrative centre of
the county of the Poreč Bishops. In fact, the Poreč Bishops were ruling
on behalf of the Roman popes who used to confirm their rights from time
to time. In the year 1177 the popeAlexander III (1159 – 1181) visited
Vrsar and, according to tradition and to some documents, stayed here
for three days. By a special decree the pope confirmed the right of the
Poreč Bishops during the Middle Ages.
At the end of the 13th century the struggle for the western
Istrian coast ended in favour of Venice. In 1267 Poreč acepted protection
of the Venetian doge and thus Vrsar, being in the Poreč territory was
supposed to come under the rule ofVenice too. Despite political changes,
Vrsar remained under the authorities of the Poreč bishopric and was exempt
from paying taxes either to Venetian doges or to the Aquileian Patriarchate.
The Poreč Bishops emphasised the rule over Vrsar even in their ttitles.
To their names they used to add: ''Episcopus Parentinus et dominus Vrsarie''
(the Bishop of Poreč and master of Vrsar). Some bishops added the title:
''comes Vrsarie'' (count of Vrsar). At he time of the Poreč Bishop Bpnifacius
the Aquileian Patriarch Raimundus (1273 – 1299) repeatedly harassed Vrsar.
During an attack his soldiers captered abouth 700 oxen and other cattle.
Under the authorities of the Poreč Bishops Vrsar lived as a rural commune
and had its own statue. The Bishops entrusted administration of Vrsar
to their governors (administrators), while the possessions were given
over to the vassals. The Bishops' estates in Vrsar and surroundings (buildings,
land, olive-mils, ovens) represented the most important source of income
for the bishopric. Holders of the Bishops' goods in Vrsar had to swear
an oath and to bring to the Bishop gifts in kind: wine, oil, timber,
fish, salt, cheese, etc.).
In the time of the Renaissance and Baroque the stone quarries
of Vrsar were intensively wxploited. High-quality stone was
exported to Venice to be used as building material for palaces, churches
and bridges.
Between the 15th and the 17th century Vrsar was several times
hit by plague. During the 17th century some Poreč Bishops lived continuosly
in Vrsar.
In the 18th century Vrsar was on two occasions (1743 and
1744) visited by the Italian adventurer and writer Giacomo Casanova,
who described these visits in his famous memoirs.
In the 1778 the Venetian Senate abolished the church county
it the territory of Vrsar, so it came under the direct rule of the Venetian
doge.
For the deprived possessions the Venetian authorities paid
an indemnity to the Poreč bishopric. After the bishopric
had been abolished, Vrsar was, in terms of administration, anexed to
the municipality of
St. Lovreč.
During the 19th century fomer Bishops' possessions in the
territory of Vrsar became ownership of some patrician familes from Poreč.
Vrsar in the 19th and 20th Century
In
1797 the French conqueror Napoleon Bonaparte defeated the Republic of Sv.
Mark (Venice) and according to the peace treaty concluded in Campoformio
(October 17th and 18th, 1797) Istia came under the rule of the Austrian
emperor Francis I. The first Austrian domination over Istria was a short
one (1797 – 1805). In December od 1805 Napoleon defeated the Austro-Prussian
army near Austerlitz and after the conclusion of the peace treaty in Bratislava
(December 26th, 1805) Istria passed to the rule of France (1805 – 1813).
Neverless, Napoleon's later failures on the European battlefields enabled
Austria to get Istria again, but this time for the period longer than one
century (1813 – 1918).
In the 19th century Vrsar was a small rural commune belonging
to the district of Poreč. During that century the town expanded outside
the town walls. The harbour was built in the bay and on the hil slopes
under the old town centre new houses emerged. In 1900 a new school building
was constructed. In the second half of the 19th century there were no conflicts
between the Croatian and the Italian population. They lived in harmony.
World war I (1914 – 1918) changed political circumstances in
Istria. When the Austro – Hungarian monarchy decayed, the Italian army
occupied Istria, so it was anexed to Italy (1918 – 1943). After the World
War I the Italian imperialists took advantage of the weak newly established
state of Jugoslavia and by the peace treaty concluded in Rapallo in 1920
ensured their legal claim upon Istria.
Under the Italian occupation living was very hard for the Croats
and the Slovenes, especially after the fascists led by Benito Mussolini
ascended to power. Using of Croatian and Slovene languages was strictly
forbidden. The Slavic population was planned to be evacuated to the Utalian
colonies in Africa.
World War II was likewise cause for radical political changes
on the Istrian peninsula. In April 1941 Yugoslavia was occupied by Hitler
and Mussolini. The Croats and Slovenes rose up in arms against Italian
fascists and fought for joining Istria to Croatia. After Italy had capitulated
on September 8th, 1943, the nation-wide uprising spread all over Istria.
In October 1943 Istria was occupied by the Germans. In the year 1944 battles
between the partisans and the German fascists were going on in the whole
Istria, also in the vicinity of Vrsar.
In May 1945 Vrsar wass liberated. The war being over, a long
diplomatic struggle for Istria began between Yugoslavia and Italy. After
the conclusion of the peace treaty in Pais (1947), by which Istria was
assiged to the Republic of Croatia as component part of Yugoslavia. Many
Italian families left the peninsula and moved to Italy. Soon the immigration
of Slavic population started.
From the 1991 Croatia is a free and independent State.