PAZIN- Motovun Gracisce

MOTOVUN is an example of an acropolicaly situated Istrian city that has existed from prehistoric times to the present. It is located about twenty kilometers from Pazin, the county seat.
As an entity, Motovun is a firs-class architectural landmark. Within the historical nucleus, many individual architectural works of great value have been preserved. The belt of town fortifications on the hilltop is one of the rare fortification entities that have been preserved throughout the entire length. Within the bulwarks is a communal palace, a monumental Romanesque house in which the base formed the passageway of the interior municipal gates. The palace was built in the 12th century and enlarged during the 16th and 17th centuries.
The new gates are located on the outer square. They were built in the first half of the 16th century, as was a tower with Renaissance characteristics. On the opposite side fo the same square is a Renaissance-baroque loggia, one of the characteristics of communal life. The central square of Motovun is dominated by the parish church of St. Stephen, built at the beginning of the 17th century, beside which rises a 13th century mediieval belfry. The belfry was built when the original church was constructed of this site, and in the past has also served as a defensive tower. The church inventory is of enivable artistic value.
The narrow streets of Motovun preserve the medieval character of the city. There are three more churches of particulart interest - the Madonna of the Servites (Madonna od Servita) 1584., St. John the Baptist and Our Lady of the Gate (sveti Ivan Krstitelj i BDM od Vratiju) 1521, and St. Anthony of Padua (16th century, renovated in 1855). Thirteen archeological localities ccontribute to a knowledge of the past in Motovun and the environs.

GRACISCE - is a small town among rolling hills, about ten kilometers east of Pazin. A large number of residential houses have dates inscribed from the 15th century, testifying to the time of their construction:
In the middle ages, Gracisce was surrounded by fortifications. The best preserved is a semicircular tower and the main municipal gates with a loggia on the ground floor (now the headquarters of the municipal administration).
Four local churches are considered cultural landmarks. The church of the Mother of God (Majka Bozja) was built in 1425, according to the inscritption

at right of the entrance, and the interior is enriched by a mural from the same period. On the square is also the small church of St. Anthony (sveti Anton), with Gothic characteristics. It was originally the chapel of the bishop's residence
At a distance is the church of St. Euphemia (sveta Eufemija). It was built in 1383. Later remodelling did not destroy the essential characteristics of the medieval architecture. There is a large Romanesque cross in the sanctuary. The parish church of St. Vitus (sveti Vid) was built in several phases (from 1769 to 1803) on the site of a smaller building.
Among the landmarks of residential architecture is the outstanding Salamun Palace, the only specimen of a Gothic residence in this part of Istria.