Barban

Barban is a walled town above the Rasa valley whose main square is closed by two Venetian gates, and its distinguishing feature is a contest: the Trka na prstenac, in which riders gallop down a course and try to put a lance through a small metal ring hung on a cord, scoring by which of the ring's zones they hit. It was first recorded here in 1696, lapsed, and was revived in 1976; it runs each August with riders in traditional dress. Ring-tilting of this kind survives in only a handful of places on the eastern Adriatic, the best known being the Sinjska alka in Dalmatia.

History

The hill at Barban carried a Bronze Age hillfort, and human remains found on the site are some 3,400 to 4,000 years old. The name first appears in a church document of 740, and in the Middle Ages the town was fortified under the feudal lords of Pazin; parts of those walls survive. After plague emptied the area, the counts of Gorizia brought in a small colony of settlers from Finodol in Dalmatia. On the death of Albert IV, Count of Pazin, in 1374 Barban passed fully to the Habsburgs; in 1535 the Venetian Loredan family bought it, together with Rakalj, and held it until feudal rights were abolished in 1869. The main square is entered through the Great Gate of 1718, and its parish church of St Nicholas keeps baroque altars, paintings by Venetian masters of the 16th to 18th centuries and a late Gothic stone tabernacle (Wikipedia, Barban).

What you'll find

• Ring-tilting on horseback - first recorded here in 1696.
• Scored by zone - where the lance passes through the hanging ring.
• Revived in 1976 - after the tradition lapsed.
• A small walled town - two Venetian gates on the square.

When to go

August for the race; the town is quiet the rest of the year. Half a day.

Good to know

Outside the August event there is little to see beyond a small stone town. Seating at the race is limited and sold. The town has few services. The event is a local occasion, not a tourist show.

Nearby

Pula is west; Labin and Rabac are north-east.

Key facts