Euphrasian Basilica, Poreč

The Euphrasian Basilica sits in the middle of Poreč's old town behind a plain wall that gives away nothing. Inside is a sixth-century church whose apse is lined with gold-ground mosaics made when the Adriatic still looked to Byzantium for its craftsmen. Bishop Euphrasius rebuilt an older church here in the 550s and put his own portrait among the saints, holding a model of the building. The complex is more than the church: an open colonnaded atrium, an octagonal baptistery, the bishop's palace, and fragments of the earlier floors kept below the present one. A bell tower beside the atrium can be climbed for a view over the roofs to the sea.

What you actually see

• The apse mosaics - gold-ground sixth-century work, with Euphrasius himself holding a model of the church.
• The atrium and baptistery - an open colonnaded court and the octagonal font chamber beside it.
• The earlier floor mosaics - fragments of the older basilicas kept under glass at the lower level.
• The bell tower - a steep climb to a view over Poreč's roofs and the offshore islands.

When to go

Morning light reaches into the apse and the mosaics read best before the tour groups arrive from the coastal resorts around eleven. May, June, September and October are comfortable; July and August are hot and busy. The complex closes to visitors during services, and the bell tower shuts in wind or heavy rain.

Honest expectations

Poreč around the basilica is a resort town, with a dense strip of souvenir shops on the approach lanes, and the contrast is jarring. The church interior is small and feels crowded when two groups overlap. The tower stairs are narrow and steep. The mosaics sit high and dim, so photographs rarely come out the way people expect.

Nearby

The Istrian hill towns are inland, and Rovinj is half an hour down the coast.