Rasa

Rasa was designed by the Trieste architect Gustavo Pulitzer Finali and built in 1936 and 1937 to house the workers of the Istrian coal mines, laid out complete with housing, school, market, cinema and church on a drained valley floor - the whole thing put up in 547 days. The church of St Barbara, patron of miners, is the piece that stops people: its roof is a long curved shell that reads as an overturned mine wagon, and the bell tower is built to suggest a pithead lamp. The mines closed in 1999 and the town has been quiet since, its architecture largely intact.

History

Coal was mined in the valley as early as the 17th century, under Venice, when the place was called Krapan; in the 18th century some forty miners dug about 560 tons a year, and by the late 19th and early 20th century some 1,500 workers produced about 90,000 tons. By 1936 output had reached 735,610 tons, with a target of a million tons and about 7,000 workers, and the mining company decided to pay for a proper town. First called Liburnia and then Arsia, after the river, Raša was built in 1936-1937 to the rationalist plans of the Trieste architect Gustavo Pulitzer-Finali, along one axis linking Lower Raša, with houses for miners on two parallel streets, and Upper Raša, with slightly larger houses for senior miners and supervisors, and a gated group of small villas for the managers. Between them lay a square with hotels, post office, shops under arcades, a cinema and pharmacy, overlooked by the church of St Barbara, patron of miners, with a hospital, football ground and swimming pool nearby. More than 10,000 miners worked the pits between 1928 and 1966 (Wikipedia, Raša, Istria County).

What to look for

• A town built in 547 days - complete with school, cinema and market.
• A church like an upturned wagon - St Barbara, patron of miners.
• A bell tower as a pithead lamp - the same design language.
• Intact 1930s planning - little altered since the mines closed in 1999.

When to go

Year round; there is no season to it. Two hours.

Practical notes

This is a small working town, not a museum - buildings are lived in and the church may be locked. It is quiet to the point of empty. There is little in the way of cafes or services. The interest is architectural rather than scenic.

Nearby

Labin is on the hill above; Rabac and the coast are east.

Key facts