Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Nin part I

Hello!

Welcome to Nin! :)
As I mentioned already my mama is from Nin and I feel a strong connection to Nin and Zadar. Whenever I go there I'm different...my husband notices it...it's hard to explain but I feel awesome! :)
Besides this Nin is such a beautiful and historical city...I've been told that where ever you dig in Nin you'll come across ruins!!

 Nin is over 3000 years old, it is the oldest royal Croatian town (known as the Croatian Bethlehem). It's located on a small island in a shallow lagoon of the Adriatic sea.



So here's the bridge that brings you to Nin.


The lower city gate is what you'll see in front of you once you cross the bridge (don't you love that bridge!!)...




And then you'll come across the remains of the antique City Gate 1st century!!




Whenever my family visit Nin we never go through the city gates straight to the main
square...we like to take the 'back road'...walk along the shore....so many hidden gems to be found....Nin is so small people...you can walk around it in no time!! Another thing that makes it so special and different! :)



I just LOVE these stone houses/buildings....



Oh...and this gorgeous blue door!!!



Like I said before...where ever you start digging in Nin you'll find historic treasures like this beautiful mosaic stone floor (remains of a large roman house) I wish you
 can see it in real life...this photo doesn't do it justice....it's just so beautiful! 




This here beauty is the remains of a monumental Roman temple...they date from the second half of the 1st century AD from the reign of the Roman Emperor Vespazian 69-79 AD....has your jaw hit the floor yet!! :)



This building is Nin's elementary school where my mom attended. When my mom attended she said there were so few children that often the classes where mixed grades.



My kids favourite spot! :)



If you come across this beauty make sure to rub his toe and make a wish!! :)  He is Gregory of Nin (Grgur ninski). He was a medevil Croatian Bishop of Nin who strongly opposed Pope and official circles of the church.....he introduced the national language in the religious services, until that time services were only held in Latin not being understood by the majority of the population.




The Bishop of Nin was a strong advocate of the old folk alphabet, glagolitic and the old Slavonic language...you can see some of this writing on the lid of this well.



This beautiful church is the Church of the Holy Cross. It is the smallest cathedral in the world built in the 9th century. I LOVE it!! I could sit there all day.....the gorgeous stone restaurant to the left is my cousin's restaurant called Branimir....it's beautiful, the view is gorgeous and the food is fantastic...what more do you want!! :) But more on this church tomorrow...



This is the sun setting on Nin....have you fallen in love yet?? :)



And now to announce the winner of my salty giveaway from this post!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:
9
Timestamp: 2013-07-23 11:22:18 UTC

9. Bev Karolak said...
That was great Jane! Very interesting. I would love to go there also!



Congrats Bev...please email me janebeljo@yahoo.ca
Thank you to all who played along and your wonderful comments...I have another giveaway coming up soon...hope you join me again! :)

Just a note to all those who are waiting for my handmade buttons...I'm late but I have a house full of relatives from Canada so it's very hard to keep on top of things...but they are on their way...so sorry!!

Have a great day!
xo
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6 comments:

Susie said...

I really love reading these posts about your family and places where you live. These are beautiful photos. I would love to visit.

Miriam Prantner said...

What wonderful photos, looks like an amazing place to visit!

Ger said...

Amazing photographs, just loved reading about this beautiful place! I love Croatia, the whole coastline is so beautiful. Ger x

Loly Borda said...

Thanks for sharing those beautiful pics of places so dear to you! I loved this post! TFS

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing your photos. Looks like a lovely place.

Michelle said...

I think I need to visit Nin! It looks wonderful! I didn't study Croatian history, but I did study Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece, and Medieval Europe (among a lot of other history subjects at university), and Nin seems to have a little bit of everything. :-) Thanks for sharing these stories, and photos, Jane.