Church of Saint Euphemia, Rovinj

Start with your feet. The lanes that climb to this hilltop are paved with smooth, pale stone, polished by centuries of footsteps until it shines almost like glass. On a damp morning it can feel slippery. Above you, gulls call over the rooftops, and somewhere below, boats knock gently against the harbour wall. Then the lanes open out, the air smells of salt and pine, and the church appears. It stands at the very top of Rovinj, with the Adriatic spread out behind it.

This is the Church of Saint Euphemia, the largest Baroque building in Rovinj. Baroque is the style of dramatic, theatrical churches that spread across Catholic Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The church you see today was built in the early eighteenth century. It replaced older churches that stood on this same summit. For generations of sailors, this hill was the first and last sight of home. That is one reason the town placed its most important building here.

Here is something many visitors walk past without knowing. The old town under your feet was once an island. A narrow channel of sea separated it from the mainland. In the eighteenth century, the townspeople filled that channel in, and the island became a peninsula. If you look at the shape of the old town from above, you can still see it. The houses press together on a rounded hump of rock, almost surrounded by water.

Now look up at the bell tower. It rises well above every roof in town, roughly sixty metres high. If it looks familiar, there is a good reason. It was modelled on the great bell tower of Saint Mark's in Venice. For several centuries, Rovinj was part of the Venetian Republic, and Venetian influence shows everywhere here. You can see it in the window shapes, the carved stone lions, and this tower. The tower is older than the present church. It dates from the seventeenth century.

At the very top of the tower stands a copper statue of Saint Euphemia herself. It is several metres tall, though from the ground it looks small. And here is the second surprise. The statue turns. It is mounted on a pivot, so it works as a weathervane. When the wind changes, the saint changes direction too. Fishermen in Rovinj have long watched her to judge the weather. It is worth checking which way she faces today before you leave.

So who was Euphemia? She was an early Christian woman from Chalcedon. Chalcedon was an ancient city across the water from Constantinople, today part of Istanbul. According to Christian tradition, she was martyred in the early fourth century under the Roman emperor Diocletian. He led one of the harshest persecutions of Christians in the empire. Tradition says she was thrown to wild animals in the arena. She became one of the most honoured saints of the early Church.

How did her story reach a small fishing town in Istria? Here we move from history into legend. Locals tell that her stone sarcophagus disappeared from Constantinople during a time of unrest. Then, one stormy night, it floated across the sea and washed up on the shore of Rovinj. The people of the town tried to haul the heavy coffin up the hill. Strong men failed. Teams of oxen failed. It would not move.

Then, the legend says, a small boy came down to the shore with two young calves. With the saint's help, he pulled the sarcophagus all the way up to the hilltop with ease. The townspeople took this as a sign. Euphemia had chosen this place. From that day, she became the patron saint of Rovinj. Whether you take the story as faith or folklore, it explains why the whole town still looks up to this summit.

Step inside, and the light changes. After the glare of the sea and the white stone, the interior feels cool and calm. The space is wide and high, with a central nave and two side aisles. A nave is the long main hall of a church, where the congregation sits. The altars are rich with coloured marble and carved figures. Take a moment to let your eyes adjust. The details appear slowly in the softer light.

The heart of the church is the sarcophagus of Saint Euphemia. It rests behind an altar on the right side of the church. This is the stone coffin from the legend, and local tradition holds that it contains her remains. Many visitors walk around it quietly. Some stop to pray. Others simply stand and look. On her feast day in September, the church fills with townspeople, pilgrims, and visitors from across the region. The sarcophagus is opened for the occasion.

If you have the energy, you can climb the bell tower. A separate ticket is usually needed. The climb is on wooden stairs and ladder-like steps, steep and narrow in places. You will pass the great bells as you go up. Hold the rail and take your time. At the top, the reward is a wide view over red-tiled roofs, the harbour, and the scattered green islands offshore. On a clear day, the sea seems to go on forever.

Back outside, walk around the edge of the church. On the seaward side, the hill drops toward the water, and you can hear waves breaking on the rocks below. The open terrace here is a favourite place to sit at the end of the day. When the sun goes down over the sea, the stone of the tower turns warm gold, then rose, then grey. People gather quietly, sometimes with a drink, to watch the colours change.

Pause here for a moment before you go. Feel the breeze off the water. Look up once more at the copper saint on her pivot, facing the wind. Then look down at the stones under your feet, worn smooth by sailors, fishermen, pilgrims, and children. As you walk back down through the narrow lanes, notice the small details around you. Look for the doorways, the stone steps, and the washing lines between windows. Each step takes you a little closer to the sea.