There is a leaning tower in Istria too, at Završje, another charming mediaeval Istrian town situated on the 373 metres high hilltop.
Završje is located on the hilly terrain above the right bank of the river Mirna, not far away from Grožnjan and Oprtalj. On the top of the Završje hill, there is a romanesque belfry known as the Istrian leaning tower. It is not as famous as the one in Pisa, and it is leaning 40 centimetres to the north and it’s 22 metres high. This fun fact makes it one of the most intriguing belfries in Istria.
If you want to visit the place, you can park your car near the big Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary built by Lodovico Contarini in 1792. There are some nice paintings inside the church made by Gildo de Troy in 1923. The church was originally designed by the architect Dongetti. From there you can start your tour walking towards the hill of Završje following the sole road that brings you to the top. Most of the buildings are deserted. The place is charming and quiet. Looking at the beauty of the buildings you can imagine the past glory of this village.
There are many historic buildings that testify to its glorious past but there are very few people left in the town. In the past Završje was connected to Trieste and Poreč with the old railway “Parenzana”. It was the 123 kilometres long railway between Trieste and Porec from 1902 until 1935.
Today we hope that this charming town with an important leaning tower will return to life one day.
Photo source: Igor Zirojević
