Pazin (Italian: Pisino, German: Mitterburg) is a town in central Istria above the karst abyss of the Cave (Pazinska jama), into which Pazinčica sinks. It is the center of economic, cultural, educational, sports and entertainment life of central Istria. Since 1992, it has been the administrative seat of the County of Istria (assembly, professional services and some administrative departments), and is the largest city in the county.
The town of Pazin was first mentioned in 983 as the
so-called Pazin Fortress (lat. Castrum Pisinum). Since the 12th
century, Pazin has been the center of the Pazin principality, over
which the Habsburgs took power in 1374. In 1822, Austria made Pazin
the administrative center of the Istrian district.
The Pazin
region was predominantly Croatian in the 19th century, but power was
held by Italians and Italians. Croats were mostly farmers and
colonists, and Italians and Italians were among merchants,
landowners and various members of the liberal professions. The
columns in Pazin were in a worse position than other columns from
the peninsula, because it was mostly the case that they had neither
a house nor land. Of the 4,400 landowners, seven from the
Italian-Italian ranks had real power. The estates were often sold,
and the lands were especially bought by immigrants from Friuli.
The last decades of the 19th century raised the importance of
the town of Pazin, which is why the Croatian, Italian and Italian
movements moved their center to that town. This was due to the fact
that all parties understood that whoever won in the central part of
Istria, which was mostly inhabited by Croats, would very likely win
in the whole province. Therefore, they focused their political and
economic resources towards Pazin, so the authorities themselves in
the 1880s intended to move the seat of the Istrian Parliament from
Poreč there. Circumstances were such that the Margraviate of Istria
was extremely illiterate, with the exception of Krk and the Kastav
region, all as a consequence of the previous Italian-Italian policy.
Thus, illiterate areas could not even provide quality staff to lead
the national revival, so revivalists were sent from the more
literate parts of the Margraviate, from the Kastav region and from
Krk. The fight was very difficult - for example, Pazin Mayor Ante
Dukić from the Kastav region died of exhaustion. He was replaced by
doctor of law Dinko Trinajstić, who met the conditions for the
candidate: extremely strong health and above-average physical
strength. Trinajstić ruled energetically, interrupting the practice
of humble appearances in front of the Greens (credit-speculative
network), and they were mostly from the Italian-Italian government
that had ruled until then. In that direction, branches of the
populist Istrian loan office were established in order to destroy
the work of the Greens. Thus, the Greens and the Italians could no
longer manipulate the poor Pazin farmers, mostly Croats, during the
dry years. The Croatian writer Vladimir Nazor, who served in the
Pazin grammar school in those years, described the town of Pazin
from the time of Trinajstić's leadership of Pazin as "the heart of
the heart of Istria". Trinajstić led the municipality so well that
he attracted to his side those who had been indecisive or dependent
until then. Having created such a majority, the chief who came after
him, Šime Kurelić from Pićan, had such a large base that he was
mayor for two decades until Italy occupied the area in 1918 and
imprisoned Kurelić.
Thus, in the second half of the 19th
century, Pazin became one of the centers of the Croatian cultural
revival, and the Reading Room, the Croatian Gymnasium and the
Narodni dom were founded. All these institutions were abolished
when, after the First World War, Pazin was occupied in 1918 and then
annexed by Italy. Nevertheless, the revival work bore fruit. The
effects of Italianization have been greatly neutralized and
reversed. Immigrant Italians and Italians, after decades of refusing
to understand historical reality, understood the real circumstances;
dehumanization and Italianization weakened over time, and from 1880
to 1910 the number of people who officially declared themselves as
Italians almost halved.
During the Second World War, after
Italy capitulated, Pazin was occupied by Istrian partisans in
September 1943. In that city, the Provincial NOC for Istria made a
decision uniting Istria with the motherland of Croatia. This
decision was confirmed in 1947 by the Paris Peace Treaty.
After Croatia became independent in 1991, Pazin, although lagging
behind Pula in economic strength, was designated as the seat of the
Istrian County, mainly for historical reasons.