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Vižinada

Coordinates: 45°20′N 13°46′E / 45.333°N 13.767°E / 45.333; 13.767
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vižinada
Visinada
Municipality
Vižinada Municipality
Općina Vižinada - Comune di Visinada[1]
Panorama of town centre
Panorama of town centre
Flag of Vižinada
Location of Vižinada in Istria
Location of Vižinada in Istria
Map
Vižinada is located in Croatia
Vižinada
Vižinada
Coordinates: 45°20′N 13°46′E / 45.333°N 13.767°E / 45.333; 13.767
Country Croatia
County Istria County
Government
 • MayorMarko Ferenac
Area
 • Municipality
35.7 km2 (13.8 sq mi)
 • Urban
2.8 km2 (1.1 sq mi)
Elevation
40 m (130 ft)
Population
 (2021)[3]
 • Municipality
1,142
 • Density32/km2 (83/sq mi)
 • Urban
269
 • Urban density96/km2 (250/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code[4]
52440 Poreč
Websitevizinada.hr

Vižinada ([needs Croatian IPA] Italian: Visinada)[5] is a village and municipality in the interior of the western part of Istria, Croatia. It is 17 kilometres (11 mi) northeast of Poreč-Parenzo at an elevation of 400 metres (1,300 ft). The economy is agriculture-based.

History and culture

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The parish was first mentioned in 1177, in the papal document granting a privilege to the bishop of Poreč. Vižinada is located at the intersection of the main road Buje - Pula (M2, E751) and a local road toward Poreč.

Despite various attempts at defacing stone effigies of the Lion of St Mark in the square and church interior, the township and its environs were under Venetian control at various periods throughout history.

Traditional events are Versi na sterni, festival of poetry, as well as the folk feasts of Krostulijada, St. Mary and St. Valentine.

The ballet story of Giselle was created in Vižinada. There is also the Gothic church of St. Mary with a stone head on the facade which, according to legend, depicts Attila, the Hun general.[6]

Demographics

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According to the 2021 census, its population was 1,142 with 269 living in the village of Vižinada itself.[3] The municipality consists of the following 27 settlements:[3]

Vižinada: Population trends 1857–2021
population
2061
2272
2177
2394
2643
2786
3523
3753
2768
1961
1760
1350
1268
1150
1137
1158
1142
18571869188018901900191019211931194819531961197119811991200120112021

Languages

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Although though the Government of the Republic of Croatia does not guarantee official Croatian-Italian bilinguialism here, the statute of Vižinada itself does.[7]: 3 

[edit]
Vizinada's square where the climax of Kelly's Heroes was filmed.

In 1969, various locations in Vižinada were used as sets during the filming of the heist film Kelly's Heroes; the village was used as a stand-in for the French town of Clermont, with the script having a German-held bank full of gold bullion being up for grabs. Yugoslavia itself had been chosen for a shooting location for, among other reasons, that at the time it was one of the few nations whose army still possessed operational WWII-era tanks and other vehicles suitable for use in the film.[8] Vižinada today remains mostly the same as it was in the production, as seen in the photograph of the church square, in which the confrontation with the Tiger tank takes place.

The photograph (right) shows Vižinada as seen in the film. The church tower is where the characters Cowboy (Jeff Morris) and Gutowski (Richard Davalos) are positioned, overlooking the town square, and the bank. To the right of the photograph, where the gentleman is standing, the Tiger Tank was sitting, as the three men (Kelly, Oddball and Big Joe) approached it to confront the commander.

References

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  1. ^ See the list of towns and municipalities Archived 2014-03-11 at the Wayback Machine in the Istria County (ref. to [1]) and the narodne-novine list (ref. to [2])
  2. ^ Register of spatial units of the State Geodetic Administration of the Republic of Croatia. Wikidata Q119585703.
  3. ^ a b c "Population by Age and Sex, by Settlements" (xlsx). Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in 2021. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics. 2022.
  4. ^ List of Croatian settlements and delivery post offices. Wikidata Q125763583.
  5. ^ Lalli Paćelat, Ivana; Brkić Bakarić, Marija; Matticchio, Isabella (2020-10-30). "Službena dvojezičnost u Istarskoj županiji: stanje i perspektive" [Official Bilingual Status in Istria County: State and Perspectives]. Rasprave Instituta za hrvatski jezik (in Croatian). pp. 815–837. doi:10.31724/rihjj.46.2.20. eISSN 1849-0379.
  6. ^ "ISTRA.HR". www.istra.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  7. ^ "Izvješće o provođenju Ustavnog zakona o pravima nacionalnih manjina i o utrošku sredstava osiguranih u Državnom proračunu Republike Hrvatske za 2023. godinu za potrebe nacionalnih manjina". Vlada Republike Hrvatske (in Croatian) (published 2024-11-28). November 2023. Archived from the original on 2025-04-30.
  8. ^ Ben Mankiewicz introduction to Kelly's Heroes, Turner Classic Movies, 25 May 2015.
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