Nearby “fontanella” defence tower, on the right side of it, you will note the guardian house.

The last art work that I would advise you to visit is located nearby the main square where the Parish Church of St. Martin is located.

This art work is a well of the house that is located on the left side of St. Martin church, if you are oriented with the face towards the façade of the church.

The well dates back into 1331 and was ordered by the Captain Giovanni Contarini.

It is located at the first floor of a courtyard of the house. You need to take few stairs and enter the court yard to visit it. The well has the coat of arms of Conatarini family, a beautiful Lion of St. Mark with the closed book and a stone sculpture of St. Lawrence.

In Sv.Lovrec’s photo gallery you will find few pictures of this lovely and old Istrian village full of various buildings that still recall Venetian presence in Istria.

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SV. LOVREC – HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

Sv. Lovrec was mentioned for the first time in 1177 when the Pope Alessandro III gave this feud to the Bishops of Porec. The place was inhabited in prehistoric times and also during the Roman times.

The old name of the village was Castrum Sancti Laurentii. In German was also named Sankt Laurentzen.

Sv. Lovrec established a municipality in 1180 and is assumed that is one of the oldest rural Municipalities in Istria.

In 1271 Sv.Lovrec became part of the Venetian dominions in Istria. Few years later, in 1278, Count of Gorizia occupied Sv. Lovrec for two years and after that was returned to Venice in 1280.

In that period, in particularly in 1304, Venice decided to create military command for the control and administration of the continental Istria and Sv. Lovrec was selected as headquarter of “Pasenatico”.

A new Captain that was also the Podesta’ was named every year. The first Captain was Marco Soranzo and in that year the town was named San Lorenzo al Pasenatico.

Other Captains that are still remembered were: Marin Faliero, Marco Morosini and Angelo Bragadin. From 1344 until 1348 Venice was in war with the County of Pazin and Sv. Lovrec was used to manage the military operations.

In 1348 Count of Duino Ugone VI was arrested and hold in Sv. Lovrec’s prison. It  is known that the same Count attacked Sv. Lovrec again in 1370.

In 1356 the government of “Pasenatico” was split and part of it was managed from Umag for the first three years and later on from 1359 from Groznjan, while the part from the river Mirna towards south remained in Sv. Lovrec.

In 1394 the two Captancy of Pasenatico: Groznjan and Sv. Lovrec were closed and transferred to Raspor.

Sv. Lovrec like most the other Istrian towns and villages suffered from wars and from the plague. Many immigrants came in Istria in those centuries and most of them well integrated with the existing population.

At the beginning of the 17th century Sv. Lovrec was involved in Uskoci war between Venice and Austria and was well defended but in 1630 the town suffered another terrible plague year. 

With the fall of Venice in 1797, Sv.Lovrec became a part of the Austrian Empire and for a short period of time was under Napoleon domination. After the First World War and fall of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, Sv. Lovrec, was part of Italy and after the Second World War became part of Yugoslavia (Croatia).

During the Italian Fascist period in Istria many Istrian families suffered from the regime or had to leave Istria. Fascism in Istria applied various repressive measures mostly towards Slav populations and this created the Antifascist Movement. The Second World War was a very painful experience for the Istrian population and many innocent Istrians, both Slav and Latin, died during that war.