PORTRAITS OF ISTRA - Episode 11 - SHISHAN, ANOTHER VILLAGE IN THE SOUTH
This is one of the small villages around the city of Pula, in the southern part of the triangle - shaped peninsula called Istra, the main ... and only protagonist of this series of posts.
And now ... what to say about this place?
How to continue this post ?
From Shishan, ad example, you can't see the sea ...
... but you can feel its presence in the air ...
... because the coastline is only a few kilometers away.
There is not much you can find written about Shishan ....
... in the abundant and varied advertising material of this very tourism - oriented area.
Although situated near some of the more visited places on the peninsula ...
... and on the road that leads to them ...
... this village is somehow able to remain completely out of the vacation frenzy even at the peak of the season.
Maybe there is some cloaking magic involved ...
... or some other shady, inexplicable phenomenon.
Maybe Shishan is a bit out of this world.
Its main attraction ...
... in my opinion ...
... is this.
The lovely ruin ...
... of a pretty large ...
... and old ...
... abandoned homestead ...
... near the center of town ...
... partially covered ...
... with lush ivy.
It looks like an ideal place for some ghosts ...
... and a bit of garbage.
Here is a lovely toilet seat that someone generously donated to the ghost population of this enchanted place ...
... from a distance this thing looks like a big white mushroom in the grass...
... and on this photograph ... taken a few meters from there ... is a real mushroom ... although a brown one.
The parish church of St. Felix and Fortunato, in the center of village ...
... was built in the 1528 ... the year is engraved on the portal ...
... and is situated in the place where once stood an older church from a Byzantine era ...
... church after church ...
... time floats slowly through this forgotten place.
There is even a red star on this church !
But only from some angles.
This is the monument to the local partisans that died in the world war two.
There is another potentially ghost - filled place in town ...
... a pretty large ...
... and atmospheric ...
... abandoned house in the center ...
... covered with sky instead of rooftop.
When you enter this place ...
... the world outside looks oddly distant and unreal ... it's like you entered a different dimension ... but there's no danger here ... when you get out, everything turns back to normal, and that's it ... just a little trippy experience.
In this house I found also this bulletin board ...
... with some colorful pins that looked like figurines ... accompanied by pigeon's excrement ... this thing had a bit of inexplicable creepiness in it.
Like many other small villages in the area ...
... Shishan is a patchwork of old stones and new bricks.
On the wall of this recently restored old house ...
... you can see some lovely miniatures ...
... representing some examples of traditional stone buildings ...
... typical for this area.
When it comes to the real old stone houses ...
... this is my favorite one here in town. On this photograph, the truck is delivering some things to one of the local bars.
(Enlargeable)
This is the detail from the same old house ... an old bulletin board ... with two obituaries and an advert for the dance class.
Here is another little slice of life from the center ...
... a flat tire situation.
Here is one of the local sleepy cats ... and on the following enlargeable shot ...
(Enlargeable)
... pigeons on the church tower.
On this non - enlargeable shot ... you can see the cross on the rooftop ... of the same church ... and a pigeon flying above it.
This is an old wooden window on some old stone house nearby.
Here is a similar detail ...
... of a similar old house.
Here is a view at the center in the winter morning.
Here is another view at the same center on the same winter morning.
Here is the view at the caffe bar called Murva. Murva is the local word, and by that I mean local not Croatian, for the mulberry tree.
This is another old, abandoned homestead in the center ...
... this one in a slightly better conditions.
Another old homestead ... this one in a non - abandoned version ... I photographed this one on a relatively sunny day, to contrast the bleak atmosphere of those previous shots.
Some neighboring houses photographed the same day.
Another look at the main square.
Slightly different look at my favorite house in the center.
Another cool ruin not far from there.
A poetic detail from my friend's back yard ... I have many friends in Shishan ... this village is only 6 kilometers from my hometown ... a walking distance practically.
Some houses in the center.
Some other houses in the center.
Another photograph of my favorite house in Shishan - the last one, I promise !
And now ...
... with the last few shots ...
... of the most iconic haunted homestead in this area ...
... is time ...
... to end this guided tour.
As always in these ramblings on Steemit - all the photographs are my work.
THE END.
[//]:# (!steemitworldmap 44.853701 lat 13.940591 long d3scr)
Hiya, @LivingUKTaiwan here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made into our Honorable Mentions in Daily Travel Digest #760.
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Thank you @LivingUKTaiwan, this is great news.
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Want to have your post on the map too?
We have a lot of such old houses too)
Is good for atmosphere :)