In order to get a better understanding of medieval frescoes, we must prepare ourselves: learn some facts about Istria, adopt the basic terminology of art history and iconography, and learn about the technology of mural painting.
Marvelous, magical, fairy tale-like... are just some of the epithets used to describe Istria when writing or talking about this region.
All historic cores of Istrian towns in the interior show a distinct continuity of population since they developed on the sites of earlier prehistoric settlements, hill-forts.
The great number of preserved frescoes to be seen on the relatively small territory of the Istrian peninsula is amazing.
Castles are the most recognisable architectural traces from the Middle Ages in Istria (Lat. castrum, a fortified Roman military settlement with watchtowers and bulwarks).
The material remains of civilisations that existed on the Istrian Peninsula through centuries occasionally come to light, sometimes expectedly and sometimes unexpectedly, under thick layers of earth.