COAST

Underneath the rugged crags and their terraces, a narrow and rocky karst shoreline stretches along the Adriatic Sea. Its small marinas are backed by cliffs which can be up to 200 metres high. This unique landscape can be compared to the prettiest rocky coasts in the Mediterranean. In 1956, the Slovene professor Rado Bednařik used the following poetic words to describe it:

High above the road for Aurisina (Nabrežina), karst cliffs begin to plunge towards the sea. Their steep slopes are covered with trellises, and one by one, they bring us down, to the water. On the way back uphill, one can follow the narrow steep paths, which wind between the trellises and rock walls. In the summer months, almond and fig trees heave under the weight of their fruits. Wild olives used to grow here, as well. The sweltering heat is drying up the brown marl and the white limestone rock gleams in the sun. Cicadas are chirping their songs in the maquis, sea waves are breaking against jetties and giant rocks, which have been transported here from karst ridges.

The inhabitants of little houses, which lie scattered above the terraces, listen to this never-ending song of the sea and its coast day in, day out. When autumn knocks on the door, vine leaves in the terraced vineyards turn golden yellow. It is time for the winegrowers to start producing the dark, ruby-red wines like Terrano (Teran) or Prosecco (Prosekar). They say that even the Roman noble ladies were fond of vinum punicum... The people of this region have been long used to hoe in their vineyards and throw fishing nets into the sea. Small villages like Barcola, (Barkovlje), Contovello (Kontovel), Prosecco (Prosek), Sistiana (Sesljan) and Duino (Devin) are typical farming and fishing villages. Their inhabitants used to build their houses with thick stone walls, slate roofs and tall side chimneys." On the same coast that gave the world Prosecco wine, modern tourist facilities and numerous small ports can be found today.