Interesting facts
Villa "Oceana" does not exist in Fažana anymore... It once stood between Fažana harbor and pine wood Pineta, with a lovely view of the sea. The famous composer Antonio Smareglia (1854-1929) spent his vacation there together with his family and was inspired to compose the opera "Oceana" which had its premiere at Milan’s La Scala in 1903 conducted by the great Toscanini.
Josip Broz Tito (1892 - 1980), revolutionary and president of former Yugoslavia, is one of the
most famous statesmen of the 20th century. In 1947 for the first time he set off from the wharf in Fažana for the Brijuni
Islands. On the islands - today's Brijuni National Park - Tito had a summer residence where he often invited well-known guests
from the world of politics, economy, sports, culture and art...From the emperor Haile Selassie (Ethiopia) to the queen of
Great Britain Elizabeth II and many others, numerous world statesmen were all Tito's guests, so Fažana evokes memories of
distinguished guests, celebrities like Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Yul Briner, Mario del Monaco...
"Batana" is a small boat with distinctive features, one of the symbols of Istrian and Dalmatian
fishing. "Batana" is an old traditional boat, usually 4 – 5.5 meters long. Its main characteristic is that it is a shallow
draft boat, flat bottomed with a sloping side shell. "Batana" is square-sterned without a keel. It once had a triangular sail
and the mast passed through the thwart. The sails were characteristically painted and each family had its own symbol at the
top of the sail so people on the coast could see whose "batana" was returning from sea. Today, many fishermen still have a
"batana" and in summer organize contests to test their rowing skills.
The church of SS. Cosmas and Damian stands at the lowest height above sea level in Istria: only
one meter above sea level.
The wooden corvette "Fasana" was a training vessel of the Austro-Hungarian navy. It had a flat
deck and characteristic raked bow. In the period from 1871 to 1873 it sailed in the Asian seas. From 1889 to 1893 the corvette
"Fasana" sailed twice around the world, and so promoted the name of our little town. During its first voyage around the world
its task was to find the missing captain Johan Orth in South America.
In the year of our Lord 1379, on the fifth day of May, in the Fažana Channel a great sea battle took place. It was the fourth war between Venice and Genoa, known as the "WAR FOR CHIOGGIA". In the struggle between Genoa and Venice for supremacy over Levant, in 1376 the "SERRENISSIMA" occupied the island Tenedos at the entrance to Dardanelles. Genoa decided to attack St. Mark's Republic and sent Admiral Luciano Doria to the northern Adriatic.
The Venetian fleet composed of 21 galleys (16 triremes), commanded by Vettoro Pisano left the port of Pula and clashed with 22 Genoese galleys that sailed from Veruda bay. Doria died as a hero but his fleet imprisoned as many as 15 galleys with more than 2 000 people. In battles or at sea more than 1 700 people were killed. Pisano made his escape with the remaining 6 galleys by fleeing to Poreč and Venice.
The Genoese afterwards plundered Rovinj, Dvigrad, Umag and Grado, and temporarily besieged Chioggia. From the south thus, they directly threatened the Venetian lagoon where dodge Andrea Contarini kept court. The following year the Genoese plundered Pula too, where they burnt the city archives, taking away the most valuable relics together with the bronze gate of the cathedral and put in chains about 1300 galley slaves.
Having finally exiled the Genoese, Pisano succumbed to wounds. He was replaced by Carlo Zeno, who had previously occupied the Tyrrhenian and Aegean Sea with another fleet. Genoa surrendered at last and signed a peace treaty in Turin in 1381.