Villa rustica, Katoro

Why it is worth your time

The villa rustica at Katoro is the remnant of a Roman country estate on the very shore, one of dozens that in the first centuries of our era covered the western coast of Istria: such estates produced olive oil and wine for export to Aquileia and further into the empire, and the amphorae in which it was shipped are found to this day on the seabed from Savudrija to Porec. Of the Katoro villa there remain the foundations of walls, parts of the floor and the remains of an oil press, arranged with boards explaining how the estate worked and where each part stood.

The site lies between hotels and beach, fenced but accessible, and it is easily missed if one does not know it is there. Precisely for that it is interesting: it shows that a coast which today looks like a tourist zone was a production belt two thousand years ago. The viewing takes fifteen minutes and is free, and it is best joined with a walk toward Sipar and Zambratija.