EN:
Grožnjan is located above the Mirna River valley on a hill above the sea level of 228 meters. Medieval urban complex has remained largely untouched until now. It is a natural base for an intense and interesting life Grožnjan lives today. We invite you to share it with us.
Away from the sea ten miles has always been attractive for settlement. From the 1358th The Grožnjan has free status of the municipality. In the fifties of the last century just becomes part of the municipality Buje. Since 1993. The re-gained the status of municipalities.
Apart from the Croatian and Italian languages in official use, as well as Slovenia, which is not a problem on the streets Grožnjan hear and many other world languages.
In 1965 Groznjan was declared a TOWN OF ARTISTS. Artists started to revive the town. Members of associations of artists from Croatia and Slovenia moved in and saved the town from further decline. Sculptor Aleksandar Rukavina organized and synchronized various activities. Artists transformed old, abandoned houses into an art colony which has since become a place of residence and work for many of them.
Zone A was assigned to Italy, and Zone B to the People's Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In 1975 the Osimo Agreement defined the border between Italy and Yugoslavia, whereas Zone B irrevocably became a part of Yugoslavia. The London Memorandum provided a possibility of opting out which - together with nationalization, confiscation, forced cooperatives, poor agrarian policy (instead of traditional crops like grapes, olives and fruits, farmers had to grow wheat), severing of traditional ties with Koper and Trieste, limitation of religious freedoms, forced school reform, and various other restrictions and fear-mongering - contributed, along with strong Italian propaganda, to a mass exodus. By April 1956 two thirds of the population emigrated from the area, and in Groznjan itself only a few families remained.
Official languages are Croatian and Italian; many speak Slovenian as well. In Groznjan this is a fact of life.
Some of Groznjan's empty houses were taken over by people from the surrounding area. In 1965, when the Town of Arts was founded, some houses were given to artists from Croatia, Slovenia and Vojvodina, and some were assigned to the Cultural Centre of the International Music Youth Federation in 1969. Thus Groznjan, once a town of tradesmen, has become a town of artists. Now during the summer months sounds of magical music echo among the renovated houses - with loggias and tiny arches, cylindrical chimneys and architraves with coats of arms and inscribed dates, decorated with wrought iron - in cobblestone streets and in little squares, so that Groznjan will not be forgotten.
HR:
Grožnjan je smješten iznad doline rijeke Mirne na brežuljku nadmorske visine od 228 metara. Srednjovjekovna urbana cjelina ostala je uglavnom nedodirnuta do danas. Ona je prirodna osnovica za intenzivan i zanimljiv život koji Grožnjan danas živi. Pozivamo vas da ga podijelite sa nama.
Od mora udaljen petnaestak kilometara oduvijek je bio privlačan za nastanjivanje. Od 1358. godine Grožnjan ima status slobodne općine. Pedesetih godina upravo prošlog stoljeća postaje dio općine Buje. Od 1993. godine ponovno dobiva status općine.
Pored hrvatskog i talijanskog jezika koji su u službenoj uporabi, te slovenskog koji ne predstavlja problem na ulicama grožnjana čuju se i mnogi drugi svjetski jezici.
Godine 1965. Grožnjan je proglašen GRADOM UMJETNIKA.
Likovni umjetnici pokreću ponovno oživljavanje grada. Članovi društva likovnih umjetnika Slovenije i Hrvatske naseljavaju grad i otimaju ga od daljnjeg propadanja. Kipar Aleksandar Rukavina vodi i sinkronizira djelatnosti. Likovni umjetnici organiziraju u starim napuštenim kućama likovnu koloniju koja se kasnije pretvara u mjesto boravka i rada mnogih autora.
Prazne Grožnjanske kuće djelomično su naselile obitelji iz okolice, 1965.g. kada je osnovan "Grad umjetnosti" dio kuća dano je na korištenje likovnim umjetnicima iz Hrvatske, Slovenije i Vojvodine, a dio kuća je 1969.g. dano na korištenje Kulturnom centru Međunarodne federacije Muzičke omladine. Tako je Grožnjan od grada obrtnika postao grad umjetnika. Sada ljeti među obnovljenim kućama i po malim trgovima - s ložama i majušnim lukovima, valjkastim dimnjacima i arhitravima s grbovima i datumima, ukrašenima kovanim željezom - odjekuju njegovim popločanim uličicama zvuci čarobne glazbe koji ne dopuštaju da Grožnjan utone u zaborav.
