Winter in the bora wreathed Nin



Winter in the bora wreathed Nin

(28.02.2019.)

A cold, harsh wind bringing nice and sunny, yet cold weather – the famous bora, especially in the winter time, blows in most part of the Adriatic Croatia, and particularly in the royal town of Nin. Have you heard the legend about the bora? it was written by a famous Nin local, Petar Zoranić in his novel „The Mountains“ back in 1536.

The bora was a beautiful, yet arrogant and brassy young girl, of noble descent. She thought she was best at everything and she always had to be above the others. No young man who came to propose to her, met her terms and she rejected all of them. She would boast with her beauty and once she went one step further and said she was more beautiful than the immortal fairies... God heard this and got angry. Due to her arrogance, he struck her by thunder and threw her into hell. The fairy Mila told this story to Petar Zoranić who she accompanied on his way, when once the wind was blowing so hard that it almost knocked the writer down, but the fairy helped him. This was the reason to tell him the story of the bora wind, what the wind was, where it came from and how it got its name. The fairy then told Zoranić that the sin of that girl was passed onto all other girls who were trying to be arrogant and brassy and every time one of them sinned, she would sigh loudly, remembering her former happy life. It is from that sigh that the bora came about.  

It is that cold wind that sometimes blows in Nin for days and creates a unique feeling in that beautiful town. Come and see for yourself how the bora clears the sky and the air and clears the view to the grand mountain of Velebit. Because of its pure air and Nin's cultural and historical sights, the monuments and churches shine with a special glow. This town, more than 3,000 years old, due to the „sighs of an arrogant girl“,will provide you with a special experience in wintertime. The Church of the Holy Cross, also called the smallest cathedral in the world, but also the remains of the largest ancient temple on the Adriatic coast from the 1st century shine with a special glow.

A jewelled box – the oldest object from the time of Christianization of Croats

 

Spend your winter holidays in Nin, have a look of the statue of the duke Branimir, the work of the academic sculptor Josip Poljan, then walk down the new wooden and romantic bridge to the old town and walk along the Nin Kalelarga to the bronze statue of the famous Bishop Gregory of Nin and the parish church beside which there is a place where gold and silver as well as valuable church objects of the town of Nin are stored. In this collection of the church art „Gold and Silver of the City of Nin“ there are various objects from the time of the founding of the Nin Diocese and even earlier. While looking at the objects in the showcases you will be passing, you will see a small jewelled box, i.e. a reliquary made of gilded silver with a lid in a shape of a gabled roof decorated with rosettes and jewels. The box is considered to be the oldest object, and it is presumed that it was made during the Christianization of Croats.

The Museum of Nin Antiquities and the Museum of Salt

If you wish to see even more of the antiques in wintertime, make sure you visit the Museum of Nin Antiquities located in the rural baroque palace of the Medović family.  There is a collection of stone monuments from the rich history of Nin. Thus, you can see objects from prehistoric to early Christian and early medieval to modern age of the town of Nin.

If you wish to see something else, then we recommend going for a walk to the Museum of Salt and its souvenir shop, a kind of attraction of the Nin saltworks. Within the museum and the souvenir shop, you can see other various items that were once used, and some of them are still used in traditional salt production. These are, for example, rakes for collecting salt, salt transportation wagons and wooden devices for packing. Buy a famous „flower of salt“, also called „salt caviar“ due to its unique taste and collection method, then bath salt or some other salt souvenirs.

Although it is cold, Nin and its surroundings emanate fresh and clean air. Take a ride to a donkey farm located on the road from Nin to Zagreb, only 10 kilometres from the seashore. This, only donkey farm in northern Dalmatia, beside the enthusiasm of your youngest family members, will also put a smile on your face, trust us. Beside donkeys, on the farm there are horses, sheep, ducks, rabbits, turkeys, peacocks..... After that, return to Nin and visit its unique sand beaches with a beautiful view of Velebit and enjoy the Nin Lagoon. In this bora wrapped wintertime and numerous birds in the Nin lagoon will greet you in their specific way – flapping their wings and chirping. It is the Nin lagoon that was selected to be the habitat by 204 species of birds, among which there is the endemic black-winged stilt. But to see it, you will have to wait till the beginning of spring when you will come again to Nin. However, if you are lucky, the black-winged stilt will show itself to you and chirp in the most beautiful way to welcome you to Nin.  

 

Foto: Boris Kačan

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23232 Nin
Croatia

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