Rovinj Craft Tour on 18 June guides visitors through crafts, the batana, pelinkovac and Istrian supa
On Thursday, 18 June 2026, Rovinj will once again host the guided Rovinj Craft Tour, a free programme designed as an encounter with the city’s traditional crafts, customs and flavours. According to the official events calendar of the Rovinj-Rovigno Tourist Board, the tour begins at 10 a.m., with departure in front of the Tourist Board office at Trg na mostu 2. The programme lasts around two hours and thirty minutes and takes place in the old town centre, where workshops, taverns, an ecomuseum space and places where skills connected with the everyday life of former Rovinj can still be seen are linked along a short walking route.
It is a tourist and cultural programme that is not based only on viewing façades and monuments, but on meeting people, workspaces and traditional knowledge. The organiser states that the tour is intended for everyone who wants to discover traditional customs, crafts and handicrafts, with expert guidance through the old town centre. Participants must register no later than one hour before the start of the tour, by sending an e-mail to info@rovinj-tourism.hr. When registering, it is necessary to state the desired guiding language, as Croatian, Italian, English and German are available according to the organiser’s announcement.
The programme is part of a broader effort to give greater prominence in Rovinj’s tourist offer to living heritage, that is, knowledge preserved not only in museum display cases, but also in workshops, kitchens, taverns, fishermen’s stories and local products. For visitors coming to Rovinj specifically for the tour, it is useful to plan their arrival in the old town centre in advance, because the tour begins in the morning and lasts until early afternoon. Those planning a longer stay can check accommodation offers in Rovinj, especially if they want to combine the tour with other cultural and gastronomic content in the city.
The route begins at the Tourist Board and enters the heart of the old centre
According to the official event announcement, the starting point is the office of the Rovinj-Rovigno Tourist Board at Trg na mostu 2, one of the busy points at the entrance to the old centre. From there, the group, accompanied by an expert guide, heads towards streets where the layered urban history of Rovinj can still be recognised, a town shaped by fishing, crafts, trade and everyday life by the sea. This tour format makes it possible for individual locations not to be experienced as isolated attractions, but as connected parts of local identity.
One of the first stops is a shoemaker’s workshop in Ulica Zdenac, which the organiser describes as the only shoemaker’s workshop in Rovinj included in the programme. This detail gives the tour special value because it draws attention to the disappearance of small crafts from historic centres, a process that has been visible in many coastal towns over recent decades. In the context of Rovinj, the encounter with the shoemaking craft is not only a nostalgic motif, but also a reminder of the former function of the old centre as a place of work, repairs, orders and everyday services. That is precisely why the tour has documentary value: it shows that heritage is not only what is old, but also what is still practised.
After the craft section, the route leads to Spacio Matika in Ulica Vladimira Švalbe, an original Rovinj tavern presented in the programme as the place of a workshop for making Rovinj fijoki. Fijoki are part of the local confectionery tradition, and their inclusion in the tour shows how gastronomic heritage can be presented through practical experience, not only through tasting. Participation in the workshop gives visitors insight into the preparation method, but also into the social context in which such sweets were passed down through family and local customs. In this part, the programme moves from classic guiding into a participatory format, which is one of its main distinctive features.
The batana as a symbol of Rovinj’s maritime heritage
An important part of the tour is connected with the Batana Ecomuseum, an institution dedicated to the traditional flat-bottomed wooden boat of Rovinj. According to data from the Batana Ecomuseum, this is a space that presents the batana as a symbol of Rovinj and of the local community that developed fishing, boatbuilding, linguistic, musical and gastronomic customs around it. The Rovinj-Rovigno Tourist Board states that the skill of building the batana has been entered in the Register of Protected Intangible Cultural Goods of Croatia, and that the Batana Ecomuseum has been included on UNESCO’s list of good practices for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage.
In its description of the project, UNESCO highlights that the Rovinj batana was important for local trade and heritage and that construction methods were passed down within families and the community. According to UNESCO, industrial boat models displaced traditional forms, which is why a local initiative launched systematic safeguarding of the batana and related customs in 2004. This information gives broader context to the stop at the Ecomuseum: the visit is not only an introduction to one vessel, but also a story about how a community can protect its own intangible heritage without turning tradition into a static exhibit.
In the Rovinj Craft Tour programme, participants learn more at the Ecomuseum about Rovinj’s fishing tradition and the batana, and in the immediate vicinity they can see skills such as mending fishing nets, building or repairing a boat and weaving demijohns. This approach is especially valuable because it connects the sea, tools, the hands of masters and objects of everyday use. Mending nets, repairing a boat or weaving coverings for glass vessels may at first glance seem like small details, but precisely such skills formed the foundation of the local economy and family life for decades. In a tourist tour, they become understandable to a wider audience while retaining their practical and working dimension.
Pelinkovac, liqueur tradition and a new museum stop in the city
One of the stops on the tour is the House of Rovinj Pelinkovac, a space dedicated to one of Rovinj’s most recognisable liqueurs. According to data from the company Darna, Rovinj pelinkovac is produced according to a traditional recipe from 1925 and is based on wormwood, namely the plant Artemisia, with the addition of aromatic herbs. Darna states that the natural colour is obtained by caramelising sugar in copper kettles and that the liqueur matures in oak barrels, which contributes to its aroma and recognisable quality. The official tourist portal of Rovinj also states that the recipe is linked to the first owner of the liqueur factory, Giorgio Benussi, and that production is continued today by Darna d.o.o.
The House of Rovinj Pelinkovac has been opened as a museum, retail and interpretation space in the city centre. The Rovinj-Rovigno Tourist Board describes it as a place where the liqueurs of the Darna factory are presented, from Rovinj pelinkovac to other herbal and sweet liqueurs, together with objects once used in production and a presentation of the process of making pelinkovac. In the context of the Craft Tour, this stop complements the story of handicrafts and fishing with an industrial and craft tradition, because liqueur production is also based on a recipe, technique, selection of raw materials and continuity of local knowledge.
Unlike standard tours, which often emphasise only the architecture of the old town, this tour shows how Rovinj’s identity was also shaped through products associated with its name. Pelinkovac is therefore presented as part of local memory and economic history, not only as a souvenir. Since part of the programme includes content connected with alcoholic beverages, participants who do not consume alcohol or who are coming with minors can check the details of participation when registering. Such a note is important especially because the tour is open to a wide audience and organised in several languages.
The Istrian supa workshop connects gastronomy and the custom of togetherness
The final gastronomic part of the programme is planned in the tasting room of the Agrorovinj Association, where participants take part in a workshop for making Istrian supa. According to the Tourist Board of Istria County, Istrian supa is traditionally prepared from red wine, most often teran, olive oil, sugar, pepper and toasted homemade bread, and is served in a bukaleta. Although in the contemporary context it is often described as a gastronomic speciality, supa was also, in Istrian tradition, a ritual of togetherness connected with taverns, hearths, conversation and sharing food and drink.
The inclusion of Istrian supa in the Rovinj Craft Tour has a dual function. On the one hand, it introduces visitors to one of the recognisable elements of the Istrian table, and on the other it shows how simple ingredients can be transformed into a cultural sign. Wine, bread, oil and spices are not luxury ingredients, but in supa they acquire social meaning because they are linked to communal serving and local habits. The workshop is therefore not only a culinary demonstration, but also a conversation about how customs are maintained when the community continues to practise them.
In a programme that lasts around two and a half hours, it is precisely the alternation of craft, maritime, confectionery and gastronomic elements that gives the tour its rhythm. In a short time, the visitor receives a cross-section of different layers of Rovinj’s everyday life: from shoemaker’s tools and fishing nets, through the batana and demijohns, to fijoki, pelinkovac and Istrian supa. Such a structure makes the tour suitable for those who want to understand the city more deeply, but do not have enough time for separate visits to all interpretation points. At the same time, each stop can be an incentive for a later independent visit or additional exploration of local heritage.
Dates, guiding languages and registration
According to the official announcement, the Rovinj Craft Tour takes place on Thursdays in two seasonal periods. The first period runs from 28 May to 2 July 2026, with the exception that the tour scheduled for Thursday, 4 June, was held on Friday, 5 June 2026. The second period is planned from 27 August to 1 October 2026, also on Thursdays. The date 18 June 2026 is part of the first cycle, and the start is at 10 a.m.
The organiser is the Rovinj-Rovigno Tourist Board, and the official contact for registration and additional information is info@rovinj-tourism.hr. Since registrations are accepted no later than one hour before the start, it is recommended to get in touch earlier, especially during periods of increased tourist traffic. When registering, the desired guiding language should be stated, and Croatian, Italian, English and German are available. Such multilingualism is important for Rovinj, a town in which Croatian and Italian linguistic and cultural layers are visible also in the official bilingual name Rovinj-Rovigno.
The programme has been announced as free, which makes it accessible to a wide range of visitors. However, its free character does not mean that it is an incidental activity without organisational structure. On the contrary, the route includes several specific locations and workshops, so timely registration is important because of group organisation, guiding languages and coordination with the hosts of individual stops. For visitors planning to arrive from outside Rovinj, it is useful to check arrival times, parking options and pedestrian access to the old centre, because the tour takes place in the historic centre.
Why this kind of tour is important for Rovinj
The Rovinj Craft Tour fits into the contemporary direction of tourism destination development, in which authentic, smaller and clearly defined experiences are increasingly sought. Instead of presenting the town only as a backdrop, the programme foregrounds local skills and their connection with place. This approach is especially important in destinations with large numbers of visitors, because it helps shift attention from superficial sightseeing towards an understanding of the way of life that shaped the place. In Rovinj, that way of life is recognisable in fishing heritage, small crafts, taverns, language, boats and flavours.
According to UNESCO’s description of the Batana Ecomuseum, the safeguarding of Rovinj’s living culture is based on the local community, experts and long-term development projects. Precisely this connection between institutions and people on the ground is also visible in the Craft Tour, because the programme connects the tourist board, the ecomuseum, craftspeople, producers and associations. When such content is carried out in smaller groups and with expert guidance, it can contribute to higher-quality tourism, better interpretation of heritage and greater visibility of knowledge that would otherwise remain hidden behind workshop doors.
For visitors, the value of the tour lies in the fact that in one tour they receive an overview of several important Rovinj themes, but without the impression of an overcrowded programme. For the local community, the value lies in public recognition of skills that often disappear quietly, without major announcements. Shoemaking, mending nets, restoring boats, weaving demijohns or preparing traditional dishes are not merely decorative elements of the tourist offer. They are traces of work, adaptation and knowledge that enabled life in a town by the sea for generations.
That is why the Rovinj Craft Tour on 18 June is not just another item in the events calendar, but an example of how urban heritage can be presented through walking, conversation, demonstration and participation. The programme is short enough to be accessible, and substantial enough to provide a broader picture of Rovinj beyond its best-known views. Participants leave the tour with concrete images: tools in a workshop, the smell of a tavern, the story of the batana, a memory of nets and boats, the taste of local sweets and an understanding of why tradition is preserved precisely when it continues to be used.
Sources:
- Rovinj-Rovigno Tourist Board – official announcement of the Rovinj Craft Tour event for 18 June 2026 (link)
- Tourist Board of Istria County – description of the Rovinj Craft Tour programme, locations, duration, registration and dates (link)
- Batana Ecomuseum – description of the Ecomuseum and the Rovinj batana as a symbol of local maritime heritage (link)
- UNESCO – description of the project for safeguarding the living culture of Rovinj-Rovigno and the Batana Ecomuseum on the list of good practices (link)
- Rovinj-Rovigno Tourist Board – data on the Batana Ecomuseum and the status of the batana in cultural heritage (link)
- Darna d.o.o. – data on Rovinj pelinkovac, the 1925 recipe and the production method (link)
- Rovinj-Rovigno Tourist Board – description of the House of Rovinj Pelinkovac and the exhibition and retail space (link)
- Tourist Board of Istria County – description of Istrian supa and its traditional ingredients (link)