Valamar Blog

As is tradition, the festival of accordionists playing triestine (the common name of the diatonic accordion made in Trieste since 1862) will take place in Roc on the second weekend of May (12 May – 13 May, 2012), with numerous performers from Croatia and abroad. Fans of this kind of music, but also all open-minded people, will surely find something to their taste. With the sounds of music coming from almost every house in our little town, visitors will able to attend art exhibitions, witness the promenade of a brass band from the town of Klis, listen to the accordion world champion perform, enjoy the culinary delights and, above all, have a good time.

Roc, for those of you who have never heard of it, is a small fortified town situated on a hill. It is located 10km east of the town of Buzet and mentioned as far back as 1064. It was founded as an Illyrian settlement which later became a Roman army camp. In the Middle Ages it was transformed into a fortified citadel with defence towers and Big and Small town gates. During the 15th and 16th centuries, Roc was the centre of Croatian literacy, publishing and printing based on the oldest Slavonic script, the Glagolitic alphabet. At the foot of Roc begins the Glagolitic Alley which is made up of 10 stone monuments dedicated to the Glagolitic script and the Glagolitic clergy. The first monument is the pillar of the Chakavian Council, erected in 1977. The monuments are placed along the road leading to Hum (the smallest town in the world), where the final monument, the town gates, is. On the way back from Hum, 2km away from the village Bernobici is the village of Kotli. Because of the beautiful scenery, Kotli is frequently visited by holidaymakers. Through the village runs the river Mirna, cascading over rocks and forming cauldron-like holes in the stone for which the village was named (kotli – cauldrons). If you are in the neighbourhood, be sure to stop by!