Nova Vas, Poreč

Nova Vas is an inland Istrian village administered by the City of Poreč, positioned between Poreč, Višnjan and Tar. Its defining landmark lies below ground: Baredine Cave descends 132 metres into the limestone and is protected as a geomorphological natural monument. The visitor route crosses five chambers to a depth of 60 metres, passing stalactites, stalagmites and curtain-like formations in a constant temperature of around 14°C. The site also introduces visitors to the olm, an endemic animal of the Dinaric karst. Beside the cave are the Traktor Story collection of historic farm machinery, the Konobon Gallery devoted to bread, wine and olive oil, and the Speleolit climbing centre. The narrow-gauge Parenzana railway once passed nearby, completing the journey from Nova Vas to Poreč in 19 minutes. Today Poreč city bus route 1 connects the village with the main bus station via Antonci, returning through Kukci and Špadići.

Nova Vas has a distinctly karst character: the farming village stands above a system of cavities, flowstone and subterranean water most clearly revealed inside Baredine Cave. Explorers reached 80 metres in the early 20th century, while work in the 1970s established its present depth of 132 metres. The cave opened for guided tourism in 1995 as Istria’s first visitor-oriented speleological site. The village’s agricultural story continues at Traktor Story in Gedići near Nova Vas, where historic tractors and threshing machines are displayed, while the Konobon Gallery relates local farming to Istrian bread, olive oil and wine.