Peroj

Peroj stands on the south-western coast of southern Istria, around five kilometres from Vodnjan and ten kilometres from Pula, overlooking the Fažana Channel and the Brijuni Islands. Its defining feature is a strong Montenegrin Orthodox heritage: families from Montenegro arrived on 21 July 1657, and their descendants preserved their faith, local speech and the use of Cyrillic on gravestones. The Church of St Spyridon acquired its present form in 1834, its domed bell tower was erected in 1860, and an Orthodox cemetery lies behind it. Simple stone houses form the old core, while newer residential and visitor accommodation extends towards the sea. Along the Peroj coast, limestone shelves alternate with pebble beaches as far as the coves of Portić and Marić; Marić served for centuries as Vodnjan’s trading harbour. Pulapromet route 21 provides access to Fažana and Pula, connecting Pula, Fažana, Peroj and Barbariga in 2026. Peroj therefore brings together an unusually resilient Orthodox tradition, views of the Brijuni archipelago and direct access to a varied Istrian shoreline.

Peroj belongs administratively to the Vodnjan area, yet its identity is strongly shaped by the Montenegrin Orthodox community established after families settled here in 1657. Over the centuries, residents preserved their Orthodox faith, a distinctive Peroj speech and Cyrillic inscriptions in the cemetery behind St Spyridon’s Church. Simple stone houses characterise the old core, while newer development descends towards the Fažana Channel. Views from the coast and higher parts of the village extend across to the Brijuni Islands. Rather than one continuous developed beach, the shoreline alternates between limestone shelves, pebble sections and coves reaching towards Portić and Marić. This meeting of Orthodox heritage, Istrian stone architecture and immediate proximity to Brijuni gives Peroj a profile unlike any neighbouring settlement in the Vodnjan area.