Rovigno

Rovigno, a seaport of Austria, in Istria, 75 m. S. of Trieste by rail. Pop. (1900) 10,205, mostly Italian. It is situated on the west coast of Istria, and possesses an interesting cathedral, built on the summit of the promontory Monte di Sant' Eufemia. Its campanile, built after the model of the famous campanile in Venice, is crowned with a bronze statue of St Eufemia, the patron saint of the town, whose remains are preserved in the church. It contains a station of the Berlin Aquarium, with a fine collection of the fauna of the Adriatic Sea. In the neighbourhood are vineyards, which produce the best wine in Istria, and olive gardens, while its hazel-nuts are reputed the finest in the world. Rovigno is the principal centre of the Austrian tunny and sardine fishery. The industries, in addition to shipbuilding and the preservation of fish, include the manufacture of tobacco, cement, macaroni and similar preparations, and flour. There is an active export trade. Its inhabitants are renowned seamen. Rovigno is the ancient Arupenum or Rubinum, and according to tradition it was originally built on an island, Cissa by name, which disappeared during the earthquakes about 737. Rovigno passed definitively into the hands of the Venetians in 1330, and it remained true to the republic till the treaty of Campo Formio (1797)