St Elisha’s Church near Fažana and the remains of a Roman villa
St Elisha’s Church near Fažana preserves an early Christian apse and reused stonework. Nearby excavations revealed a Roman villa and rock-cut graves.
Discoveries beneath the paving
In 1956, archaeologists working beneath the stone paving in front of the church found walls and paved surfaces from a late Roman villa, together with graves cut into the bedrock. The finds connect a Roman rural estate with a later place of Christian worship and burial.
The small, single-nave church probably dates from the sixth century. Older dressed stones, known as spolia, were incorporated into its front walls, showing how builders reused stone in the church. There is a window with a stone grille above the entrance.
A curved interior and a many-sided exterior
The apse at the eastern end of the church is semicircular inside and polygonal outside. Together with the older stonework built into the walls, its shape provides evidence for dating the building to late antiquity.
Inland from the coastal promenade
The church stands on Put sv. Elizeja, northeast of the centre of Fažana, among olive groves. The second stage of the South Istria Camino also leads here, along the Barbariga, Fažana and Pula section. You can include it in a walk from town, leaving the coastal promenade to head inland.
Address: Put sv. Elizeja, 52212 Fažana, Istra, Hrvatska