Monkodonja near Rovinj: a Bronze Age hillfort
Monkodonja is a Bronze Age hillfort near Rovinj. Its walls and house foundations show how the residential parts of the settlement were arranged.
During the second millennium BC, people built a settlement on three levels on this hill. They quarried stone from the hill itself to build dry-stone defensive walls. Quarrying also created flatter building areas, so both the natural terrain and the work of its inhabitants shaped the settlement.
From defensive walls to household hearths
As you explore, compare the defensive perimeter with the interior. Massive walls and two entrances enclosed the community. The houses of its leading members stood on the highest part, the acropolis, while lower areas included homes and craft workshops. This layout helps you understand differences within the community and see the stone remains as parts of a settlement rather than a single fortress.
In the residential areas, you can make out the foundations of houses of different sizes and the passages between them. Archaeologists found hearths and pottery inside the houses, evidence of cooking and everyday life. Alongside local pottery, they found vessels from distant Mediterranean regions, evidence of contacts beyond the Istrian peninsula.
Archaeologists reconstructed some of the walls you see today after excavation. The present appearance combines surviving remains with work intended to make the settlement’s architecture easier to understand.
Mušego: burial mounds outside the settlement
The associated cemetery of Mušego lies about one and a half kilometres from Monkodonja. The dead were laid in stone cists beneath tumuli, burial mounds built of stone. Stone slabs covered the central cists. Researchers also found amber and faience beads and bronze objects in the graves.
Mušego is a separate site outside the settlement’s walls. The distance describes their relative positions, not an established walking trail between them.
Location and exploring the site
Monkodonja lies near Kokuletovica, about five kilometres southeast of Rovinj. The map point marks the hillfort itself, not a car park. You walk over uneven, stony ground among low walls and foundations. Wear footwear that supports your feet and keep to the passages, without climbing on walls or moving stones.
Address: Monkodonja, okolica Kokuletovice, Rovinj