Our story - Sapparis

In written documents, Sipar is first mentioned, along with other Istrian coastal towns (civitates), as Sapparis or Siparis in the work Cosmographia by the Anonymous Ravennate, created between the 6th and 7th centuries. Later, it appears as urbs Sipiares, as named by John the Deacon at the end of the 10th and the beginning of the 11th century, when he listed Istrian towns destroyed in 876 by Neretvan pirates under the leadership of Duke Domagoj. At that time, they also plundered Novigrad and Rovinj.

Due to various dangers, the inhabitants of Sipar were forced several times to abandon their settlement: frequent pirate raids, different enemies, earthquakes, constant barbarian invasions... Yet, whenever the danger passed, they would return and rebuild the town and its walls. Unlike many other settlements that have existed in the same place for up to two millennia, life in Sipar ceased after Domagoj’s time. The primacy in the coastal belt of northwestern Istria then passed to Humagum, the settlement that over the centuries developed into today’s town of Umag.

The castle was built around the year 1000, and it is said that for a time it even served as a lighthouse. It is not excluded that it was built by pirates who lived there and from there prepared for their raids. The castle remained in good condition until 1943, when its upper part was destroyed by German artillery for strategic reasons.

A legend about Rosamunda and the shepherd is connected with the Sipar castle, according to which the owners of the castle were the richest on the Istrian peninsula. The lord had a beautiful daughter, Rosamunda, who during a walk beneath the walls met a poor shepherd. The shepherd was tall and wise, and love blossomed between them. When the lord discovered this, he locked Rosamunda in her chambers and sent the shepherd away to the farthest part of the Sipar estate. Rosamunda grieved and eventually fell ill. Doctors came from all sides but could not help her. To heal his daughter, the lord had to summon the shepherd and test his wisdom. If he healed her, he would give her to him as a wife. The shepherd had to find two identical stones among thousands in a large mosaic, but to everyone’s surprise, he found four. A fairy, invisible to everyone but the shepherd, helped him in the search. Thus, the wise shepherd married Rosamunda and, after the lord’s death, became the owner of the entire estate.