During an autumn walk in Vodnjan, you will notice the names of squares and streets, and in front of your eyes will line up unfamiliar surnames Smareglia, Dalla Zonca, Cecon, Biasoletto... Behind each of them lies a story full of interesting details that inscriptions and monuments can only briefly tell. In order for a walk in Vodnjan to be an unforgettable experience of meeting famous residents who enriched its history, we leave the floor to some of them to tell you their life story and explain themselves what they owed to this town.
Erminio Vojvoda – shoemaker virtuoso from the shopping street
I know that our main street seems a bit deserted to you now and that you may be surprised by its name Trgovacka because you don't see many shops, but with my help you will easily experience it differently. My name is Erminio Albino Vojvoda and once my tools and their sounds were just one of the "instruments" that created an incredibly dynamic melody in a street where over a hundred cobblers used to work!
The merchant street was bustling with life and numerous artisan shops thanks to the time of the Middle Ages, when Vodnjan became a very important place for all handicraftsmen, especially shoemakers. My colleagues and I were in high demand, and I was the most in demand! The people of Vodnjan say that I was a leading figure in footwear design in Istria and its surroundings in the 20th century, and if I tell you that my women's and men's footwear drawings reached European magazines and clients, then you will know that I have really succeeded beyond the borders of my native Vodnjan. When making shoes, it was very important for me to be original, for me shoemaking was art!
If you want to find out what my workshop looked like, it is possible, but with prior notice. I'm not there anymore, but in Ecomuseum Istrian de Dignan in the nearby Narodni trg, you will find everything that made up my life - tools, molds, designs, shoes, my pictures and plaques, and even the European magazines I mentioned to you. I am satisfied with the way my fellow citizens of Vodnjan remember me, providing an opportunity for a visitor like you to get to know me and, at least for a moment, come to life...
Pietro Marchesi – the industrialist who lit up the first light bulb in Istria in Vodnjan
On November 15, 1889, today's Zagreb square in Vodnjan was a place of true magic. On that cold day, curious citizens of Vodnjan gathered to experience a historic moment in which the first electric light bulb in Istria will light up, thanks to me!
My name is Pietro Marchesi, I was a successful industrialist, a pioneer of mechanical production machines and an artist. Aquarians remember all the great things I did for them, and for myself, of course. I built a small power station in the area of San Lorenzo (St. Lovro) and paid the costs of bringing electricity to the most important places in the historical center of Vodnjan, to houses and homes.
Admittedly, in order to avoid overloading, for some time it was allowed to have only one 25W light bulb, which was most often lit in the kitchen, but that changed quickly. To pay for "electricity", each house had a blue booklet in which my company entered the consumption and the amount to be paid.
But I didn't stop there. I equipped my mills, oil mills, fish shop, vinegar and pasta factory with mechanical production machines. I introduced the first steam-powered grain threshing and grinding machines and an olive press, all of which, thanks to me, were powered by electricity.
When I wasn't working, I liked to paint, landscapes, marinas, portraits and altarpieces. You don't even have to doubt that I have proven myself in this as well, so I will proudly whisper to you that it was I who created the set design for the opera Nozze istriane which, inspired by Vodnjan, was written by my friend Antonio Smareglia.
Msgr. Giuseppe del Ton – versatile Istrian priest and collaborator of as many as six popes
When you stand in front of the magnificent basilica dedicated to St. Blja and the largest parish church in Istria, where the Vodnjan mummies and sacred treasures are kept, turn your gaze to the left. I am waiting for you in the form of a 2,5-meter monument erected thanks to the long-time pastor of Vodnjan, Marijan Jelenić.
My name is Giuseppe del Ton. I ended my life's journey in the Vatican, but I saw the world as a Vodnjana, to whom I mean a lot today. I was a priest, special in many ways. I believe that you will be amazed by the fact that I was an associate of as many as six popes and that as an expert in classical languages of the State Secretariat of the Holy See, I controlled all the most important official Latin documents from 1932 to 1978.
In addition to teaching at the Pontifical Lateran University and the Augustineum Institute, Pope Paul VI appointed me Prothonotary Apostolic with right of residence in the Vatican. Until the end of my life, I belonged to the Diocese of Poreč-Pula, where I became a priest.
You should also know that I wrote poems in Latin and Greek, translated the texts of the church fathers, and who knows, maybe one day my play about the Porec martyr St. To Maur, who got lost in the manuscript.
Venerio Trevisan – a weaver and tapestry artist who painted the churches of Vodnjan
I come from a family of weavers, so it is not at all unusual that I became a skilled weaver and upholsterer. My name is Venerio Trevisan, and Vodnjan remembers me for what I enjoyed the most - painting.
I was lucky that the Veronese painter Gaetano Gressler moved to our Vodnjan to paint the new parish church. After enough hours of instruction, I ventured into my first painting job, the repair of the damaged panel on the altar of the church of St. No. I admit, I had a little trepidation, but it soon disappeared because for the next 40 years I created numerous sacred paintings for different clients in Istria. Of course, the largest number of my works can be found in numerous churches in Vodnjan, and I carefully signed them all.
Bartolomeo Biasoletto – pharmacist, botanist and founder of the Trieste Botanical Garden
My name is Bartolomeo Biasoletto, you will find him on one of Vodnjan's streets. As a native of Vodnjan, I fell in love with the magical world of plants from an early age, so Vodnjan remembers me as a pharmacist, botanist and naturalist.
I started my interesting journey as a pharmacist in Vodnjan and Rijeka, but when I took over the pharmacy in Trieste Orso Nero I embarked on natural science research that led me to my greatest love – botany.
I researched, traveled, collaborated with famous names, published in magazines, and was even a guide to the Saxon king during his visits to the Adriatic. Also, I initiated the establishment of a pharmaceutical company in Trieste and founded it Trieste Botanical Garden – remember me if you stop by there.
It is therefore not surprising that I ended up becoming a member of several academies! I spent a lot of energy fighting against cholera, but it overcame me and brought great sadness because it took away my wife and child.
Author of the text: Silvija Jacić
Cover photo: Loris Zupanc