The caves near Pula (in latinium
Pietas Julia),
Lim bay,
Šandalja, and ''Roumald's cave'', house
Stone Age archaeological remains. Less ancient
Stone Age sites, from the period between 6000 and 2000 BC can also be found in the area. More than 400 locations are classified as
Bronze Age (1800–1000 BC) items. Numerous findings including
weapons,
tools, and
jewelry) which are from the earlier
iron era around the beginning of
common era. The Istrian peninsula was known to
Romans as the
terra magica. Its name is derived from the
Histri, an
Illyrian tribe who as accounted by the geographer
Strabo lived in the region. Romans described them as
pirates who were hard to conquer due to the difficulty of navigating the territory. After two military campaigns, Roman legions finally subdued them in 177 BC. With the
fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476, Istria was conquered by the
Goths and then by the
Byzantines. During Byzantine rule, it was shortly ruled by Avars. Istria was annexed by the
Lombards in 751, by the
Avars in 774, by the
Franks during the reign of
Charlemagne in 789, and successively controlled by various dukes, (
Carinthia,
Merano,
Bavaria). Later it was run by the patriarchs of
Aquileia. In 1267 the
Republic of Venice annexed the western and southern coast of the Istrian peninsula because of the strong presence of the autochthonous Italian community; during this period the region prospered. The major Istrian cities were reborn under Venetian government; it was in this half millennium that they developed architecturally and culturally. The eastern half of Istria was administered by the Habsburgs, and was referred to as "Imperial Istria" with its capital at Pisino (German: Mitterburg). In 1797, with the
Treaty of Campo Formio written by
Napoleon, the peninsula with the whole Republic of Venice passed to the
Habsburgs of Austria. The
Treaty of Pressburg in 1805 handed Istria to the Kingdom of Italy. The
Treaty of Schönbrunn in 1809 transferred Istria to France. In 1815, the
Congress of Vienna confirmed Austria's possession on the Northern
Adriatic Sea along with
Istria. Regional guvernative units were formed in
Gorizia (Gorizia county),
Trieste (Istrian area), and
Rijeka (
Pazin county and
Kvarner Gulf). From 1849 they were united in
Austrian Littoral. The free port of Trieste presented an individual guvernative unit outside of other guvernative areas. Starting in 1861 until 1918/1920 the seat to a regional
Parliament in the
Austro-Hungarian Empire was in Parenzo (today: Poreč). After World War I, according to the peace treaty of
Rapallo Istria became part of Italy in 1920.
Fascism and later
Nazi occupation spoiled otherwise tolerant ethnic relations in the area. After
World War II Istria was assigned to
Yugoslavia and many ethnic
Italians (
Istrian Italians) left in the
Istrian–Dalmatian exodus. With the
collapse of Communist Yugoslavia Istria became part of an independent Croatia and the region saw no fighting in the
ensuing war. Today it is one of the most economically developed parts of Croatia. Currently, some people ask for a higher degree of autonomy for the county. This is part of the
Istrian regionalist movement. Personalities like
Robert Koch and writer
James Joyce lived and worked in Istria. Writer
Jules Verne was inspired to write his novel
Mathias Sandorf after hearing of the
quarry and
cave in Pazin and the poet
Dante Alighieri visited and wrote a few lines about Istria. Racing drivers
Mario Andretti and
Aldo Andretti were born in
Montona in Istria. ==Geography==