Blaz Bay
About Blaz Bay
Blaz Bay is located on the Rakalj side of the Bay of Raša. In the past, it was an important port on the maritime route connecting Pula with Trsat (during the time of the Romans). Known for five mills that worked in the immediate vicinity of the sea, and their remains are still visible today.
Residents from distant parts of Istria came to get the quality water that springs here. It is known that people came from Sveti Lovreč to Blaz to fill barrels with water.
Documents about mills first appear in 1572 when Gasparo Chersainer from Kršan sold his mill to Girolamo Manzini from Labin, and they continued their activities until the Second World War.
Today, Blaz is uninhabited, but well known to nature lovers.
Blaz Bay is the only bay in Istria where drinking water flows into the sea, so it is very special that it is the only place where visitors can drink drinking water directly from the sea.
The legend associated with this bay tells of the crown of King Tomislav, which was allegedly hidden in the Blaz bay in the 10th century.
In the struggles for the Croatian-Hungarian throne during the 15th century, different noble parties supported their own candidates, and since the king of the common state had to be crowned with both the Hungarian crown of St. Stephen and the Croatian crown of King Tomislav, it was important to obtain both crowns for victory.
It so happened that a fleet sailed towards the Kingdom of Naples carrying Croatian royal insignia with the intention of crowning the king there, but the opposing side sensed this intention and sent ships.
The two fleets clashed in the Kvarner Bay, and the ship carrying the crown of King Tomislav hid in the Bay of Raša.
After 300 years, the Venetian governor visited Istrian villages and towns to collect taxes. According to custom, the governor and his men had to be hosted by the village prefect, and in Belavići that was Grgo Belavić.
After the work was done, a sumptuous dinner followed, of course, with plenty of wine. When the wine had taken its toll, the host disappeared for a short while, only to reappear before the distinguished guests with a royal crown on his head, a scepter, a cloak, and other royal insignia. After strutting around in front of the drunken governor and his entourage, he disappeared again, and the royal insignia with him.
The next day, when the entire company had sobered up, the governor, remembering through the fog that he had seen something strange, asked the host what it was. The host firmly denied that anything strange had happened, so the unusual experience was attributed to the influence of wine…
