Bale Travel Guide

 JLBG Says:  Between the church and the campanile, the piazzetta is an island on greenery with another cypress, cedar trees and oleander. That makes a pleasant contrast with the white stone face of the houses and of the church. 

 JLBG Says:  The campanile of Saint Julian church is on top of the hill, on the small piazzetta. Dark green cypresses, shaped as other campaniles, make a pleasant duplicate of the luminous stone white campanile. The campanile was built at the same time than the church, in 1880. 

 JLBG Says:  In the paved yard of a semi-abandoned house, there appears an old well. Grass grows so well that the paved yards would look almost like a lawn if it were trimmed ! Some have hard time growing a nice lawn, here, it grows alone between the pavements, without being watered ! 

 JLBG Says:  On the piazzetta, in front of the church, everything is very quiet and people live more outside their house than inside. There are no car, no tourists. Wouldn't you like to be there ? Discreetly, not to disturb ! 

 JLBG Says:  These stone stairs climb along Saint Julian church, and lead to the main entrance of the church, on a peaceful little piazzeta with old trees and flowers. You can also reach the piazetta by a street that turns around the church, on the right. 

 JLBG Says:  Saint Julian (San Zuian in dialect), the parochial church, was built in 1880 on the place of a previous Romanesque church built in the 9th century. A part of the crypt has been preserved and can be visited. Inside is a sarcophagi from the 8th century and a painting... 

 JLBG Says:  Smaller passages connect the Grisa and the Kastel. The houses often spread out, people install chairs and tables right across the street and live in the street which is a place for communication between neighbors. It is very relaxing that no car can come here. 

 JLBG Says:  Most of the houses that are on the Grisa, are decorated with flowers. The plants grow either in pots or in full earth. Oleander is very common and always grow very well but various vines climb to the top of the houses. 

 JLBG Says:  The Grisa is a paved street that leads to the church. It's the name comes from the word "grisa", for "church" in the local Istrio-Romanian dialect. Amazingly, the word "grisa" is closer to the French "église" than to the Italian "chiesa" ! 

 JLBG Says:  The circular road around the castle is sometimes very narrow, sometimes a little wider as it is here, allowing local cars to park near the house, but, as a visitor, you have better park your car outside and walk ! 

 JLBG Says:  In the yard of another house, this one inhabited, the old well is still there. As the town is on the hill, either these wells are very deep or they are sitting on a cistern collecting water from the roofs. I have no data on that point. 

 croisbeauty Says:  The kaštel (castle) was originally called Soardo after the family of the same name who built it in the 15th century. It later became the property of of the Bembo family, by marriage, so that is why it has a dual name Soardo-Bembo.Bale became the meeting place of... 

 croisbeauty Says:  Washing hands before entering in the house, it was a traditional custom on the coastal part of Croatia. Not much of this custom left today but when I see it I always remember my grandmother, washing-stand with fresh water stood next to the entrance of her house. 

 JLBG Says:  This abandoned small chapel is situated outside of Bale, on the outskirts of the city, along the road coming from the north. It's proportions and the character of its stone material tempted the photographer ! 

 JLBG Says:  On the piazzetta a strange stone carving brings a touch of modernity to this Middle age village, but, being carved in the same material as the houses, it fits perfectly with its surrounding. Does it represents a tree of life sprouting towards the sky ? 

 croisbeauty Says:  The four storey "kastel" whose facade is decorated with two rows of Gothic mullioned windows. This castle was originally called Soardo after the family of the same name who built it in the 15th century. It later became the property of the Bembo family, so that it is why it...