Vampires in the Tinjan Municipality

In Istra it is hard to compete for tourists in the company of well-known estinations like Rovinj, Poreč, Umag or the Brijuni islands, so the small village of Kringa, located in the Tinjan municipality near Pazin has offered its own aces in attracting tourists.

Kringa, home to about five hundred people, has its own legend of a vampire, Jure Grando, who, as legend has it, lived here for a full 16 years molesting his relatives and the local population. The tale has given the local Tourist Board the idea to, together with the Albus SF association, come up with an attractive tourist program related, naturally, to this vampire mystery.

In this vein, last Friday 13th, the local Vampire café added a few
anti-vampire cocktails to its fare, concoctions like Vampire Heart or Jure
Grando. At the heart of the vampire menu is garlic-spiced Istrian Supa.

The affair has really heated up, and locals and their guests can already take in exhibitions related to Istra’s best-known vampire. There are presentations of recipes needed as a defence against evil forces, screenings of vampire movies and, a few months ago, a competition was launched for best vampire story. The best tales are to be published in a vampire collection that will be presented at Kringa’s own Fantastic Tales Festival this coming August 11th when a goodwill blood donation drive is also to be held.

The “vampiresâ€� won’t rest until then thought. Starting from January the Vampire café will once a month organize literary evenings. The first guests were horror writer Victoria Faust, and Croatian writer and publicist Boris Perić – who got the Jure Grando story started and on the occasion presented his
unpublished novel “Vampire�.

In the hope that this unique attraction will entice tourists to spend at least a day of their holidays in Kringa, the people there have recently made a walking trail through this “vampire� region.

City of Pazin Tourist Board
tz-pazin@pu.htnet.hr
http://www.tzpazin.hr

Albus SF Association
http://www.istrakon.hr


(taken from Journalist Web Newsletter 03/2006 http://press.croatia.hr/datoteke/2455.pdf)

I heared about the Vampire Story of the Village Kringa before, although I don't believe that kind of "story". But: Kringa will be surely one of my next travel stops during my next istria holiday. I want to experience the real "Vampire" feeling in this village. :wink:

Oh my God, that's socks. Filip will be killed by Vampires. ;-)

But the idea is really great. I don't believe Vampires, but I think it will be interresting to see Kringa. Many tourist will come to Kringa. ;-)

Love, Alex