Zarečki krov

Zarečki krov (the “Zarečje Roof”) certainly belongs on the list of places to see when you find yourself in Istria. It is a semicircular cave over which the Pazinčica River plunges in a waterfall some ten metres high into a lake of a distinctive green colour, from where it carries on towards Pazin. It is one of the most recognisable symbols of the Pazin area and certainly one of the most interesting natural attractions in Istria and in Croatia.

The cave roofs over the lake along its entire length like a kind of roof, and since the site lies beside the Pazin settlement of Zarečje, that is where the name comes from.

The power of the waterfall depends on the water level, and in dry spells it can dry up completely. Beside the lake, on the left bank of the river, a short earth path leads down to the level of the water. When the bed of the Pazinčica is partly dry, you can cross it over the rocky bottom to the opposite bank. The bed itself is highly attractive, with distinctive grooves and round hollows (“potholes”) of various sizes, characteristic of most rivers in Istria. True, there are far more of those round hollows at Kotli on the Mirna River, downstream at Pazinski krov, or on the Grajanski potok above Benkovski slap.

Zarečki krov is certainly one of the most interesting natural attractions in Istria and in Croatia.

You can get very close to Zarečki krov by car, along a narrow gravel track reached by a sharp turn off the main road on the north-eastern approach to Pazin, which after 240 m ends in a small car park. The turn off the main road can be tricky, so you need to slow right down to swing sharply across the ditch onto the narrow dusty track.

Some 2 km downstream as the crow flies there is a very similar natural attraction – Pazinski krov. Just as beautiful, yet special in its own way.