Pazin is the administrative center of Istria County. Located in the heart of the Istrian peninsula, belongs to the so-called Green Istria and offers, in addition to a range of cultural attractions, a large number of natural resources. The town has about 9000 inhabitants.
Traces of life over the abyss Pazincica dating back from around 1,500. BC. In those times of the Bronze Age, the cliff over the Pazin Pit was inhabited by people who have left behind only fragments of pottery. Pazin, as a castle "Castrum Pisinum" was first mentioned in the deed of Emperor Otto II. from 983. The formation of the county in Central Istria happend parallel with the Venetian occupation of the towns along the coast, in southern Istria and the valley of the Mirna river. This division will cause an intolerance that will mark the political history of Istria in the next five centuries. The inhabitants of the peninsula, divided between the Austrian eagle and the Venetian lion, have often clashed, and occasionally came to the wars and bloodshed of large-scale (...).
Pazin is best known for its two, completely different things, one is natural and the other cultural richness; Pazin Pit and Pazin „samanj“ (Fair).
Beneath the castle walls, in the depths of Pazin Pit, the river ends its overhead stream, continuing underground to the south. A hundred meters below the level of the city, this underground river formed two underground lakes connected with a siphon. In times of abundant rain, abyss hole can not recieve all incoming water, so it creates a real lake in the canyon, long and up to 2 km. Such effects have been noticed in the years 1883, 1896, 1930, 1934, 1935, 1961, 1964, 1974, 1993, 2002 (twice), 2008, and 2009. Canyon of Pazin Pit is available to visitors in the form of educational hiking trails, and with pre-announcement are organised caving adventures unto the underground lake. The miraculous Pazin Pit has from the long time ago drawn the attention of many who had a chance to see this unique work of natural forces, and we can find it, together with the Castle, in the literary works of many travel writers (Valvasor, Petronio, Yriarte) and it provided the inspiration for writers such as Jules Verne, Vladimir Nazor, Dante and many others.
The tradition of the city fair in Pazin, which is held every first tuesday of the month, exists since 1574, when Pazin got a permission to hold a fair of agricultural and livestock products from the locals. Pazin fair, locally called „samanj“, is the largest traditional monthly market in Istria. Traditional farm products have have been long ago replaced with commercial goods. Today at the fair dominate stands with textile products, fruits, vegetables and flowers. But still at the Pazin fair can be found „kosiri“ and „rankuni“ (hedging bills) from local forge, even „pasture“ (bonds for cattle) and rakes which have been produced in the time of rest from field work.
Pazin was in the era of socialism an industrial town with a few large companies (Puris, Pazinka, Istraplastika ...) which employed the majority of the population. With the dissolution of Yugoslavia the companies were looted and workers were dissolved. Today Pazin's economic structure is completely transformed and a foundation of the economy are small and medium-sized family businesses and large retail chains that have spread on the whole Istria. Due to the lack of work places, a part of the population saw the tourism and apartments and houses rental as an opportunity for making a profit. In the Pazin area, many houses and villas with swimming pool were built for rent. Houses have a good occupancy and every year there are more and more houses made for rent which has become very important for the development of the entire region.