Certain fonds, whose creators were established throughout the history in the territory of the contemporary Istrian County, comprise also the areas which today belong to the County of Primorje and Gorski Kotar or to the Republic of Slovenia. Owing to historical circumstances, parts of archives which are significant for Istrian history and which complement the archives kept by the State Archives in Pazin, are maintained by other Archives and associated institutions in Croatia and abroad.

 

Archival organisation where archives relating to the Istrian territory are kept

For the period of the Venetian administration over Istria, a part of the valuable holdings is kept by the State Archives of Venice, as well as by archival institutions on both Italian and Croatian coasts of the Adriatic.

  • For the area covered by the Pazin County, a part of the valuable holdings is kept by the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia and by the Styrian Provincial Archives in Graz.
  • For the period of the French Administration in Istria, the important holdings are those belonging to the period of the Kingdom of Italy kept by the State Archives in Milan, and to a lesser degree in Paris.
  • The holdings belonging to the period of Illyrian Provinces and relating to the territory of Istria are kept by the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia and in several French Archives in Paris(Historical Centre of National Archives, Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Defence Historical Service).
  • Archives created during the period of the Second Austrian Administration over Istria can be found in the State Archives of Trieste (regional administrative entities) and the Austrian State Archives in Vienna.
  • Archives created during the period of the Italian Administration over Istria are partly maintained by the Central Archives of the State in Rome.
  • A part of the archives created after 1943 and a part of the archives created in some earlier periods is kept by the Croatian State Archives in Zagreb and the Archives of Serbia (Archives of Yugoslavia).
  • The Archives of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts keeps numerous Glagolitic manuscripts from Istria.
  • A part of the archives is kept by the State Archives in Rijeka.

 

Church archives

A wealth of material necessary to study the church history of Istria is kept by the Diocesan Archives in Poreč and rich parochial archives throughout Istria, as well as across the boundaries of Croatia in the Diocesan Archives in Trieste, Vatican secret Archives and the Archives of the Sacred Congregation “De Propaganda Fide”.

 

Libraries and Museum

  • The Istrian Book of Boundaries, a part of the correspondence by leading Istrian reformers and other documents are kept by the National and University Library in Zagreb.
  • A section of the archives can be found in the University Library of Pula, Historical and Maritime Museum of Istria and other Istrian museum and institutions.

 

Registries

Large amounts of archives, even those produced during the period of the Second Austrian Rule, is kept by registries, for example of the Municipal Court in Pula and Rovinj, Uljanik Shipyard in Pula, Istarski vodovod (Istrian water supply company) in Buzet and many others. It must be noted that a part of the Istrian archival material from the earlier periods is kept by numerous libraries, archival institutions and private collections throughout Italy.