Buzet - Mala šterna (Small Cistern)

Buzet developed in northern Istria between the Mirna valley and the karst landscape below the Ćićarija range. Historic Buzet was an important stronghold and the seat of the Captain of Rašpor, so defensive and administrative heritage meet throughout the core. Buzet is both a historic destination and a base for exploring the hills of Buzeština and the natural landscape beside the Mirna. On the hilltop, public cisterns were essential to daily survival and became important civic monuments.

The Small Cistern is a public water reservoir beside the defensive edge of old Buzet. It was renovated between 1517 and 1522 and received its present stone form in 1563.

Reliefs and coats of arms decorate the cistern, while the slope drops below it along the town wall. The photographs show its stone rim, ornament and position above the fortifications.

Successive rebuilding reflects the importance of reliable rainwater storage in a hilltop town. Reliefs and coats of arms also turned this practical structure into a civic monument.