Parish Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Written records of the Umag parish date back to 929, although the exact year of its foundation is unknown. The history of the parish was marked by changes in church jurisdiction: from the Diocese of Trieste, through the Diocese of Novigrad, to today's affiliation to the Diocese of Poreč and Pula since 1977.

The old parish church, dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and to St Peregrine, a deacon and a martyr, was mentioned for the first time in the 14th century. Due to damage during a storm in 1651, the church was torn down, and a new, larger one was built on the same site, representing the first example of neo-Palladian architecture in Istria. It was designed by Filippo Dongetti and the construction was completed in 1757. The new church was consecrated in 1760, although its front was not completed, and it remains unfinished to this day. The church, together with a detached Venetian-style bell tower from the 15th century, forms a whole that dominates Umag’s main square (Trg slobode).

This single-nave church has six chapels with baroque marble altars dating from the time of construction, except for the altar in the sanctuary, which dates from 1994. The main altar attracts attention with its stone statues of St Peregrine, the patron saint of the parish, as well as of St Nicéphore, both made by the sculptor Antonio Bosa.

One of the pieces of the church inventory that stands out is the organ made by F. Dazzi in 1776 (the third oldest organ in Istria), the Renaissance wooden relief “Pietà” (transferred from the demolished church of Our Lady of Sorrows), an altarpiece showing the Baptism of Christ and Christ Resurrected, and three frescoes on the ceiling of the main nave, which are assumed to have been made by Giuseppe Bernardino Bison in the second half of the 18th century.