Istria
St Euphemia's bell tower
The 61m baroque campanile crowning Rovinj's old town: a creaky wooden climb to the best rooftop-and-islands view in town.
Where
Rovinj, Croatia
Opening hours
The tower is generally open daily in the main season, often roughly 10:00 to 18:00, with shorter hours or closures in winter and around services. Confirm current hours and prices on the official site.
Tickets
About €5 to climb the tower, paid at the foot of the staircase; cash is sometimes preferred. The church itself is free to enter.
Time needed
30-40 minutes including the queue at the foot of the staircase and time at the top.
In short
Visiting St Euphemia's bell tower
Rovinj's 61m baroque campanile, modelled on St Mark's in Venice, crowns the old town and is the single best thing you can do here. You pay roughly €5 to climb a long, creaky wooden staircase to the top, where the reward is a sweeping view over the terracotta roofs, the harbour and the offshore islands. Go in clear weather and decent shoes.
The climb
The bell tower of St Euphemia is the thing you see from everywhere in Rovinj — a 61-metre baroque campanile, deliberately modelled on the one in St Mark’s Square in Venice, sitting at the very top of the old town. Getting up there is half the experience. You walk up through the steep lanes to the church (free to enter), pay roughly €5 at the foot of the staircase, and then climb a long, old wooden staircase that creaks under you and feels genuinely exposed near the top. There’s no lift, little to hold onto in places, and it’s not the climb for you if heights or stairs are a problem. Bring some cash, as the card machine isn’t always working.
Why it’s the best thing here
The reward is the single best view in Rovinj, and it’s not close. From the top you look straight down onto the dense tangle of terracotta roofs, the harbour full of boats, and the scatter of green islands out in the Adriatic. On a clear day it pulls the whole town into one frame and explains, in a glance, why everyone photographs Rovinj from the water.
Time it well. Late afternoon gives you warm light on the old town and a softer crowd than the midday peak, when day-trip boats from Pula and Porec have unloaded. Skip it in poor weather — the view is the entire point, and a grey haze flattens it. Wear shoes with grip for the climb, allow a little patience if there’s a queue on the narrow stairs, and pair it with a slow wander down the Grisia lane afterwards, which drops you back into the heart of the old town from right beside the church.
Planning the rest of your trip? See the Rovinj city guide.
